Potential for the future: support for clusters in Hamburg

Logistics hub for Northern Europe

The Hamburg metropolitan region – situated at the intersection of global and European lines of trade – has a tradition of overseas trade that reaches back many centuries. Apart from the seaport and the advantageous location, a fully developed infrastructure and comprehensive range of logistical services have allowed the region to evolve into the main hub for Northern Europe’s commodity flows. Continuing globalization and open borders in Eastern Europe have made Hamburg the logistical centre point of Northern and Eastern Europe.

Today, the Hamburg metropolitan region is home to thousands of international trade and logistics companies. No matter what the task, there is a partner in the close-knit network of logistics experts who can perform it. The range of logistics and shipping companies, IT and technology specialists, business consultants, law firms, specialized insurance and financial service providers, and logistics-related training and research institutes, is matchless in Europe. Second only to London, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg boasts the largest number of shipping companies on the European continent, and is the seat of the United Nations’ International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Aiming to retain its position as a globalization winner, Hamburg is further expanding its logistical infrastructure, for instance by extending the port – the second-largest container port in Europe – as well as the road, rail and waterway links to the port hinterland.

The new world of aviation

The Hamburg metropolitan region is a centre of competence in the field of aviation, covering the entire range from aircraft construction and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) to airport operations. Apart from the three large corporations, Airbus Deutschland, Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport, there are research and development institutes and over 300 small and medium-sized enterprises whose combined expertise makes Hamburg one of the world’s pre-eminent locations of the civil aviation industry.

As a production site for the Airbus A380, Hamburg is participating in an exceptional international project: The development, construction and operation of this unique wide-body aircraft is the greatest challenge ever taken on by the aircraft industry, suppliers and operators. Airbus Hamburg is responsible for developing and manufacturing the A380 cabin, an undertaking which also involves many other companies in the metropolitan region. Competence centres at the Airbus facilities in Stade (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) and in Buxtehude (in-flight entertainment) are integral to the project.

The best advertisement for Hamburg is advertising from Hamburg

Hamburg is home to long-established publishing companies, it is a hotbed of creative advertising, “Game City”, and a hub of film production and high-quality television news and entertainment programmes – a major European media centre.

There are 13,400 businesses with more than 60,000 employees working in advertising, public relations, publishing, print, music and film, radio and television production. The big publishing houses, Axel Springer, Gruner + Jahr and Heinrich Bauer, have a combined market share of almost 50 percent. Hamburg offers media companies a unique set of advantages: A media landscape in which all segments of the industry are amply represented – a significant aspect in view of increasing convergence –, a large number of competent service providers and highly qualified and experienced specialists – in short: a creative and innovative environment.

Hamburg’s IT sector with 7,500 companies and approximately 55,000 employees is instrumental in the development of electronic business processes. The large mail-order firms and many other companies are successfully utilizing e-commerce. Most of the global IT companies have branches in the Hanseatic city, and many internationally renowned specialists are based in Hamburg – among the latter are logistics firm Dakosy and ChessBase, maker of some of the world’s most advanced chess software products and flagship of gamecity: Hamburg.

Research for a better life

The life sciences focus on human well-being. The development of new drugs, improved diagnostics, personalized forms of therapy: First-rate medical and scientific expertise, pioneering technological approaches and a high level of industrial performance are all provided in the Hamburg metropolitan region. Innovative products and applied research are helping people to improve the quality of their lives.

The Northern German life sciences industry has experienced rapid development in recent years. There is extensive cooperation between the industry and researchers, and many promising ideas have spawned new business start-ups. A multifaceted network of both traditional and high-tech companies, renowned research institutes and universities has evolved, with the common goal of turning innovative ideas into marketable products. The effort has been immensely successful: There are some 500 life science and health care companies with approximately 270,000 employees in Northern Germany.

A flourishing green economy

Economics and ecology are not in opposition in Hamburg. On the contrary: the green economy is flourishing and is a branch with huge potential for growth. In the renewable energy sector alone, more than 600 companies have already based themselves in Hamburg and the metropolitan region, among them many global players in the solar energy branch and a unique concentration of companies from the wind power sector. They are building solar energy plants, designing wind parks, working on pilot projects in climate research and combating climate change or on innovative concepts for using biomass.

The European Commission recently recognized city’s pioneering role in the environmental and climate field by awarding Hamburg the title of European Green Capital 2011. It is both an incentive and an obligation for the city to continue to grow in an environmentally friendly way, and further encouragement to green firms to base themselves here and grow too.

The whole healthcare industry supply chain

Hamburg is the most promising and innovative healthcare industry location in Germany. The city stands out from other urban centres because of its excellent provision of medical care and ideal business environment for firms and institutions active in the healthcare industry. Integration of the whole supply chain – including financial aspects – and sound cooperation throughout the treatment process create outstanding conditions in Hamburg for disease prevention, earlier diagnosis, cross-sector, cost-efficient optimum care and longer term treatment.

Innovation in products and processes helps create new advantages for Hamburg as a healthcare location. Interconnection of research and teaching and of business and politics are establishing Hamburg as the city best able to attract and provide expert specialist healthcare professionals.

A draw for creative minds

What we love about Hamburg is the port and the water, the Nordic mentality and the seagulls in the city centre. But that is not all we can be proud of. From the fish market at one end to the Alster riverboats at the other, Hamburg is teeming with creative and cultural life and is a hothouse for innovation and the avant-garde.

In the past few years, the creative industries have become an increasing focus of cultural and economic policy. In Hamburg and in Germany as a whole they have recently been recognized as a branch in their own right. The creative industries comprise 11 different sub-sectors: music, literature/publishing, the fine arts, film, the performing arts, design, architecture, broadcasting, media, advertising, software/games.