Hamburg among most forward-looking European business centres

19 February 2020

Financial Times Group study puts city among Europe's most promising investment centres

Hamburg counts among Europe’s leading business centres, according to the ranking of European Cities and Regions of the Future 2020/21 by the Financial Times Group’s fDi magazine on foreign direct investment. Hamburg came second in the category “Large European Cities” (2018/19: 4) in the overall ranking after Frankfurt. The city topped the category Specialist potential and quality of life” after scoring the best marks. A total of 505 European cities and regions were rated for the study.

Contributing factors

Hamburg came third in the “economic potential” category, ninth in “business climate” and tenth in “infrastructure”. This marked an improvement over positions in the 2018/19 ranking in terms of “economic potential” (fifth), “business climate” (tenth) and “skilled labour potential and quality of life” (third). Hamburg also rose two positions in the main category “Large European Cities” up from (2018/19: 4).

Expanding infrastructure for tech companies

“This award is both a confirmation and an incentive,“ said Michael Westhagemann, Senator for Economics, Transport and Innovation. Dr. Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of Hamburg Invest, commented: “We must keep the framework conditions for business attractive to remain among Europe’s top business locations and, above all, develop the infrastructure needed for young, technology-orientated companies. Hamburg Invest recently presented record results for 2019 with 11,530 safeguarded or new jobs, around 1,100 companies supported and an investment of around EUR 656 million.
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Sources and further information

www.hamburg-invest.com

Hamburg Invest ist die One Stop Agency für Ansiedlungen und Investitionen in Hamburg sowie zentraler Partner der Hamburger Wirtschaft zu allen Themen der Wirtschaftsförderung. Insbesondere für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen gibt es vielfältige Serviceangebote. Die Vermarktung städtischer Gewerbe- und Industrieflächen, von der Flächenentwicklung über Werbung und Kundenansprache bis zum Kaufvertrag, ist eine weitere Aufgabe. Technologie- und wissensorientierte Startups finden hier ihre zentrale Anlaufstelle.