Picture Archive
Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona
Together with our colleagues from Bayern International, Invest in Bavaria was once again represented at this year's Smart City Expo World Congress - the world's leading meeting place for Smart City & Mobility in Barcelona. The #Teambavaria was on site for three days to discuss solutions for smart cities & mobility of the future and Bavaria's role as an innovation hub for these areas with industry experts, exhibitors and guests from all over the world. Guests also had the opportunity to discover the latest Bavarian products and services, talk to our team about Cluster organizations in Bavaria, learn more about Bavaria as a high-tech location and take the opportunity to network. The program included a traditional Bavarian veal sausage breakfast, a Bavarian Happy Hour and a pitch presentation by our colleague Katharina Kees at the Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) stand. We look forward to welcoming you again next year at the Bavarian stand in Barcelona!
International trade fair BIO-Europe in Munich
Invest in Bavaria was represented at BIO-Europe 2023 in Munich: With more than 2,220 exhibitors from over 60 countries, the trade fair has grown steadily over the past 29 years and has become Europe's most important partnering event. Our colleagues Kaori Yamaguchi-Humpert and Anna Damerow were on site at the Bavarian Pavilion and were available to answer questions from the international public about Bavaria as a biotech location. Many thanks to our partners Bayern Innovativ, BioM / Cluster Biotechnologie and Bayern International for the excellent organization of the Bavarian pavilion at BIO-Europe 2023. See you next year!
8th International Town Hall Meeting @it-sa in Nuremberg
For the 8th time, Invest in Bavaria and the Munich Security Network hosted the international Town Hall Meeting@it-sa, which brought together the global cybersecurity community in Nuremberg. The interesting keynote speech by Ralf Kimpel | Hubert Burda Media on "Cyber Risk Management - Key Aspects and Future Challenges" was followed by an exciting panel discussion on the role of AI in relation to cyber risks with experts from business and research Dr. Victor del Razo | Spike Reply, Dr. Andreas Aschenbrenner | Siemes Advanta Consulting, Prof. Dr. Elif Bilge Kavun | University of Passau and Philip Sperl | Fraunhofer Institute AISEC, moderated by Madeleine Myatt | Continental. This year, there was a third part of the program: a Spot On on "AI-powered Threat Intelligence" with Mike Heredia | XM Cyber and Neil Khatod | Hays moderated by Herbert Abben | Immersive Labs.
35th anniversary of the State of Bavaria Representative Office in Tokyo: Panel discussion, award ceremony & interview with Herbert Hainer, President of FC Bayern
During the event with more than 100 guests, the not-so-new representative of the Free State of Bavaria in Japan, Ms. Susanne Schierok, was introduced and the topics of DeepTech & Innovations in the context of Bavarian-Japanese economic relations were discussed during a panel discussion. Participants of the panel were representatives of Schaeffler, German Bionic Systems and the Japanese company Toray Industries. This was followed by the awarding of seven Japanese companies based in Bavaria in the categories of „Loyalty Award“, „Newcomers Award“ and „Regional Commitment Award“. We congratulate warmly, wish continued success in the Free State and are always available for further support. Another highlight was the interview with Mr. Herbert Hainer, President of FC Bayern Munich and long-time CEO of adidas AG. Our colleague Ms. Kaori Yamaguchi-Humpert and the audience got exciting insights about the activities of the worldwide known soccer club and why the development of the club as well as the economic cooperation between Japan and Bavaria are real success stories. Finally, Mr. Shinichi Okumura was appointed honorary ambassador of the Free State of Bavaria in Japan in recognition of his many years of commitment to the Japanese community in Bavaria. The successful evening ended with Bavarian-Japanese specialties and intensive networking.
Upper Bavaria | 17th working meeting of Invest in Bavaria with the Bavarian economic development agencies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
The work of Invest in Bavaria, communication with the Bavarian economic development agencies and the future of customer retention formed the central topics of the 17th Invest in Bavaria working meeting with the Bavarian economic development agencies. Set against an impressive mountain backdrop and in summery temperatures, insights were provided into the presentations, which were structured by industry focus, as well as into the Invest in Bavaria marketing team. Furthermore, in line with the motto “strengthening collaboration”, new ideas and concepts were collaboratively developed – in workshops, small groups or during joint networking. Additional highlights of the two-day event included a city tour, a visit to the impressive ski jumping hill in Partenkirchen and a dinner together with engaging conversations.
SERVUS ScaleUp Festival
Together with La French Tech Munich we gave innovative French and Bavarian start-ups looking to set up in Bavaria (or in France) the opportunity to connect with potential corporate clients, tech talent or investors from Southern Germany and France. This event was also a perfect place to meet different players of the start-up ecosystem in Munich. We welcomed a diverse and passionate audience of policy makers, scientists, academics, companies, investors and entrepreneurs to discuss Europe's role in expanding deep tech innovation across its borders and contribute to its sovereignty. Agenda of the event: 14h-17h Round tables, panel discussions on various key topics 17h-18h Networking Cocktail 18h-20h Pitch sessions of Bavarian and French start-ups 20h-23h Award ceremony & party Prize for the Best French start-up: Futurail Prize for the Best German start-up: AcTLAbS Prize for the Breakthrough Innovation: 3Deus Dynamics Congratulations and continued success!
Cross-Industry Networking Event for Japanese Companies in Bavaria
Bavaria and Japan, two powerful regions known for their technological progress and vibrant business landscape, met for the "Cross-Industry Networking Event for Japanese Companies in Bavaria" in cooperation with the Consulate General of Japan Munich, JETRO Munich, Japan Club Munich, Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt München and Invest in Bavaria for the second time. The event serves as a cross-industry platform to promote collaboration, exchange ideas and strengthen connections. Read more about the event on our Blog. (Photos: Christin Büttner)
12th Economic Development Workshop in Beilngries
Finally back in person on site: After a long, pandemic-related dry spell, Invest in Bavaria organized a workshop for Bavarian business development agencies for the twelfth time. Under the motto "Supporting innovative start-ups in Bavarian regions - from the idea to the strategy", this took place on 01.06.23 and 02.06.23 in Beilngries. With BayStartUP GmbH, Invest in Bavaria was able to win a proven expert for the Bavarian start-up scene to conduct the workshop. Since 2014, Invest in Bavaria has held two workshops a year for Bavarian business development agencies. In close dialog with regional players, this offering is intended to help Bavaria and its very diverse regions position themselves even better together in the national and international competition between locations and to further strengthen the professionalism of investor support in Bavaria.
Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona
Together with our colleagues from Bayern International, we were once again represented with our Bavarian stand at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona. More than 30 Bavarian exhibitors took the opportunity to present their innovative solutions to over 20,000 trade fair visitors. In addition to highlights such as the traditional Weißwurst breakfast, pitches and workshops, the programme included visits from delegations - including a visit of State Secretary Roland Weigert.
OktoberINVESTfest 2022
After two years of virtual editions, on November 2nd the 10th edition of the annual OktoberINVESTfest was finally back as an in-person event in New York City! This year, it was all about health technology and it was very exciting to hear the pitches of five Bavarian and five American innovative start-ups in that field. Besides that, it was great to have Markus Blume, Bavarian Minister of Science and the Arts and Prof. Sami Haddadin, Director of the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence as speakers at the conference, as well as David T. Tswamuno, Managing Partner at Fairbridge Park from the investor’s side. During the get-together, valuable connections between the start-ups and the investor’s were being made.
7th International Town Hall Meeting @it-sa - where true heroes meet!
It was a great pleasure for Invest in Bavaria and the Security Network Munich to host the international Town Hall Meeting @it-sa for the seventh time in a row and to once again welcome the international cybersecurity community to Nuremberg. There were impulse speeches by Stefan Sieber | Cloudflare and Prof. Dr. Igor Podebrad | Google Cloud. They were then joined by Christoph Kroack | Siemens Energy for an exciting panel discussion moderated by Julia Hermann | Giesecke+Devrient.
French start-ups visit Bavaria for Bits & Pretzels 2022
Bits & Pretzels, Europe's leading founders festival, returned to Munich from 25-27 September 2022. This time with an innovation: France presented itself as the first guest country in its own area with innovative start-ups and scale-ups. For this occasion, Invest in Bavaria received a delegation of French companies that are preparing to expand their market and settle in Germany as part of Business France's Impact Germany programme. The start-ups learnt more about the vibrant local ecosystem and business opportunities in Bavaria and pitched their solutions.
O’zapft is! - Pfiat di / Sayonara und Grüß Gott / Konnichiwa!
On July 21, 2022, after a break of almost two and a half years due to the Corona pandemic, a get-together for the representatives of the Japanese business community in Bavaria took place in the small "Ratstrinkstube" in the Munich City Hall at Marienplatz in cooperation with the Japanese Consulate General Munich, the City of Munich, JETRO Munich and the Japan Club Munich. On this occasion, the former representative of the Free State of Bavaria in Japan, Dr. Christian Geltinger, was bid farewell to the Japanese community and the new representative, Ms. Susanne Schierok, was introduced. Symbolically, the mallet was handed over from the former representative to the new representative and the beer keg was tapped, which was brewed by the Munich breweries for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city partnership Munich - Sapporo.
Lower Bavaria | 16th working meeting of Invest in Bavaria with the Bavarian business development agencies
Efficient commercial development in times of scarce properties and regionally available competences were the core topics at Invest in Bavaria’s 16th working meeting with Bavarian economic development agencies. The event was held in Simbach am Inn in the district of Rottal Inn. The two-day meeting kicked off with Dr Ulrike Wolf, Ministerial Director at the Bavarian State Ministry, who informed the participants about the current topics at the StMWi (Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy). Among the examples of efficient commercial development, Managing Director Peter Keller impressively described how a cleantech innovation park is being created on the former Michelin - factory site in Hallstadt near Bamberg, and the mayors of the market towns of Perlesreuth and Röhrnbach demonstrated how completely new paths have been taken with the first inter-municipal commercial area in Prombach in Lower Bavaria. On the second day, participants had the chance to exchange information in different World Cafés about the regionally existing competences and strategic orientations of the Bavarian regions.
Hock di her“: The exclusive Bavarian-Chinese business dialogue with Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger
On 9 May, the exclusive Bavarian-Chinese business dialogue took place for the first time in Munich. The Minister of State for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Hubert Aiwanger, met about twenty managers of Chinese companies in Bavaria at the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. The CEOs reported on the current developments, challenges and future plans of their companies in Bavaria. Decision-makers from various sectors such as ICT, mobility, aerospace, life science and digitalization were represented. Bavaria is distinguished as a popular location for Chinese companies to establish their European headquarters, research and development centre or production location. In addition to large and well-known companies, an increasing number of start-ups from China are also opting for Bavaria as a location for innovation.
6th International Town Hall Meeting @it-sa - where true heroes meet!
Invest in Bavaria and the Security Network Munich were happy to welcome the international Cybersecurity community once again live in Nuremberg for the 6th International Town Hall Meeting @it-sa. The refreshing impulse speech by Jan Wendenburg | W TRUST was followed by an animated panel discussion on the topic "Cybercrime & Evolving Threat Landscape - How to ramp up cyber resilience?" - moderated by Sebastian Artz | Bitkom and featuring Wolfgang Klasen | Siemens, Philipp Spangenberg | BlueID, Fabian Guter | Rapid7 und Jan Martijn Broekhof | Guardian360.
Invest in Bavaria @ IAA Mobility 2021
From 7 to 12 September 2021, the flags of the world-famous IAA (International Motor Show) trade fair will fly in Munich for the first time - with a new concept, which is also reflected in the expanded name: IAA Mobility. Invest in Bavaria also contributed - at the joint stand of Bayern Innovativ on the exhibition grounds and at the Open Space area directly at Marienplatz with a panel on Mobility Collaborations in Bavaria and why it needs more than one industry. Lin Kayser, serial entrepreneur and founder of Hyperganic, Dr Franz Glatz, CEO of the digital start-up centre brigkAir in Ingolstadt, and Gabriele Semino, research assistant at the Technical University of Munich and project manager of the TUM Hyperloop programme, discussed with us on stage.
„REIWA“ – Schöne Harmonie | Bayerisch-japanischer Neujahresempfang 2020
„REIWA - Schöne Harmonie“ – das war die positive Botschaft, die in großen japanischen Schriftzeichen, der Roboter von Franka Emika den Gästen des diesjährigen Neujahrsempfangs im Neuen Rathaus München wünschte. Die ca. 120 Gäste der japanischen Community in Bayern begrüßten mit dem obligatorischen „KAMPAI“ das neue Jahr in bewährter Zusammenarbeit von Invest in Bavaria, der Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt München, dem japanischen Generalkonsulat in München sowie JETRO (Japanische Außenhandelsorganisation) und dem Japan Club München.
Digital Life Design 2020
As an international innovation and conference platform, the Digital Life Design (DLD) has developed into one of the most important events in its segment. Founded 15 years ago in Munich, the event takes place once a year in January in the Bavarian capital, where opinion leaders from business, politics, research and development, give guest performances. Main topics are digitalization, transformation of markets, media, culture and society. At this year's event, Invest in Bavaria opens a panel discussion on Quantum Computing under the direction of Wolfgang Hübschle. Among the participants were Ignacio Cirac (Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics), Sebastian Luber (Infineon), Torsten Siebert (Fraunhofer Gesellschaft), Ian Walmsley (Imperial College London) and Laura Citron (London Partners).
5. BayChi-Summit in Munich
In the style of a funfair, including the sweet smell of roasted almonds, this year´s BayChi Summit took place on 17th of October 2019. It was the fifth edition of the event for managing directors of Chinese companies. Organized by Invest in Bavaria, in cooperation with the Chinese Consulate General Munich, the City of Munich and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany, the BayChi Summit is a traditional part of the annual calendar of the Chinese business community in Germany. The event was opened with a podium discussion, moderated by Svetlana Huber, Head of Investor Services at Invest in Bavaria, with guests Clemens Baumgärtner, Minister of Labor and Economics of the City of Munich, Yoggui Pei, Economic Consul of the People´s Republic of China in Munich and Wie Duan Chief executive of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Newcomer Award 2019, awarded by Dr. Wolfgang Hübschle, Head of Invest in Bavaria.
Town Hall Meeting @it-sa 4.0
The 4th Town Hall Meeting @it-sa, jointly hosted by Invest in Bavaria and Security Network Munich, again attracted the international cybersecurity community at it-sa 2019 in Nuremberg. Following Jasper Wognum’s (BrainCreators) fascinating kick-off speech, guests were treated to an animated panel discussion moderated by Herbert Abben (SANS Institute) and featuring Falk Herrmann (Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity), Anton Pfefferseder (Bosch Building Technologies) and Rüdiger Trost (F-Secure) before enjoying individual exchanges and networking over lunch.
Bits & Pretzels Oktoberfest Innovation Tour – #Bitstour 19
Invest in Bavaria invited more than 15 international start-up key players from all over the world to Munich just in time for the Oktoberfest and the Bits & Pretzels start-up conference. Incubators, accelerators, VCs and start-up associations from over 10 countries accompanied us on the 3-day "Bits & Pretzels Oktoberfest Innovation Tour". We would like to briefly take this opportunity to give you a short overview of this year's tour and thank all those players who we were allowed to visit and watch at work. Especially as we showed up to some appointments in dirndl & lederhosen. The 3-day #Bitstour started with a full day at the Bits & Pretzels conference. So there was plenty of time to make their first acquaintance with and immerse themselves in the Bavarian business culture and lifestyle. Besides the countless start-ups, events and lectures, the highlight of the day was certainly the Opening Ceremony with the former US President Barack Obama. Our next day started with two major players in the Bavarian start-up ecosystem: we are very grateful to Mr Stefan Drüssler (CEO UnternehmerTUM) and Dr Carsten Rudolph (CEO BayStartUP) for opening our innovation tour with interesting presentations about the Bavarian start-up world. Afterwards we went to the Makerspace at UnternehmerTUM in Garching and to WERK1, the "Most Startup Friendly Place in Munich". A huge thanks to the great team from Makerspace as well as to WERK1 and its CEO Dr Florian Mann, to Mr Christian Gnam from the InsurTech Hub Munich and to the Medical Valley Nürnberg-Erlangen. It was exciting to hear and see what makes Bavaria so special as a location for start-ups. Our first day ended with stops at the BMW Start-up Garage and other Munich Start-up Night events in the evening. The big moment came on Tuesday morning when we walked through the holy gates of the Oktoberfest – most of us in elegant Bavarian traditional dress. After a lot of networking with the international Bits & Pretzels guests in the Schottenhamel beer tent, we moved on to Oberpfaffenhofen in our aforementioned traditional dress. Where Robert Klarner from Technology Marketing at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) welcomed us. We even saw astronauts, which might only indirectly have something to do with start-ups but they were astronauts, in space, live! The grand finale of our time together was Invest in Bavaria's Beerbench networking event, where we showed our international guests what Bavarian hospitality actually means. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the representatives of the fantastic Bavarian start-up and innovation ecosystem who appeared in such large numbers. We're sorry we forced you to wear hearts and pretzels as a matchmaking tool – but hey, it worked! Last but not least, we would like to thank the participants in our delegation. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us and Munich. We hope you were able to gain valuable insights into the Bavarian start-up community and look forward to talking to you more and working well with you in the future. Your team from Invest in Bavaria
Maifest 2019 in San Francisco - Future of Manufacturing
The 2019 Maifest of the Bavarian U.S. Offices in San Francisco took place on May 10 at the Quadrus Conference Center in Menlo Park, CA. This year’s edition of the annual conference focused on the “Future of Manufacturing” and was geared towards experts, companies, and strategic investors active in the Industry 4.0, and advanced manufacturing space. Its goal was to initiate collaborations between German and Bavarian multinational corporations and SMEs as well as US American growth- and early-stage startups. Ultimately, the conference functions as a platform providing insights into how existing and emerging technologies like Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Blockchain are disrupting the manufacturing industry and companies dependent upon industrial output. Like last year’s event, there was an exclusive matchmaking session for German global manufacturers, followed by an interactive and informative session with keynote speakers and panel discussions. Participants included renowned Bavarian, German and American global players such as BMW, Brose, Bosch Rexroth, Continental, Cloudera, Deutsche Telekom and Dräxlmaier. In addition, numerous American startups and a few tech unicorns were present, including Carbon, 3DprinterOS, MotorCortex.ai, Cryptowerk and C3.ai. The conference closed with a happy hour with authentic Bavarian beer, wine, delicacies and a traditional Maifest dance (yes, including a Maibaum!). It was the most natural and entertaining way to end this day and everyone could come together to mix & mingle and enjoy themselves.
3rd Franco-Bavarian Start-up Night
For the third time, the Franco-Bavarian Start-up Night took place in Munich. The focus of the event was on digital solutions for our planet. 15 selected start-ups were able to pitch their business models of Smart Cities, Smart Energy, Smart Mobility and Social Responsibility to potential customers and partners. Three companies were not only rewarded with an award, they will also receive a legal initial consultation for their market entry in Germany. Afterwards, expert discussions and get-togethers enabled further discussions and valuable contacts. The French General Consulate in Munich, Atos, Invest in Bavaria and BayFrance with the support of the Bavarian State Chancellery, the German-French University (DFH), the Franco-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as numerous other partners, invited to the Franco-Bavarian Start-up Night at the Institut Français Munich.
Upper Palatinate | 14th Invest in Bavaria workshop with Bavarian business development agencies
Digitisation and land use were the key topics at the 14th Invest in Bavaria workshop with Bavarian business development agencies, which was held this time against an impressive backdrop in the Regensburg football arena. Among other things, Infineon and BMW demonstrated how companies are positioning themselves to drive the digitisation of processes along the entire value chain involving employees, partners and customers. On the second day, participants were able to experience the work of the Augsburg “Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum” live in a mobile exhibition truck and discuss the topical issue of land use in exciting workshops.
DLD Campus 2019 Bayreuth
The DLD Campus was invited to Bayreuth for the third time on 27 June 2019. Bayreuth ranks alongside such renowned cities as Tel Aviv, New York, Brussels and Munich as a DLD venue. International guests like David Hanson, who developed “Sophia”, a really human like robot with, Stanford professor Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht and Terry von Bibra, Europe boss of Alibaba, discussed interesting aspects regarding the digital future with the interested guests: Do robots need rights? What will tomorrow's mobility be like? How is the world of work changing? Invest in Bavaria has been a partner to the event right from the start. This year we have turned our attention to the topic "Future of Food". Martina Tröger presented the Kompetenzzentrum für Ernährung (KErn) in Kulmbach and René Seppeur from Brandl Nutrition introduced us to an exciting start-up from Franconia in a keynote speech. During the panel discussion Frank Kühne, (Adalbert-Raps-Stiftung), Nick Lin-Hi (University of Vechta), Alison Stille (Waldfang) and Jennifer Schenker (The Innovator) discussed other further aspects on how we will eat in future.
Ecomotion Main Summit 2019 – Tel Aviv, Israel
The Bavarian-Israeli Beer Bench Speed Dating took place at Ecomotion in Tel Aviv for the fourth time: Bavarian automotive groups and suppliers meet Israeli start-ups – a pioneering combination. Ecomotion is THE smart mobility event in Israel, one of the most important innovation and start-up countries in the world. In the meantime, 4,000 experts, industry representatives and start-ups now meet in the Mediterranean metropolis to discuss the latest innovations in the field of mobility. Bavaria, the world's most important mobility hub, naturally couldn’t pass this up. Invest in Bavaria invited Bavarian automotive groups, SMEs and suppliers to meet Israeli start-ups at the event for the fourth time in a row. The special feature: the stakeholders meet in a speed dating setup. The companies AUDI, AID Driving, BMW, Continental with its innovation team Co-Pace, Dräxlmaier, Lufthansa Technik, Osram with its investment arm Fluxunit and Rosenberger were present this year. We would like to thank all participants, both Bavarian and Israeli, and look forward to all the exciting projects that will result from this day!
Chinese Rap and Bavarian Perucssion | the 8th Bavarian Chinese Spring Festival
Embedded in a varied entertainment program with rousing Bavarian percussion and Chinese rap, Minister of State Hubert Aiwanger opened the 8th Bavarian-Chinese Spring Festival in the old congress hall in Munich. 450 guests were accompanied by Clemens Baumgärtner, Minister of Labor and Economics of the City of Munich, Jörg Wacker, board member of FC Bayern München AG and the Consul General of the People's Republic of China, ZHANG Yue, in the year of the pig.
Bayerisch-japanischer Neujahresempfang: Frohes Neues Jahr - Akemashite Omedetou gozaimasu!
Auf dem traditionellen Neujahrsempfang zwischen Sushi, Sauerkraut und Sake starteten wir erfolgreich die deutsch-japanische Zusammenarbeit für das neue Jahr 2019. Mittlerweile gehört der alljährliche Empfang im Neuen Münchner Rathaus als Networking-Event zum festen Bestandteil der japanischen Community in Bayern und wird in bewährter Zusammenarbeit von Invest in Bavaria, der Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt München, dem japanischen Generalkonsulat in München sowie JETRO (Japanische Außenhandelsorganisation) und dem Japan Club München veranstaltet. Traditionell wurde der Empfang mit dem Grußwort des Herrn Generalkonsuls Kimura eröffnet. Er freute sich über das wachsende Investitionspotenzial für japanische Unternehmen am Standort Bayern und die aussichtsvolle Zusammenarbeit im kommenden Jahr. Herr Dr. Hübschle, Leiter von Invest in Bavaria, ließ das vergangene Jahr Revue passieren und freute sich insbesondere über das 30-jährige Jubiläum der Repräsentanz Japan, die dies zum Anlass nahm, 22 japanische Unternehmen und Partner für ihren Einsatz und Beitrag für die bayerische Wirtschaft auszuzeichnen. Dr. Hübschle gratulierte dem diesjährigen Jubilar – dem Japan Club München - zum 40-jährigen Jubiläum und bedankte sich für die hervorragende Zusammenarbeit der letzten Jahre und betonte die Bedeutung des Netzwerkes für die erfolgreiche Ansiedlung japanischer Unternehmen in Bayern. Vor dem Hintergrund der Handballweltmeisterschaft hatten wir die Ehre, Herrn Wakunaga, Präsident des japanischen Handballclubs, der auch CEO von der Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ist, zu begrüßen. Auch er richtete einige Worte an die rund 100 Anwesende und erwähnte, wie alle Redner gemeinsam direkt vor dem Empfang aufmerksam das Handballspiel Japan gegen Island verfolgt hatten. Nach der Begrüßung durch Frau Roider, Wirtschaftsförderung der Stadt München, gefolgt von der Neuigkeit durch Herrn Watanabe, Direktor von JETRO über die Eröffnung des JETRO Büros 2019, forderte Herr Shimosato, Präsident des Japan Clubs München alle Anwesenden zum obligatorischen „KAMPAI“ auf. Dazu schlüpften alle Redner in Happis (traditionelle japanische Jacken) und versammelten sich zum zeremoniellen Sakefass-Anstich. Mit einem beherzten Schlag durch die Holzhämmer und dem folgenden KAMPAI (Prost) mit japanischem Sake konnte das Networking beginnen. Umrahmt von den historischen Räumlichkeiten und gestärkt durch bayerische Schmankerl, leckerem Sushi und ausgezeichneten Süßspeisen bot der Empfang die exzellente Gelegenheit, sich untereinander auszutauschen, alte Kontakte zu pflegen und neue zu knüpfen. Bepackt mit neuem Input wünscht das Team Japan bei Invest in Bavaria ein Frohes Neues Jahr und eine hervorragende Zusammenarbeit an gemeinsamen Projekten – insbesondere im Jubiläumsjahr 20 Jahre Invest in Bavaria - in 2019.
4. BayChi-Summit in Munich
On 27th November 2018, Invest in Bavaria organized the BayChi Summit for the fourth time - a meeting for managing directors of Chinese companies in Bavaria. The relaxed evening event was opened by Dr. Wolfgang Hübschle, Head of Invest in Bavaria, followed by the Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Munich, Ms. Mao Jingqiu. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Bavarian Newcomer Award, which was presented to the automobile manufacturer FAW by Ms. Rita Roider, Head of Location Marketing of the City of Munich. FAW recently opened a R&D location in Munich. The annual networking event organized by Invest in Bavaria in cooperation with the Chinese Consulate General in Munich, the City of Munich and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany has become an integral part of the calendar of the steadily growing Chinese business community in Bavaria.