“Especially in times of division, we move closer together”
The Brexit threatens to weaken the economy: The cooperation between Berlin and London should help especially companies.
London and Berlin want to cooperate more closely in future: both cities signed a cooperation agreement in Berlin on Monday to promote trade and investment between the two metropolises.
“London and Berlin are two of the world’s leading centers for technology, innovation and creativity. We see many opportunities for collaboration, especially in fast-growing areas such as fintech and smart cities” said London’s deputy mayor for economics, Rajesh Agrawal.
London Business Development Agency opens first office in Germany
At the same time, Agrawal opened an office of the London business development firm London & Partners. “The agreement with the city of Berlin and the opening of our first office in Germany demonstrate London’s desire to work with like-minded, outward-looking business centers. Brexit or not Brexit, we want to show the world that London is open to business, talent and investment from around the world”.
Britain is expected to leave the European Union at the end of March. However, the agreed exit agreement is currently being fought over in the United Kingdom.
“Brexit presents us all with difficult challenges. All the more important is a close cooperation between Berlin and London, “said Berlin’s Economics Senator Ramona Pop (Greens). Berlin and London face similar challenges, according to the politician.
Especially in the areas of innovation and digitization, both cities are strong drivers in Europe. “We want to shape our common future in Europe: Especially in times of splitting, we move closer together” said Pop.
The cooperation aims to support companies
The focus of the newly agreed cooperation is on supporting companies. The partnership aims to give companies better access to business delegations, investors and other partners. Also in the search for office space and for personnel companies are to be supported both in Berlin and in London. The German capital had just signed a similar agreement with the US metropolis New York last year.
As the Berliner Morgenpost learned, especially London should have pushed for the cooperation agreement. German investors have been among the biggest investors in London for years. In the past five years alone, German companies have created around 4,700 jobs in the British metropolis.
London-based London-based technology companies include, for example, the Internet bank N26, the cook-box mail-order company Hellofresh and the electric charging station start-up Ubitricity.
British capital number one in direct investment in Berlin
On the other hand, Berlin is also an increasingly attractive destination for London companies seeking to expand into Germany and continental Europe. In 2017, 15 London start-ups took part in a delegation trip to Berlin. Subsequently, several companies established branches in the German capital, including the real estate technology company WiredScore and the startup rating agency Earlymetrics.
In the past five years, London has also been the number one foreign direct investment company in Berlin.
Also published on Medium.