The airport and development agencies sign a cooperation agreement covering more than one federal state
Three companies in Germany have signed an extensive cooperation agreement that will give a long-term boost to the ‘Leipzig/Halle Airport Region’.
The aim of the agreement is to market ‘airea – the Airport Region in Central Germany’ as a joint economic area across different federal states in Germany, as well as internationally, and make even more effective use of its potential to attract investors and enable firms to set up their business here.
The three companies – Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MFAG), Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen GmbH (WFS) and Investitions- und Marketinggesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbH (IMG) – will work together to attract investors using the skills and expertise of their settlement and sector teams.
Götz Ahmelmann, the CEO of MFAG, commented: “The Leipzig/Halle airport site is growing with a huge degree of dynamism, as the numerous successful efforts to attract companies have shown during the last few years. It’s crucial in terms of international competition that we cooperate closely in marketing operations across the different federal states. The Central German economic region is stronger if we pull together. This cooperation arrangement will help expand the existing value-added chains and attract new, innovative companies.”
The companies will join together to attract and support investors by setting up and expanding a network of international cooperation partners and marketing industrial areas in close cooperation with the regional development agencies. They will also provide logistics services and support to develop the workforce and encourage companies to invest in the region.
Thomas Horn, the MD of WFS, said: “Global competition for decisions regarding investments and attracting international corporations makes it necessary for us to pool our expertise and make use of synergy effects to market joint regional economic areas, as we intend to do for the region in Central Germany near Leipzig/Halle Airport.”
Those involved will also work closely with Germany’s national economic development agency, Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI). The three companies are focused on attracting other network partners in the future, in an effort to market the airport region on an international scale.
Thomas Einsfelder, the MD of IMG, commented: “Corporations with international operations, innovative medium-sized enterprises and young start-ups will find perfect site conditions for investments and growth here at the heart of Europe.”
Martin Dulig, Deputy State Premier and the Economics Minister in the Free State of Saxony, emphasised: “When facing global competion with regard to business sites, cooperation beyond national boundaries is becoming more important than ever. Adopting a purely regional approach doesn’t help anyone. Particularly in Eastern Germany, we need to be able to pool our strengths to advance the region, think on a bigger scale and have an open mind.”
Sven Schulze, the Minister for Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry in the State of Saxony-Anhalt, said: “Leipzig/Halle Airport is a leading cargo airport in Europe and is an important regional factor for the core Central German region around Leipzig and Halle. Well-known companies and international enterprises operating in the logistics, automotive, e-commerce and electronics sectors have therefore settled near the airport. It’s therefore correct to cooperate on a wider scale in this dynamic setting in future and dovetail economic areas with each other. We’re also creating excellent conditions to attract more firms to this region in future, a region that is affected by structural change.”
FlyPharma Europe will take place in Leipzig on 20-21 September this year. Leipzig was chosen for its excellent biotech and life sciences hub, BioCity Campus and BIO CITY LEIPZIG, as well as for LEJ’s outstanding cargo handling centre and cargo route connections. FlyPharma Europe aims to bring together pharma, biopharma and biotech companies with air cargo and logistics services to promote open dialogue and solution-finding between these stakeholders, so Leipzig offers the perfect biopharma logistics venue to attract both sectors.
Ahmelmann added: “We’re absolutely delighted that we can welcome the participants at the FlyPharma Europe conference to Central Germany and introduce them to Leipzig/Halle Airport. It is Europe’s fourth-largest air cargo hub and therefore the perfect site for handling all kinds of air freight consignments. This also applies to pharmaceutical products such as vaccines, which require an unbroken cool chain during transportation, and distributing them will be a key topic at this special conference.
“We’ve done quite a lot to make this possible: thanks to having CEIV Pharma certification and our connections with the trans-European motorway and rail networks, we can handle time- and temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical consignments promptly and they are then transported to other destinations. We’re very proud of the fact that Leipzig/Halle is a central handling point for medical relief supplies and has played an important role in combatting the pandemic and safeguarding international delivery and supply chains.”
