March 2019

Thuringia Focus

Investment News

Automotive Supplier Relocates Head- quarters from Heidelberg to

Thuringia is an innovative investment location with great appeal. The ICSI Group, which is relocating its head- quarters from Heidelberg to Ichtershau- sen in Thuringia, only reinforces this fact.

IHI Charging Systems International GmbH (ICSI Group) has been operating a turbocharger plant at LEG‘s “Erfurter Kreuz” site for ten years. In addition to Thuringia looks forward to a new high-tech investment. The German automotive supplier Marquardt the 400 or so employees to date, there will start production in the “Erfurter Kreuz” industrial area. Photo: Marquardt Service GmbH will be a further 40 coming from the head offi ce. At a press conference in Erfurt, Dr. Daniel Bader, ICSI Managing Automotive Supplier Marquardt Arrives Director in Ichtershausen, gave reasons for the decision in favor of Thuringia: In Thuringia the proximity to OEMs and research institutes, the excellent transport Thuringia once again proves its attractive- region, we have the best prerequisites here infrastructure at the central motorway ness: The Baden-Württemberg automotive to produce at the highest quality for our junction, and the good support from supplier Marquardt will manufacture customers, to continue to grow and to the Ministry for Economic Aff airs and innovative mechatronic products for the create jobs”, explained Marquardt Mana- LEG. The entrepreneur also mentioned interior of premium vehicles and battery- ging Director Jochen Becker. the short distances to the universities operated cars in the “Erfurter Kreuz” in and Schmalkalden . ICSI Thuringian industrial area in Ichtershau- Marquardt will manufacture its products in expects further synergies from the sen: Up to 180 jobs will be created in the the future in a 10,000 square meter factory relocation of the headquarters to the coming years; the fi rst 50 positions are to hall in the “Erfurter Kreuz“ industrial area. site of an effi cient production facility be fi lled within the next few months. The Chinese CATL Group will also be buil- belonging to the company group. ding its fi rst European production facility “It is a great signal that Marquardt, an in- for battery cells here. Marquardt was The ICSI Group was founded in 2001 as novative, traditional Swabian company, is founded in 1925; the family-owned a joint venture between the Japanese investing in Thuringia and creating a large company headquartered about 100 km IHI Group and Daimler AG and has been number of new, high-quality jobs”, said south of Stuttgart is one of the world‘s a wholly owned subsidiary of IHI Corpo- Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee. As leading manufacturers of electromechani- ration (Tokyo) since February 2013. The a strong automotive supplier location with cal and electronic switches and switching second production site in addition to more than 600 supplier companies today, systems. The company‘s products are Ichtershausen is located in the Italian Thuringia off ers the company the best con- used by many well-known customers in the city of Cernusco. The ICSI Group sells ditions for its entrepreneurial activities and automotive industry and are also found in turbochargers to customers worldwide, growth. “Ichtershausen is a very attractive household appliances, industrial applica- including many of the world‘s leading place for us. Thanks to the convenient tions, power tools and e-bikes. The compa- automobile manufacturers. (hw) location, the high industry competence ny has over 11,000 employees worldwide and the many qualifi ed employees in the at 20 locations on four continents. (hw) THURINGIA INVEST/THURINGIA INTERNATIONAL Joint Success in the Search for Investment News Skilled Workers Laser Specialist Creates Jobs for Growing Workforce Investors and entrepreneurs in Thuringia can rely on dependable partners at their side in the competition for skilled workers. The Thuringian Agency for Skilled Per- Thuringian Asclepion Laser Technolo- sonnel Marketing (ThAFF), which is based at LEG Thüringen, has established itself gies GmbH – subsidiary of the Italian as an eff ective tool for marketing Thuringia as a location for skilled workers and as El.En. Group from Florence – celebrated a reliable (network) partner for politics and business. the ground-breaking ceremony for a new production and offi ce building at the The ThAFF is funded by the State of is an important building block. With one end of last year. The existing company Thuringia and the European Social Fund of the most effi cient education systems headquarters in Jena are bursting at the (ESF). As a nationwide institution and in , Thuringia trains qualifi ed seams, so that the company acquired an welcome center, it is the central point young skilled workers and thus contri- adjacent area to construct a new three- of contact for all those who would like butes to securing skilled workers and a story building with 3,800 sqm of usable to work and live (again) in Thuringia, as steady economy. (cdo) space. The investment in the building well as for companies that need support amounts to 6.5 million euros. In addi- in securing skilled workers. The ThAFF tion to storage areas and workshops, specifi cally addresses specialists, modern training rooms are planned advises commuters and those wishing in which customers are trained in the to return, and acculturates and informs use of laser technology. A fi tness room companies. With the “comeback” job will be set up for the employees on the fair and the “academix” company con- upper fl oor. The workforce has grown tact fair, it brings together specialists rapidly in the last year; the 100th em- and Thuringian employers at two major ployee was hired in 2017. The number of events every year. At present, around employees at the end of 2018 was 150. 3,900 jobs are listed in its Thuringia job exchange. It is a free platform for According to the production mana- companies in Thuringia to recruit new ger, the advantage of the location is employees. ThAFF off ers companies a comprehensive range that they can unite everything at the Close cooperation with the 12 universi- of services when it comes to recruiting skilled Jena-Lobeda site, from development to ties and technical colleges in Thuringia personnel. Photo: © Adobe Stocknd3000 production to sales. Asclepion Laser Technologies plays a leading role in the scientifi c optics industry, within which the city of Jena is an international hotspot. Asclepion‘s laser devices are Trip to Vietnam and Singapore Strengthens designed for aesthetic and surgical applications. Their clients are located Thuringia‘s Foreign Trade all over the globe. Delegation trips with political support help Thuringian companies to open up for- Completion of the new building is sche- eign markets and recruit skilled workers. The Thuringian delegation trip to Vietnam duled for the end of May 2019. (maa) and Singapore at the beginning of April is an example of this.

The aim of the trip is to make it easier and companies from both countries. Re- for companies in Thuringia to access lations between Thuringia and Vietnam markets in the dynamic ASEAN region have developed over time. With current and to continue to promote close coope- economic growth of 6.8 percent, the ration in the fi eld of training between emerging market is the growth driver of Vietnam and Thuringia. Under the lea- the ASEAN region. The Free Trade Agree- dership of Thuringia‘s Minister President ment (FTA) between the European Union Bodo Ramelow, Thuringia‘s Minister (EU) and Vietnam, which is in prepara- of Labor Heike Werner and Thuringia‘s tion, could further boost trade with the Secretary of State for Economic Aff airs Asian country. The highly developed city Valentina Kerst, the tour will include the state of Singapore invests extensively in Vietnamese capital Hanoi, the South high-tech industries and is increasingly Vietnamese economic metropolis Ho Chi demanding both industrial high-tech Minh City and the city state of Singapo- solutions and consumer goods internati- re. The participants of the trip will be in onally. (cdo/hw) contact with political representatives TECHNOLOGY/CLUSTER Thuringian Company Strengthens Technology News Joint Project in Bolivia Growth Core VIPO Launches! Thuringia is pleased about another storage systems and especially battery success in the worldwide competition: cells for electric vehicles. The partnership A new „innovative regional growth The company K-UTEC AG from Sonders- is regarded as an important contribution core“ in Thuringia is now being given hausen is part of a consortium which is to meeting the lithium demand in Europe a decisive boost: the Federal Ministry now entering into a strategic partnership and to expanding e-mobility in Germany. of Education and Research (BMBF) is with the Bolivian state-owned company The plans now include the establish- funding the VIPO – Virtual Product and Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB). The ment of a joint venture between YLB and Process Optimization – network with an partners in the alliance centering around ACI, the construction of a factory and a amount of around 7 million euros. the Baden-Württemberg company ACI comprehensive knowledge transfer so Systems Alemania GmbH will cooperate that the extraction and marketing of the VIPO is an alliance of six Thuringian closely in the future in the extraction, use raw material also benefits the Bolivian engineering service providers and IT and marketing of the valuable raw materi- population. companies as well as three research al lithium from Salar de Uyuni – the largest institutes. The network aims to optimize known deposit of the rare light metal in The Thuringian Ministry for Economic product and process development as South America. Affairs and LEG have supported the part- well as predictive maintenance over the nership from the outset and promoted it entire product life cycle in companies. K-UTEC is specialized in the exploration at the political level. In October 2018, the One example of future VIPO solutions and development of salt deposits and joint venture agreement was signed in La is the maintenance of stressed rotor bla- the material processing of dissolved salts Paz in the presence of Minister Wolfgang des in wind turbines: Sensors analyze from salt lakes. Lithium is an elementary Tiefensee. (hw) the workpiece; a parallel comparison component of rechargeable batteries, with a „digital twin“ provides informa- tion about the degree of wear, the load capacity and the possible service life. Other applications include the produc- tion of prostheses and orthoses precise- In Namibia: Thuringian Know-How for ly tailored to patient needs and the development and optimization of highly Cost-Effective Houses specialized laser processing systems. Future fields of application for these per day for a complete house. The high solutions include additive manufactu- productivity is made possible by a tech- ring (3D printing), optical systems and nology developed by PolyCare Research energy technology. Technology GmbH (Gehlberg, southern Thuringia) together with the Bauhaus LEG has supported the network through University Weimar. its “Thuringian ClusterManagement“ team right from the start. The project vo- With the help of casting resin and lume totals around 11 million euros; the desert sand available on-site, hard project partners will contribute almost PolyCare opens pilot factory in Namibia. and environmentally friendly polymer 4 million euros. By the year 2030, VIPO Photo: Shawn van Eeden | TMWWDG concrete components are cast; the is expected to achieve cumulative reve- blocks are processed like Lego bricks, nues of around 90 million euros with a Building material technology from Thu- i.e., they are simply inserted into each world market share of 4 percent. (hw) ringia has a good reputation in Namibia: other and screwed together. With its Not far from the capital of Windhoek, investment, the joint venture makes a Minister of Economics Wolfgang Tiefen- significant contribution to the Namibi- see together with the Namibian Vice an government‘s national Harambee President Dr. Nangolo Mbumba recently Housing Development Plan for Poverty opened a production facility of the Reduction. company PolyCare Research Technology Namibia (Pty) Ltd. The company is a joint The Thuringian Ministry for Economic venture with Namibian and southern Affairs and LEG‘s Thuringia International Thuringian participation; it will produce division have been active in Namibia components for prefabricated houses for some years – several business and here in the future. science delegations have already visited PolyCare Namibia employs about 30 the country in southern Africa. (hw) Namibians who produce enough stones Culture International School Makes Thuringia More Dates Attractive as a Business Location › Control Entrepreneurs and employees from all over the world live with their families in May 07 - 10, 2019 | Stuttgart Thuringia and feel comfortable here – one reason for this is the Thuringia Interna- tional School – Weimar (ThIS), which off ers its students lessons in English by inter- › ISRACHEM national teachers. ThIS is an important location factor for the State of Thuringia. May 13 - 14, 2019 | Tel Aviv

The International School in Weimar ringia can fi nd free school placements › ExpoMed opened its doors almost twenty years even at short notice, and local compa- June 05 - 07, 2019 | Mexico-City ago. Around 320 pupils attend the faci- nies can recruit foreign specialists at any lity and can complete all school levels time, boasting the off er of international from preschool to Abitur (IB diploma). education for their children. (hw) › GutsMuths Rennsteiglauf The curriculum is adapted to a teaching May 18, 2019 | Schmiedefeld am system that is valid in more than 5,000 Rennsteig international schools worldwide. This enables smooth changing of schools › Krämerbrückenfest across continents. The teaching staff June 14 - 16, 2019 | Erfurt brings together teachers from 15 coun- tries, and ThIS degrees are nationally › Thüringentag and internationally recognized. The June 28 - 30, 2019 | Sömmerda International School always maintains resources for children of professionals. Companies and international staff benefi t from a Families from abroad who settle in Thu- special educational program at ThIS. Photo: ThIS

Thuringian Winter Sports Resort to Host Biathlon World Championships

Top athletes from all over the world and biathlon enthusiasts from all over Germa- Thüringen ny visit the Oberhof winter sports resort in the heart of the Thuringian Forest every year. Oberhof is one of Thuringia‘s tourist fl agships and has a permanent place in the annual sports calendar as a winter sports and world cup venue.

The proof of this are the almost 400,000 a new “House of Sports“, which is to be overnight stays that the city at the the new attraction in the town with its “Rennsteig” hiking trail records every modern winter sports museum. year. To ensure that this remains the A total of 58.4 million euros will fl ow Publisher: case in the future and against the back- into the biathlon arena, ski jumps and ground of the biathlon World Champi- bobsled run by the end of 2022. State Development Corporation of Thuringia (LEG Thüringen) onships to be held in Oberhof in 2023, LEG Thüringen supports the project as a the municipality will receive almost development partner and assumes most Editorial Staff : Dr. Holger Wiemers (V.i.S.d.P.), 60 million euros in subsidies from the of the coordination tasks. (cdo) Christoph Dolata, Christine Maas Copy Deadline: March 08, 2019 state of Thuringia for the expansion and Layout: RITTWEGER + TEAM modernization of its sports facilities. Werbeagentur GmbH Erfurt, Through a series of construction mea- Printed by: Druckerei Multicolor sures and projects, Thuringia wants to further improve the framework condi- Contact: tions for sport and tourism in Oberhof. Its popularity far beyond Thuringia is an Dr. Arnulf Wulff – Senior Vice President Investment, International Business and Cluster important factor for the state and radi- Promotion ates to the entire tourism region along the “Rennsteig” hiking trail. The media Mainzerhofstrasse 12 99084 Erfurt, Germany attention related to the annual Biathlon Phone: +49 (0) 361 5603-450 World Cup contributes a great deal to Oberhof – A paradise for winter sports [email protected] this. One of the construction projects is enthusiasts. Photo: LEG Thüringen www.invest-in-thuringia.de