Internship at Riga City Development Department

Miguel Oliveira

Düsseldorf office of economic development

• Third most populated german city,its the center of the economic region of

Rhine-Ruhr with 11.5 million inhabitants and 5,000 foreign companies;

• It has a central location within Europe and offers a concentrated sales

potential of 148 million people within a radius of 500km;

• From there all major European cities can be reached by plane in approximately one hour.

Düsseldorf location and facts

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• Unique combination of branches and participants - services, trade, industry, large global players and strong SME‘s - characterises the dynamic and successful business location Düsseldorf;

• Düsseldorf is the most important german city regarding:

Telecommunications location

Advertising location

Fashion centre

Legal and corporate consulting location

One of the leading trade fairs in Europe - Messe Düsseldorf;

• Düsseldorf is the second german most important city regarding:

Foreign trade location

Stock exchange and banking location

• Düsseldorf is the third german most important city regarding

Air traffic hub, with 75 different airlines operating from Düsseldorf service a total of 180 destinations worldwide (20 million passengers in 2011).

Düsseldorf location and facts

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• During the late 1980s and 1990s, Düsseldorf's old trade port was renowned architects from Germany and other countries (Frank O. Gehry) transformed the former warehouse and silo district into one the most modern and attractive parts of the city, where the heart of Düsseldorf's creative quarter is also located;

• Media Harbour has managed to maintain part of the feel of its first incarnation as a trade port. A number of cobbled streets, cargo cranes, rail tracks, quay walls and warehouses have been dating from 1896 have benn preserved and are listed as historic monuments;

• Most of the district's office towers house the headquarters of various media, advertising, communications and tourism companies (hence the name Media Harbour), as well as a number of fashion house showrooms, design art shops or lively restaurants;

• There are 800 companies with 8,600 employees altogether in the Media Harbour. The media sector also employs the most people in the Harbour at around 22%.

Düsseldorf Media Harbour (or MediaHafen)

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Düsseldorf Media Harbour

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• Company support and real estate services;

• Location consultancy;

• Real estate service;

• Administrative scouting;

• The virtual SME office www.duesseldorf.de/mittelstand, is an internet portal where a company can access all city services without bureaucracy. The Office of Economic Development controls product coordination, maintains the website and continually develops it further;

• Industry master plan

Administration, Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and industry, industry and trade unions are represented in the working group “Industry master plan”. They develop and implement targets, concepts and measures for safeguarding and developing Düsseldorf industry. Topics include land use provisions, infrastructure, image building, qualified personnel development.

Functions of Düsseldorf Office of

economic development

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• Creative Industry

Düsseldorf holds a top position in Germany with regards to the sectors of advertising and fashion, having a fine arts and Art Academy and numerous artists, museums and galleries, Düsseldorf is one of the strongest locations for the fashion sector in Germany and is very important throughout Europe https://www.duesseldorf.de/en/economic/standort/kreativwirtschaft.shtml

• Biotechnology

The Life Science Cluster in the Düsseldorf area comprises 76 life science businesses and numerous specialised service providers and suppliers. We support this development through the marketing of the cluster at national and international branch events ( Acess here )

• Information & Communication (ITC)

1,500 companies in the information and communications branch are located in Düsseldorf, employing around 24,000 people. Düsseldorf is Germany’s capital city for telecommunications and so ITC is one of the key sectors here. It is specifically supported by us, e.g. through the organisation of fair visits, events, branch-specific publications and the campaign “Mobile Capital Düsseldorf” ( Acess here )

Key sectors supported by the Office of Economic

Development in Düsseldorf

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Functions of Düsseldorf Office of economic

development

Specialist centres dedicated to the most significant countries for business in Düsseldorf (Japan, Russia, China) as weel as India:

• The Japan Desk in the Office of Economic Development offers special services for Japanese investors and the more than 450 Japanese companies that are already located in the Düsseldorf area. Support is provided in close contact with Japanese institutions such as the Japanese Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the General Consulate and the Japanese Club - Acess here

• The Düsseldorf Russia Competence Center (RKD) is a unique entity in Germany and is now firmly established as a point of contact for German and Russian companies. The RKD is located within the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and works closely with the Office of Economic Development;

• The Düsseldorf China Competence Center (CKD) is also a joint venture project, operated together with the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Messe Düsseldorf. The CKD is located at the Office of Economic Development and focuses on the establishment and support of Chinese companies.

• Düsseldorf location for Indian companies - Acess here

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Düsseldorf China Competence Center (CKD)

The Düsseldorf China Competence Center (China Kompetenzzentrum Düsseldorf) was founded 2005, having as tasks provision of information from and about Düsseldorf namely:

• One-stop agency for Chinese companies

- Seminars and information events;

- Advice and support for building up and running the company;

• Support for local companies

- Provision of information on China as a business location;

- Organizing seminars and events dealing with business opportunities in as Corporate business trips to China;

• China network

- Entrepreneurs, service providers and others from China or Düsseldorf interested in bilateral business relationships are welcome to contact our China network;

- Information on the subject, news about events and other useful tips are sent to members in an e-mail newsletter.

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Düsseldorf Office of Economic Development

key findings

• Wide array of studies and documents serving as base to the economical

strategy;

• Excellent and complete support provided to SME (website) and investors from abroad (by specialist centers and their multilanguage staff);

• Specialist centers are a very importante strategy in atracting FDI, as weel as helping german companies to invest in those attractive markets;

• Industry master plan is developed with the collaborationn of several actors in the working group “Industry master plan”, namely: Administration, Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and industry, Industry and trade unions.

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References

Documents and Plans:

• Sector profile Information Technology and telecommunications - Acess here

• Globaly connected, Düsseldorf, the “Mobile Capital” - Acess here

• Excelence in Life Sciences, For research and business - Acess here

• Düsseldorf Business location for japanese companies in Europe - Acess here

• Düsseldorf location for Indian companies - Acess here

Websites:

• The virtual SME office - www.duesseldorf.de/mittelstand

• Office of Economic Development of Dusseldorf https://www.duesseldorf.de/en/economic/index.shtml

• Creative Industry website of Office of Economic Development of Dusseldorf - https://www.duesseldorf.de/en/economic/standort/kreativwirtschaft.shtml

• Düsseldorf China competence center- http://www.china-goes-dus.de/

• Industry of Düsseldorf (german) - http://www.industrie-duesseldorf.de/

• Messe Düsseldorf trade fair - http://www.messe-duesseldorf.com/