Companies Pledge To Invest $700 Billion In Germany Over Next 3 Years

A group of dozens of companies has pledged to invest at least €631 billion ($733 billion) in Germany over the next three years, signaling confidence in Europe’s largest economy as the new government seeks to revive it, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Siemens and financial giant Deutsche Bank were among the companies that pledged to invest.

Germany's economy has contracted for the past two years and is expected to stagnate this year.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s administration, in office since May 6, has made revitalizing the economy a top priority. It has launched a program to encourage investment and established a €500-billion fund to upgrade the country’s aging infrastructure over the next 12 years.

The government is also promising to cut red tape and accelerate Germany’s lagging digital transformation.

Merz this week welcomed representatives of an initiative titled Made for Germany to the Chancellery to demonstrate confidence both from and toward private investors.

The group currently includes 61 companies from across the economy, among them industrial conglomerate Siemens and financial giant Deutsche Bank.

“The investments by the initiative are a very powerful signal that we are now experiencing a shift in sentiment and consolidating it,” Merz said.

“The message is very clear: Germany is back. It’s worth investing in Germany again. We are not a location of the past, but a location of the present—and above all, the future.”