Between Germany and CARIFORUM. Track record of inward investment by CARIFORUM to Germany The inward investment numbers by CARIFORUM enterprises in Germany is also believed to be currently quite small. Again, it is not separately stated in the Bundesbank’s (German central bank) inward investment statistics117. Track record of outward investment from Germany to CARIFORUM There is little specific information publicly available on the investment by German enterprises in CARIFORUM. In general, German investment in the area is focused on major countries in Central and South America. At the end of 2008, the investment of German companies in CARIFORUM comprises EUR 220m (with Barbados being the largest recipient with EUR 165m. The Germany–CARIFORUM trade data shown in the table below can be used as a rough indicator of the potential for future investment flows from Germany. It is important to remember however that German exports comprise a high proportion of machinery and durable consumer goods, and so relatively high trade volumes are not necessarily correlated with a need for local investment. 117 Deutsche Bundesbank, Direktinvestitionen lt. Zahlungsbilanzstatistik, April 2010 Source: German Statistical Yearbook, 2009
Between Germany and CARIFORUM. Based on the general structure of the German economy and on existing initiatives of German companies, the following are likely opportunities for joint ventures between CARIFORUM companies and German companies: Tourism – this sector has to be a major opportunity as Germany is one of the largest providers of visitors in the world, who spend of EUR 58billion (2006) abroad124. There are already large numbers of German visitors, in particular in resorts in the Dominican Republic, but there certainly would be potential to further expand and broaden the destination base, as only 7.6% (2004) of German holidays are currently taken outside of Europe (representing nevertheless 7.9m trips). Renewable energies, incl. operational and maintenance services – Renewable energies, an area of particular expertise of German companies, shows considerable promise given Germany’s ambitious renewable energy initiative (described in earlier sections) as well as the conditions in the region which favour the development of alternative energies (e.g. meteorology, high cost of alternative sources of energy). The areas that joint ventures could address would be engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of solar and wind parks, as well operations, surveillance and maintenance (O&M) of the plants. Of note is that German renewable energy development companies and the highly developed German investor base for these projects are looking increasingly to overseas opportunities worldwide as the European markets for new solar / wind plants mature.
