Latin America will soon overtake Europe

• Trade flows rapidly shifting
• KfW Bankengruppe and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) support the German economy

The German economy is increasingly shifting its focus to Latin America. "Here a powerhouse is growing which offers German enterprises extraordinary market opportunities. Latin America is extending its hand for diverse cooperative ventures. But we must seize this opportunity now", warned Dr Reinhold Festge, Chair of the Latin America Initiative (LAI) of German Business, the more than 300 participants of the Latin America Conference which took place on 30 November 2011 in Berlin. For example, today Sao Paulo is already the largest German industrial centre outside of Germany with more than 1,200 enterprises. But also smaller countries such as Chile or Uruguay have above-average growth rates. At the same time Festge warned: "In a few years, Latin America will have surpassed Europe in terms of economic importance. Therefore we need Latin America more than they need us."

"We provide targeted promotional offers in order to improve the market opportunities in particular for German medium-sized enterprises in Latin America", stressed Dr Norbert Kloppenburg, Member of the Executive Board of KfW Bankengruppe.

The conference is oriented towards decision-makers from the political and business sectors in Germany and Latin America. It is implemented by KfW Bankengruppe and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) in cooperation with the Latin American Initiative (LAI) of German Business. Using selected major issues, the event is designed to inform German enterprises which are active or planning activities in Latin America on the diverse range of support opportunities provided by KfW Bankengruppe, German federal ministries, associations, business and other associations and institutions.

German enterprises find KfW Bankengruppe to be an attractive partner in all Latin American markets, as it offers long-term investment finance. In addition to financing, enterprises receive support regarding regional and sectoral issues from the ten foreign offices of KfW Bankengruppe located in diverse locations from Sao Paulo to Mexico City, as well as from the foreign-trade chambers of commerce (AHKs), which have offices in all Latin American countries.

Further information on the Latin America Conference is available under www.fokus-deutsche-wirtschaft.de.

The promotional offers of KfW Bankengruppe and the current KfW Themendienst "KfW supports enterprises abroad" is only in german language available under www.kfw.de as well as other information under www.dihk.de.