DEG und German Desks in Lateinamerika – Christiane Laibach im Interview

DEG, the German Investment and Development Corporation, was founded in 1962, so in other words we have been in existence for over 50 years. Our focus is on developing and emerging countries, meaning we provide loans to private companies, banks, and private investors in Africa, Asia, but especially in Latin America and Central America for infrastructure projects. We also invest in equity in these companies. Our goal is to drive development in these countries, create jobs, create qualified jobs, secure incomes, and comprehensively promote development in these countries. An important pillar for us is of course also supporting German companies with their foreign investments in the mentioned countries.

For us at DEG, it is always very important that we can show reliability to our customers, or also to our German customers who invest in these foreign markets. That means that when situations become more difficult, we still stay on the ground. We do not reduce our engagement; instead we continue to be there for local companies and our German customers. Brazil is currently a good example. On the other hand, we also try to occupy markets that are developing positively very early on. Currently, two countries come to mind: Argentina and Cuba. We follow the development in Argentina with great interest, the reform policy that President Macri has initiated. We have always been present in Argentina, even through the long years of crisis, and we have worked very reliably and well with our private sector companies during those years. But now we naturally see even more opportunities and hope that a deeper transformation of Argentina's economy will drive it forward, thereby offering us the opportunity to remain active there. Another very different example: a small country at the very beginning of opening up to the market economy. We are already present there in the sense that we conduct exploratory trips and try to build networks. But it will certainly take a bit longer until we see more opportunities there for German companies' foreign investments.

Yes, what is always appreciated is simply the good technologies, the further development that German industry can offer. But also the topic of reliability plays a role. The Germans are known as reliable partners, and that is of course well received in many countries as a selling point. And it's not just the price that counts. Also very, very important is the topic of training, because it is a concern for German foreign investors in the markets to open up the labor market there. Not only access to workers, but also to qualified workers. That is why many companies are involved in training initiatives, sometimes with our support. That is a very important concern. But from the perspective of the countries, it is also an important concern to further develop, promote, and train their population. Another topic: coming back to German companies, we are always dealing with the question: How can we support even more effectively? We currently have the idea of developing so-called German Desks, where we can use our contacts with local banks – we are invested in over 200 local banks worldwide in various markets – to make it even more effective for German industry, or especially for the smaller German Mittelstand, which is also about initially selling its deliveries and services, by establishing German Desks in certain banks that can be a point of contact for smaller German companies to make contacts there. That is very important to us, because when we talk about German foreign investments, we also know that it is always a development over time: First you get to know the country by starting to export. If that goes well, you might open a sales office, and then probably at some point comes the step to say: Now I want to make a foreign investment, set up a production facility there. And we want to start earlier in the future, not just when it comes to foreign investments, but earlier in this development and provide support even then.