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Germany Eyes Closer Ties with Indian Startups for Collaborative Growth

By Chetan Majgaonkar --
Wednesday, 08 Nov, 2023

According to a German government official, regulatory and political issues with China have caused a change in attention toward India. As a result, German authorities are looking to collaborate more closely with Indian entrepreneurs in a number of industries, including mobility, health, energy, and sophisticated materials. China’s harsh covid-era restrictions also proved an obstacle to German firms, said the official.

Berlin, a well-known center for German entrepreneurs, is especially eager to work with Indian businesses to establish partnerships. A group of German startups will visit India as part of AsiaBerlin, an initiative supported by the Berlin government, to explore potential connections with the Indian startup scene.

The startup delegation is anticipated to attend the Bangalore Tech Summit in addition to visiting New Delhi and Bengaluru. In an attempt to strengthen ties between the startup ecosystems, the Berlin government plans to send additional founders and research institutes to India in 2019 as part of a similar initiative.

The program has led to several German companies eyeing a presence in India while Indian startups in mobility and robotics are looking to establish a presence in Germany. These efforts are also being supported by the Indian and German governments.

The source did add, though, that administrative issues and regulatory issues still pose a challenge for German companies trying to enter the Indian market.

These moves, while motivated by commercial logic, also come as part of a broader rethink on Germany’s dependence on China.

With a trade volume of almost 300 billion euros, China ranked as Germany's biggest trading partner in terms of products in 2022. However, Berlin unveiled its first China strategy this year due to worries over human rights and Beijing's muscular foreign policy.

“For Germany, China remains a partner, competitor and systemic rival. In the last few years, however, the systemic rival aspect has come more and more to the fore. So we don’t need to look hard to see that China has changed. Anyone who listens to China knows how self-confidently it will exert crucial influence on developments in our world – more repressively at home, more assertively abroad. China has changed, and so we need to change our approach to China," explained German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock in a 2023 speech.

Germany Eyes Closer Ties with Indian Startups for Collaborative Growth. According to a German government official, regulatory and political issues with China have caused a change in attention toward India. As a result, German authorities are looking to collaborate more closely with Indian entrepreneurs in a number of industries, including mobility, health, energy, and sophisticated materials. China’s harsh covid-era restrictions also proved an obstacle to German firms, said the official.

Berlin, a well-known center for German entrepreneurs, is especially eager to work with Indian businesses to establish partnerships. A group of German startups will visit India as part of AsiaBerlin, an initiative supported by the Berlin government, to explore potential connections with the Indian startup scene.

The startup delegation is anticipated to attend the Bangalore Tech Summit in addition to visiting New Delhi and Bengaluru. In an attempt to strengthen ties between the startup ecosystems, the Berlin government plans to send additional founders and research institutes to India in 2019 as part of a similar initiative.

The program has led to several German companies eyeing a presence in India while Indian startups in mobility and robotics are looking to establish a presence in Germany. These efforts are also being supported by the Indian and German governments.

The source did add, though, that administrative issues and regulatory issues still pose a challenge for German companies trying to enter the Indian market.

These moves, while motivated by commercial logic, also come as part of a broader rethink on Germany’s dependence on China.

With a trade volume of almost 300 billion euros, China ranked as Germany's biggest trading partner in terms of products in 2022. However, Berlin unveiled its first China strategy this year due to worries over human rights and Beijing's muscular foreign policy.

“For Germany, China remains a partner, competitor and systemic rival. In the last few years, however, the systemic rival aspect has come more and more to the fore. So we don’t need to look hard to see that China has changed. Anyone who listens to China knows how self-confidently it will exert crucial influence on developments in our world – more repressively at home, more assertively abroad. China has changed, and so we need to change our approach to China," explained German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock in a 2023 speech.