Region Untermain (Aschaffenburg)

1.  Location

• As one of Bavaria‘s high-tech regions centered in the Rhine-Main area along the lower stretch of the "Main" river, the "Untermain" district is marked by aflourishing economic power and performance, a high dynamic potential and an outstanding standard of living.

• The region is located in the very center of Germany and it has excellent connections ensured by its dense networks of highways, railroad lines, its big waterway and last but not least the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Airport (30 minutes car traveling) to provide for perfect connections to Germany’s main traffic systems.

• One of the most impressive characteristics of the Bavarian part of the Rhine-Main area is the combination of high economic performance with an untouched nature and intact landscapes. The region is, in fact, one of Germany’s most densely wooded areas.

• The "Untermain" district is a highly industrialized area (approx. 44 % of the workforce in industrial employment), but at the same time it boasts a constantly growing service sector.

• The Region’s biggest city is Aschaffenburg with the neighboring rural districts of Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg. A surface of 1 477 square kilometers is home for some 372.889 inhabitants in 65 communities (status as of 31 March 2008), which corresponds to a population density of some 252 inhabitants per square kilometer.

2. Regional Competences

• The Bavarian "Untermain" region is part of the dynamic Rhine-Main area with its overproportionate economic growth and its enormous concentration of buying power, the outstanding quality of its infrastructure and the above-average density of institutes of higher learning and universities.

• A network of suppliers for the automotive industry (steering wheels, air bags, truck axle systems, mirrors, door and window components, pistons, tire cord, belts, etc.), automation technology manufacturers (such as, amongst others, also robots) and the appurtentant control and precision technology contributed to and boosted the Region’s development to a true competence centre for the automotive industry.

• In addition the Region offers ideal conditions for foreign entrepreneurs who wish to establish themselves in the German market, as it is
  
  in close neighborhood to the Rhine-Main airport
  
  in direct neighborhood to the large German markets
  
  a typically "Bavarian" lifestyle setting
  
  and allows for the installation of the most varied types of industrial and commercial facilities ranging from start-up centres to industrial parks and fully developed industrial zones.

• One of the specific features of the "Untermain" region is a sophisticated process of cooperative working: together with the "Initiative Bayerischer Untermain" it makes up for an excellently working network system which organizes cooperative activities and efforts in the Region.

3. Infrastructure / Traffic

From the traffic and geographic points of view the Bavarian "Untermain" Region is located in the very heart of both Germany and Europe and its traffic systems avail of all means of transportation which connect it to the international traffic and transport networks:

• Germany’s largest and Europe’s second-largest airport, i.e. Rhine-Main airport can be reached by car within a matter of 20 minutes only.

• Expressways A3 (Frankfurt/Main - Wuerzburg) and A 45 (Seligenstaedter Dreieck - Ruhr area) ensure rapid access to the big cities in the southern, western and northern parts of Germany.

• Aschaffenburg is a train stop for as many as 39 ICE-/IC high-speed trains. They run at one hour intervals and allow for fast connections to the rest of the European railroad systems.

• Ships are another means of transport whereby the region may be easily reached. The big "Main River" waterway is the link connecting the "Untermain" district with Rotterdam, while the Main-Danube Canal provides for access to the Black Sea. The Aschaffenburg port features a highly modern container terminal.

4. Economic Structure

• Presently it is some 116.121 persons covered by the German social security system, who work in the "Untermain" area. 37% of the workforce are employed in the manufacturing and processing industries, and 6% in the building and construction industry. Private services account for 47%, and public services for 5% of the workforce, whereas the region’s agricultural sector is no longer as prevalent as it used to be. (status as of 30 June 2007)

• Over the past years the "Untermain" area has undergone a change from a clothing industry region to a region which is primarily marked by the automobile industry: Suppliers for the automobile industry and mechanical engineering companies make up for the greater part of the local industries. Nevertheless the clothing, the paper and the chemical fibre industries are still amongst the Region’s most important structuraleconomic features.

• The service sector is constantly growing and is in the process of taking an increasingly significant part : in this field it is, above all, the firms operating in the information and communications technologies and logistics fields, which are playing a major economic role, where operations are frequently offered in combination with a full range of after-sales services.

5. A well Respected Neighborhood

• The Aschaffenburg-located companies of Linde Material Hnadling GmbH, division industrial trucks, floor conveyors and hydraulic systems, are one of the world’s market leaders in the fork lift sector. Other "champions" in their specific fields are, amongst others, TAKATA-PETRI Aktiengesellschaft and TRW Automotive Safety Systems GmbH & Co. KG (steering wheels), Magna Donnelly GmbH & Co. KG (automobile mirrors), Reis GmbH & Co. Maschinenfabrik (industrial robots) and Singulus Technologies AG (machines for the production of CD’s) as well as place of business of the company WACKER SCHOTT Solar GmbH (solar cells). In the service sector some of the major employers is DPD Deutsche Paket Dienst Management GmbH and Nintendo of Europe GmbH.