Opportunities abound for Scottish renewable energy businesses hoping to do business with Germany.

Despite the Eurozone crisis, the Business Herald has reported, trade between Germany and Scotland is set to grow in the near future.

In 2010, goods and services exported from Scotland to Germany valued £1.265bn.

The key opportunities, as identified by the newspaper, are in renewable energy, life sciences and biotechnology, financial and business services, food and drink and ICT electronics technologies and software.


Sarah Lord of Scottish Development International is based in Dusseldorf, north west Germany.

She said Germany was a clear and transparent place to do business, but Scottish people might be surprised by the level of formality expected in a work environment.

Ms Lord said: "We advise companies wanting to do business there to either work with an agent or set up a presence there, as German companies are different in their employment structures."

Scottish Development International also helps support German companies looking for investment opportunities in Scotland, including with investment advice, specialised training and PR services.

Over the last four years, 20% of European Foreign Direct Investment into Scotland has come from Germany with a capital expenditure of £145 million.

And just last month May 2012, Europe's largest contract research organisation Fraunhofer chose Glasgow's £9 million laser centre for its UK headquarters, thus becoming one of more than 100 German companies with Scottish offices.

(NE)