The State of Berlin opened a representative business office in Bengaluru on Wednesday, the first such office in India and the third globally after New York and Beijing.
The inauguration of the office comes eight months after the capital city of Germany signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Karnataka to further start-up growth in both cities and facilitate innovation and talent exchange.
“The Berlin office in Bengaluru is part of our decision to be present here continuously,” said Franziska Giffey, Mayor of Berlin and Senator/Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy and Enterprises.
Export increase to India
“The focus would be inbound, outbound, and talent,” she said, elaborating that the office would support talent migration from India to Germany or Indian students who wish to study in Germany and companies from either of the countries who wish to invest in the other.
According to her, the Indian population in Berlin has risen significantly, which has gone up from around 2,000 a decade ago to around 45,000 currently. She noted that exports from Berlin to India witnessed a significant rise in 2025.
“Berlin’s average export increase was 6% last year, whereas to India the exports increased by 21%,” she said.
Berlin’s imports from India totaled €285 million last year, compared to €169 million in exports to India during the same period, she added.
Start-up cities
Emphasising the parallels between Bengaluru and Berlin, Ms. Giffey observed that Bengaluru is regarded as the Silicon Valley of India, and Berlin as that of Germany.
“Our target is to become the most innovative place in Europe. We want to be at the forefront of international competition. For that, we have to broaden our mind, which means not just limit our focus to the United States or European countries, but also work with the Asian market and partners,” she said.
Berlin hosts the largest start-up ecosystem in Germany with about 6,000 start-ups that employ around 100,000 people.
“When we looked at which city was the best fit for Berlin, we felt Bengaluru could be a strong partner. There is the potential for cooperation in key technology areas and innovation. Then there is also the aspect of our demographic change on the one hand and India’s very young population on the other. We also see the potential for economic growth,” Ms. Giffey said.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)