'I want your money': Berlin rakes in billions at new investment summit

A first-of-its-kind summit designed to attract more private investment to Germany has brought in billions in commitments, government officials said on Tuesday, as they pulled out all the stops to persuade business leaders to pour more money into Europe's biggest economy.

Germany is seeking to garner more foreign investment in its bid to cast off years of weak growth, as high energy prices and labour costs continue to deter businesses.

Some 200 domestic and international executives representing large corporations, investment banks and funds - including Nvidia boss Jensen Huang - have gathered in Berlin since Monday for the first Invest in Germany summit, hosted by Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

At a glitzy opening event on Monday evening, Merz and Nvidia's Huang unveiled a new partnership to speed up the digital transformation of German industry and to secure the country's technological sovereignty.

'What investors like most'

German officials continued to appeal to investors on day two of the summit, with Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil cheekily telling business leaders ahead of a session on Tuesday: "I want your money."

Merz, for his part, dove into the full range of German clichés as he outlined to executives why Germany constitutes the perfect business environment.

"Germans are hardworking, going to bed early, rising before dawn," he told the international crowd.

"Worst traffic is in the morning between 6 and 7. On holidays, we are first on the beach, spreading towels before breakfast. If we agree on delivery dates, we stick to it. If you invite friends from Germany for dinner at 7, we will arrive at 6:58.

"We are reliable, predictable, precise, and unsurprising," continued the chancellor's pitch. "We are, in short, what investors like most."

Merz also highlighted the country's sound public finances, its independent judiciary and strong industrial base, its education system and first-class research institutions.

The country offers a unique combination of industrial excellence, technological innovation and access to one of the world's largest domestic markets, he said.

Merz also reiterated that his government remains committed to implementing what he described as one of the most ambitious reform and modernization agendas of recent decades, as it tries to revive the economy.

Over €225 billion pledged

Economy Minister Katherina Reiche struck a similar note, telling investors, "You can count on our industrial base, our determination to embrace change and our proven track record of reliability."

Commitments totalling more than €225 billion ($252.5 billion) have so far been made amid the summit, Reiche told the Deutschlandfunk public broadcaster earlier on Tuesday.

While she did not reveal who had pledged the money, and whether some of it had come independently of the gathering, Reiche stressed that the figure only includes deals above a volume of €100 million.

Online retail giant Amazon announced it plans to invest €16 billion in Germany in 2027, including to expand data centres as well as Cloud and AI infrastructure.

Public spending not enough

Merz's conservative-led government, which took office last year, has vowed to kickstart the sluggish economy again, including by bringing down energy prices, cutting red tape and overhauling the welfare system.

However, the path to recovery has been rocky, not least due to new US tariffs and the war on Iran, and disagreement within the coalition on the exact design of the reforms.

Berlin has taken on billions in debt to be spent over the coming years to improve infrastructure and support companies in the transition to climate-neutral production, but government sources have warned that public funding will not be enough to modernize the country.

The summit aims to showcase Germany as an attractive investment destination, highlighting its sound public finances, its status as the only G7 country with a triple-A credit rating, strong rule of law provisions and its leading position in European patent filings.

According to an Allianz Research study, total investment in Germany declined by 6.4% between 2019 and 2025, compared to an increase of 6.7% in the remaining eurozone, and a rise of 20.2% in the US.