Global Players
Only 5% of all Bavarian industrial enterprises have more than 500
employees. They include several internationally active groups of
companies such as Siemens AG, which shifted its headquarters from
Berlin to Munich after World War II. There are several global
players in high-tech sectors such as electronics, microelectronics,
information technology, communications technology and also the
chemical industry, but medium-sized companies are also proving
competitive in the global market.
At the same time, an increasing number of companies are discovering
that Bavaria is an attractive location. Munich is the central base
of the third-largest aerospace company in the world - the European
Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, or EADS for short.
Munich, the regional capital, also ranks as a world insurance
centre.
The foreign representations of the Free State of Bavaria and of the
Bavarian Craft Trade help to cherish, develop and generate economic
and cultural contacts in 13 countries of the world.
The European Patent Office has been based in Munich ever since it
was founded in 1977.