Investment summit: Merz courts capital as ministries sign Nvidia letter of intent

The German government is holding the main conference day of its first "Invest in Germany" summit today at the private ESMT business school on Berlin's Schlossplatz, in the former East German State Council building. Around 200 German and international chief executives, investment banks and funds are expected. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) and half the cabinet are attending. The model is France's "Choose France" summit. "Germany is ready to grow faster," Merz said.

On Monday, as part of the summit, the economy and research ministries signed a letter of intent with Nvidia to develop AI models for robots and other physical systems. According to a media report, the federal government plans to back the project with a three-digit million-euro sum; the government initially gave no details. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, who had earlier said nothing pained him more than seeing one of the most technologically advanced countries fall "so far behind", said: "Germany has so much talent – just get to work."

According to Allianz Research, total investment in Germany fell 6.4 percent between 2019 and 2025, while it rose 6.7 percent in the rest of the euro area and 20.2 percent in the United States. IW institute head Michael Hüther warned that companies do not choose Germany because of a "promotional event". Roche's Germany chief Daniel Steiners said the group was reviewing all its investments in Germany over health-care savings plans, saying policy had "recently destroyed a great deal of trust".