German firms launch 'Made for Germany' investment initiative

BERLIN (Reuters) -Leading German companies including Siemens and Deutsche Bank announced a major investment initiative on Monday aimed at resuscitating investor confidence in Europe's largest economy.

The 61 companies, which have collectively pledged 631 billion euros ($733.92 billion) of investments by 2028, are set to present their "Made for Germany" initiative to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil later on Monday.

According to the companies, the 631 billion euros include capital investments, expenditure on research and development as well as commitments from international investors. It was not initially clear what proportion of these investments were already planned, and which were new commitments.

Siemens CEO Roland Busch told the Handelsblatt newspaper that companies would lobby the government for faster approvals for infrastructure projects and measures to combat the labour market shortage.

"We need all hands on deck," he said.

The announcement comes ahead of an expected surge in spending by the German government, made possible by a recent reform to debt rules and the creation of a special fund for infrastructure investment.

Clemens Fuest of the Ifo institute said the initiative was a "step in the right direction" in terms of reviving the country's economy, but it remained to be seen what economic impact it would have.

"The question is, of course, is this really sustainable in the sense that it is just a flash in the pan that is being financed with government debt, or will there really be more investment in the long term?" he said.

Reuters reported on the initiative to boost investor confidence in Germany on July 8, citing sources familiar with the matter.

($1 = 0.8598 euros)

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Friederike Heine and Miranda Murray; Editing by Kim Coghill and Christina Fincher)