On a visit to Mannheim on June 23 and 24, a delegation of eight European Parliament members responsible for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) saw for themselves how successfully the city had implemented its €27 million infrastructure development aid.

During his speech in Mannheim Castle, Mayor Dr. Peter Kurz quoted Mannheim’s EU flagship projects such as the Pop Academy Baden-Württemberg - University of Popular Music and Music Business, Mannheim’s “Musikpark” (a start-up center for the music business in Germany), the MAFINEX Technology Center, the German-Turkish Center of Commerce and a women’s enterprise support center.

A further 145 private enterprises have benefitted from the EU’s “Ziel 2” and “RWB” regional development schemes – aid programs which have strengthened Mannheim as a business location and which have contributed significantly towards generating and securing many local jobs. Mannheim, Heilbronn, Pforzheim and Villingen-Schwenningen are the four regional metropolises to receive aid in the period from 2007 to 2013.