The real growth of international trade slowed down significantly in 2025 and, with a moderate growth of only about 2.5%, is clearly below that of previous years. Global GDP growth will also be weaker at 3.2% than in 2024. The reasons for this lie above all in the strengthening protectionism of important markets, unpredictable trade policies, and ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Geopolitical considerations therefore also shaped our strategic planning and recommendations to policymakers over the past year. A balanced market focus justified delegation trips to both the USA and China, and this at a time of rising protectionist efforts on the part of the USA as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions between the West and China. In addition, the Free State was the first German federal state to visit Israel as part of a high-ranking delegation trip since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Our fourth delegation trip in 2025 led to Vietnam and thus to the ASEAN economic area, which, as one of the most dynamically non-aligned economic regions, promises great potential for Thuringian companies as well. In addition to the politically flanked delegation trips, business trips took place to India, South Africa, and Azerbaijan – here, the topics High-Tech/Start-up cooperations, energy industry and Attracting skilled workers at the top of the agenda. Our foreign representations are valued and used as an extremely efficient support service. Therefore, we have expanded this offering to include foreign representations in Brazil and the USA. In Sao Paulo, you are supported by Dietmar Sukop as the newly appointed foreign representative; in Chicago, you are supported by Daniel Feldkamp in export promotion. The 17th Thuringian Foreign Trade Day in Ilmenau was held in March under the title “Thuringia in the World“ – here, success stories of Thuringian companies were brought into focus. With our research partner FitchSolutions we continue to operate a permanent world market monitoring. This information is incorporated into our strategic planning and policy recommendations.
This year's Thuringian delegation trips had partly different formats and thematic focuses:
So we already organized a Thuringian delegation trip to the USA for May on behalf of the Free State – by far the most important Thuringian sales market. The approximately 70-member delegation was led for the first time by Minister-President Mario Voigt and Economics Minister Colette Boos-John and took them to the metropolises of Washington, New York, and Boston on the East Coast of the USA. Key future topics such as Artificial Intelligence and Smart Production. The trip deliberately took place at a time when the US administration was discussing new trade tariffs against the EU and US-EU tariff talks were still ongoing. Despite these conditions, it was clear: many US companies remain strongly interested in business and technology cooperation with European partners.
In October, Minister of Economic Affairs Colette Boos-John led a Thuringian delegation trip to China – by far the most important import market for Thuringia: In 2024, more than a quarter of Thuringia's total imports came from the Middle Kingdom. The Thuringian delegation was the first of its kind to visit China since 2018 – the visit was a strong signal for cooperation between Thuringia and China. Numerous political appointments as well as networking events and discussions with companies were held. In addition to Beijing and Shanghai also Ningde, where the official part of the delegation visited, among others, the headquarters of the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL.
Marcus Malsch, Thuringia's State Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Areas, accompanied a Thuringian business delegation to Vietnam in November. This trip also took place on the occasion of the celebrations marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. In addition to agricultural topics, aspects of skilled worker recruitment were also among the focuses.
Also in November, a Thuringian delegation led by Minister-President Mario Voigt traveled to Israel. The trip was flanked by other Thuringian politicians and state secretaries from various departments – such as the Ministry of Economics and the Ministry of the Interior. The agenda included stops in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where, among other things, the Knesset was visited and political talks were held. The Thuringian business delegation consisted primarily of companies from the optics and optoelectronics sector, but textile companies were also on board.
In the coming year, we are also planning an offering for you with balanced target markets to support you as effectively as possible in your export business. Important non-aligned markets will continue to play a significant role in this: politically supported delegation trips to India, Poland, and Brazil & Argentina are currently being considered. The latter markets are likely to experience particular momentum due to the EU-MERCOSUR free trade agreement. The topic Attracting skilled workers will continue to be supported; we will also continue to monitor global geopolitical developments together with our research partner FitchSolutions observe global geopolitical developments and take them into account accordingly. You can already mark the 18th Thuringian Foreign Trade Day on March 24, 2026 in Jena.
The team of Thüringen International wishes you continued success in export business in the coming year and stands by you supportively .
