German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has appointed Martin Blessing to the new position of "Personal Representative for Investment", tasked with positioning Germany as an attractive destination for foreign investment.

The German Federal Government has announced the appointment of former Commerzbank CEO Martin Blessing to the new position of "Personal Representative for Investment". The role could be understood as equivalent to a "Chief Investment Officer", or "Investment Tsar" advisory role to the government.

Apart from his tenure at Commerzbank, Blessing has also held senior positions at UBS and most recently led Danske Bank from 2022-2025. He comes from a banking family: his grandfather was President of the German Bundesbank in the 1960s, and his father a board member of Deutsche Bank in the 1980s. He is married to Dorothee Blessing, who led J.P. Morgan's DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) operations from 2016-2024, and who is now co-head of investment banking internationally.

Announcing the appointment at a press conference, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasised the importance of the new role in making Germany attractive for foreign investors.

Blessing will act as a personal contact for foreign companies and individuals, and represent Germany as an investment destination internationally. By gaining an overview of the priorities and needs of investors, Blessing will act as an advisor for the government on how to optimise investment frameworks, reduce bureaucracy and accelerate decision processes. Additionally to this advisory and representative role, he simultaneously takes over a formal role as head of Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI), an advisory body for foreign companies investing in Germany. 

A focus of the new role will be to mobilise private capital for investments in innovation and infrastructure projects. In this sense, Blessing was quoted as saying "Germany needs growth, and growth needs investment".

During the press conference, Merz emphasised the challenge ahead for Germany to win back the trust of investors. He also pointed out the success of the government during its first six months, having attracted over 60 major investments worth a total of over 630 Billion Euros over the next three years through the initiative "Made for Germany".

Apart from the appointment of Blessing, Merz also signalled the government's intent to initiate major Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), especially in infrastructure projects. Through this, he presented a strategy to drive economic development, positioning Germany as a destination not only for large industrial companies, but also for middle sized companies.

The appointment of Blessing and the announcement of the further initiatives and intentions comes in the context in a stagnation of the Germany economy in recent years. According to the GTAI's own figures, the number of investments continued to decline in 2024, a trend the new government is clearly hoping to reverse.

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Image Credits: bundesregierung.de