Alabama Deepens Global Investment Ties During Atlanta Consular Reception

Alabama was in Atlanta this month, as top economic development leaders held a March 3 reception with the local consular corps to deepen international investment partnerships worth $3.6 billion to the state. 

Most career consulates in Atlanta cover an array of states in the broader Southeast U.S., and surrounding states regularly visit the Georgia capital to hold public receptions and closed-door engagements with diplomats. 

Georgia’s neighbor to the west has been particularly aggressive in courting foreign investments, building on long-ago wins like Hyundai (Korea), Airbus (France) and Mercedes-Benz (Germany) to continue driving growth in key sectors. 

Alabama is particularly strong in the automotive industry, which has helped the state woo more than 80 companies each from Germany and Japan, two of its top investor nations. Its most recent OEM arrival was a Toyota-Mazda joint venture in Huntsville, Ala., which opened in 2021 and now employs more than 2,000 people. 

These and other successes with Japanese partners drove the Alabama Department of Commerce to open a Tokyo trade and investment office last fall, with plans unveiled by Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair as she sat beside Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp at the SEUS-Japan conference there in October.

Speaking at the March gathering in Atlanta, Ms. McNair said the Tokyo office followed another new outpost in Seoul, both of which complement its European base in Stuttgart, Germany, home to Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, along with many auto suppliers that have set up shop in Alabama. 

Foreign direct investment was key to a record year attracting $14.5 billion in overall investment in 2025. Foreign firms brought 61 projects worth $3.6 billion, creating 2,274 jobs, according to a department report. The biggest single country was Luxembourg, the headquarters of ArcelorMittal, a steel company with roots in India and the U.K. that operates a massive plant in Calvert, Ala., now being expanded to the tune of $1.2 billion. South Korea, meanwhile, accounted for 20 projects, a third of Alabama’s FDI total, that are set to create 811 jobs. The only other country in the double digits by projects was Japan with 11 investments creating 243 jobs on $273 million in new investment. 

“It is extremely important that the state of Alabama be represented with full time offices around the globe. We are not going to stop with just those three, so we look forward to opening additional offices around the world,” Ms. McNair said in Atlanta.  

She added that the state was increasing the operational budget for the European office led by Managing Director Christoph Doerr, who flew into Atlanta to address a crowd that included many European consuls, honorary consuls and trade officials. 

Mr. Doerr has first-hand experience with the Alabama business climate, having launched a German subsidiary there in 2005 that was acquired seven years later by an Italian die-casting company. It was “emotional” to go back to see the progress in his old stomping grounds — in a positive way, Mr. Doerr said. 

“My baby is growing and growing in Alabama, and the new owner, he told me what I have seen in my experience with other companies, that Alabama is not only a place where they can start production, but Alabama is also a huge, growing market,” he told the audience in brief remarks. 

Dana McCain, Alabama state director for U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), also delivered remarks on behalf of the senator, who wanted to convey “how incredibly proud she is of Alabama’s place in the global economy. From agriculture to aerospace to the automotive industry, Alabama is uniquely poised to be at the forefront of so much international trade.”

Other leaders from the city of Birmingham, the Birmingham Business Alliance, the Alabama Port Authority and various honorary consuls covering Alabama joined the event, which was sponsored by Southeast Gas, PowerSouth and other key partners and attended by Atlanta service providers with operations across the South.