MUNICH, Germany — As BMW Z4 roadsters zip along Germany’s fast-paced Autobahn, a piece of South Carolina’s economy rides with them.

In 2003, South Carolina exported more than $2.7 billion in goods to Germany, surpassing Canada to become the state’s largest trading partner.

Automobiles counted for nearly 90 percent of South Carolina’s shipments to Germany, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce. The state shipped $2.3 billion worth of vehicles — mostly BMW cars to Germany — last year.

The Z4 roadsters and X5 sport utility vehicles shipped back to Germany are expensive, which raises the amount of export dollars that leave South Carolina for Germany, said Sam Moses, director of the state’s European Trade Office in Munich, Germany.

While BMW has the largest profile, 85 more German-owned companies have a presence in South Carolina. Together, they employ nearly 20,000 South Carolinians.

Some have been in the state since the 1960s, while others followed BMW.

Other products leaving South Carolina for Germany include machinery, wood pulp and plastics.

The trade partnership between South Carolina and Germany is one state economic developers would like to grow and one that they spend considerable time and money to improve.

“Exporting creates jobs at home,” Moses said.

German-owned companies employ nearly 20,000 South Carolinians, according to Commerce Department data.

A trade delegation from Columbia returned from Germany on Oct. 16.

This summer, Gov. Mark Sanford, Commerce Secretary Bob Faith and a 32-person delegation from the Upstate spent a week in southern Germany. There, they attended receptions, promoted South Carolina at a trade show and met with potential business partners.

The state delegation’s trip has not landed a hard prospect, but people in the economic development world believe these trips must take place. They believe it’s important to nurture existing relationships, and they never know where the next prospect might show up.

HEADING SOUTH

Most of South Carolina’s attention is focused on Bavaria, the southernmost state in Germany. Munich, Bavaria’s capital city, is home to BMW — and home to South Carolina’s European Trade Office.

The state’s Munich office is one of two overseas locations; the second is in Tokyo. The state has had a trade office in Europe for 30 years, Moses said.

The office sits in an upstairs building across from the busy Marienplatz, where hundreds of tourists gather every morning to watch the glockenspiel’s mechanical copper characters dance to German folk music.

There’s little evidence of South Carolina’s presence to the tourists as only a small brass plate above a back door indicates it is nearby. Inside the office, Moses and his staff of two plan their strategy for spreading the word about South Carolina.

About 80 percent of their time is spent on luring foreign investment to South Carolina, while the rest of the time is spent helping South Carolina businesses export to Europe, Moses said.

He travels to trade shows around Europe. Sometimes, South Carolina sets up a booth to tout the state. At other shows, Moses makes appointments with business executives and industry analysts.

“We’re trying to get the next tip. We do investigations, too,” Moses said. “We talk to the industry and try to figure out the next company on the cusp of an investment.”

SELLING THE STATE

When Moses hears about a potential prospect, he tries to sell South Carolina.

Lately, German companies have slowed their expansions because of problems on the domestic economic front. The unemployment rates are high, especially in east Germany, and job growth has been slow.

Besides Germany’s own economic struggles, other factors go against South Carolina’s efforts to build its relationship with German investors.

Whenever South Carolina shows up at a trade show, it’s likely that other states — and even other countries — are there, too.

In June, the Upstate Alliance showcased its automotive cluster and Clemson University’s new International Automotive Research Center. Sanford was a featured speaker at the show held in Stuttgart.

“South Carolina definitely was the biggest, because we had the governor visiting,” said Frederike Suess, a spokeswoman for Forum-Amerika, the event’s organizer. “We couldn’t possibly make it just South Carolina.”

Indeed, representatives from Virginia, North Carolina, Michigan, Alabama, Ontario, Canada and Mexico were in the room, too.

Before BMW, few in the German automotive industry had heard of South Carolina, Suess said.

“BMW is certainly the company that really called attention to South Carolina,” Suess said. “Everybody knows what’s going on in South Carolina.”

While in Stuttgart, Sanford dined with Horst Mehrlander, the secretary of economic affairs for the state Baden-Wuerttemberg. Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg, and home to Daimler-Chrysler, Bosch and Porsche.

Mehrlander said the two politicians held a nice conversation, although it wasn’t too deep. After all, they were eating dinner, he said. However, South Carolina is now in Mehlander’s mind when a Baden-Wuerttemberg company is looking for a new trade partner.

Last year, Baden-Wuerttemberg exported $130 billion, Mehrlander said, and the United States was the second-largest market for those products.

“It’s the right way in times of globalization,” Mehrlander said. “They must go to other markets to find their customers.”

As much as Mehrlander talks about Baden-Wuerttemberg companies selling overseas, he also suggests that American companies should invest in his state by opening factories and offices. He recognizes it’s a long shot, considering the high wages earned in this region of Germany

But Mehrlander said it would be a good place to sell products to the rest of the European Union.

“We now have more than 400 million people as customers here,” he said. “Sorry. That’s more than the USA.”

Moses agreed that South Carolina companies should look to the European market.

The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that every $1 billion of goods sold for export supports 16,000 jobs at home. The S.C. Department of Commerce uses that formula to suggest that more than 150,000 state jobs are a result of exports, with 20 percent of them in manufacturing.

“Exporting creates jobs at home. Germans have to export. They’re next to France. They’re next to Italy. About 85 percent of their sales are exports,” Moses said. “The Germans sell goods to us, but we don’t compete in their market.”

Phillips can be reached at (803) 771-8307 or nophillips@thestate.com.