Historically, Europe has produced some of the most successful companies in the world. Its starting point is not bad. But Europe suffers from an R&D gap relative to global hotspots. It spends less than 2 per cent of GDP on research and development each year. This is significantly below the Americans and about half of what the frontrunners in South Korea invest.
[Slide 7: Global innovation is the engine innovation]  Side 4 af 8  The vanguard of innovation is not in Europe. The hotspots dominating global patent applications are Tokyo, Shenzhen, San Francisco, Osaka and Seoul. The top European region – Munich – is number 13. Back in 1989 seven European regions were in top 20. Today, it is down to three.