The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, comprising the economic centers Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg, is home to 2.4 million people.

With its central location in Germany and Europe and the best transport connections by land, water and air, the region has developed into an industrial agglomeration with approximately 1.2 million employed persons. The biotechnology, chemical and pharmaceutical industries constitute a vital part of the region's economic potential.

Above and beyond its importance as an economic center, the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region is characterized by a lively research environment. Paramount are the life sciences: biosciences, chemistry and medicine.

Since 2005, the Rhine-Neckar Region has ranked among the European Metropolitan Regions. Thus the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region was distinguished as a motor of growth and innovation in Germany and, together with ten other German metropolitan regions, it plays a key role in the country's social and economic development. Under the umbrella of the treaty between the states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, all parties work together across borders.