Dubai: Germany will depend on the fast-growing markets of the Middle East and Far East to grow its exports, which make up a third of its GDP, as demand from the ailing Eurozone stagnates, a senior government official told Gulf News.

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is aiming for more than 10 per cent increase in trade with the UAE and the Middle East this year, Hans-Joachim Otto, parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology, said in an exclusive interview.

“An increase in exports can only be reached through the Far East and the Middle East,” he said during a visit to Dubai for the Intersec exhibition. “Demand from Europe is very stable and not changing. Exports for Germany are crucial. The UAE and Middle East are one of the fastest-growing regions and our focus is first on the Far East and second the Middle East.”

The German economy contracted 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012—shrinking more than at any point since the global financial crisis in 2008-2009, according to government statistics released on Tuesday. The economy was hit hard by the Eurozone crisis as traditionally strong exports slowed.

Germany hopes to boost its exports to the UAE and Middle East through homeland security and fire safety products as well as high-tech products especially in transport and logistics, Otto said.

“Homeland security and fire security are the most important export goods. It’s the reason I came here, for us it’s a big thing,” he said, referring to his visit to the Intersec exhibition, a trade fair for security products.

In the first half of 2012, German exports to the UAE increased by 33 per cent to reach 3.9 billion Euros compared to the same period in 2011, he said, citing the latest available figures. “Among German export to the UAE, security-related products are the biggest drivers.” Germany is the UAE’s sixth biggest trading partner.

Germany is focused on broadening the investments from the Arab world, which remain focused on big-name auto companies, to include smaller but innovative IT companies, Otto said.

“They [Arab investors] prefer well-known brands and big companies but not the young, small ones, we want to change this,” he said.

The German government has forecast a GDP growth of one per cent in 2013 and is optimistic about achieving this as the US has worked to solve the fiscal cliff problem and emerging markets are seeing improved growth, he noted.

“if we reach one percent growth in 2013, it would be a very positive development…All that could not happen without exports, they are the real pillar of the German economy and more than one third of the GDP comes from exports,” he said.

German exports, which mainly rely on industrial products, are expected to increase by one per cent next year, he said.