UAE, Germany strengthen economic ties with €40 billion investment and strategic dialogue

The UAE and Germany have entered a new chapter in their relationship with the launch of the Strategic Dialogue. What do you see as the biggest opportunity to transform this political momentum into tangible economic and investment outcomes over the next few years?

The biggest opportunity is to turn our strategic partnership into a platform for concrete projects. The Strategic Dialogue gives us the institutional framework to do exactly that, while the new UAE-German Investment Council can connect capital, technology and business opportunities. The recent State Visit of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to Germany demonstrated the momentum very clearly: we saw major investment announcements, solidified by a monumental €40 billion investment package and 29 new B2B agreements. Now the task is the implementation to fill these agreements with life. We need to translate the political commitment into investment, innovation, jobs and resilient supply chains.

Bilateral trade and investment are gaining significant momentum, but where do you believe the greatest untapped potential now lies, particularly across advanced manufacturing, AI, digital infrastructure, clean energy and future technologies?

I see particularly strong potential where the UAE’s strengths complement Germany’s industrial and technological capabilities: artificial intelligence and physical robotics, advanced manufacturing, digital infrastructure, renewable energy and the wider energy transition. We should also look at logistics, smart infrastructure and research and development.

The combination of Emirati AI expertise with Germany’s industrial base offers significant opportunities. The €40 billion UAE investment package announced during the State Visit, including advanced digital infrastructure and data centres, illustrates the scale of what is possible.

Furthermore, there is significant untapped economic potential in the area of cooperation of medium sized enterprises. Germany has many „hidden champions“that, in response to the changing geopolitical landscape, are increasingly turning their attention towards the Gulf region.

German industry has traditionally been associated with engineering, precision and manufacturing excellence. As the global economy is reshaped by AI, energy transition and digitalisation, how is Germany reinventing that proposition for partners such as the UAE?

Germany’s industrial strength remains an important asset, but it is increasingly being combined with new technologies. In the future, it can’t be simply “German engineering”; it will be engineering together with AI, robotics, digitalisation, advanced materials, clean technologies and research.

For the UAE, this creates opportunities for joint development rather than simply buying and selling products. The aim should be to build technologies and businesses together, that can compete internationally.

The UAE increasingly serves as a gateway connecting Europe with the Middle East, Asia and Africa. How can German companies use the country not simply as an export market, but as a base for innovation, investment and international expansion?

The UAE is not only a destination market anymore, it is increasingly developing. Around 2,000 German companies have a presence here, and many use the UAE to work with wider regional markets.

The next step is to deepen this model: establish Research and Development, and innovation activities, build regional partnerships and use the UAE’s connectivity to reach markets across the Gulf, Asia and Africa. That means, for German companies, the UAE can be both, a market and a platform for international growth.

Beyond business and diplomacy, what would you like the next generation of Emiratis and Germans to understand about each other, and how can education, culture and people-to-people connections build a deeper partnership for the decades ahead?

I would like young Emiratis and Germans to see the relationship as something they can shape themselves. Just last week, I spent several days in Al Ain, where I met with students, young professionals and representatives of youth organisations. I was impressed by how young Emiratis organise themselves and work together – there are certainly lessons Germany can learn from that.

At the same time, I saw a strong interest in exchanges with Germany. We already have some excellent programmes connecting young people with internships and career opportunities, but we need to strengthen and promote them further. We should also be ambitious in developing new platforms for exchange – from stronger university partnerships, potentially including a German university presence in the UAE, to new cultural initiatives such as a German museum.

We really want to broaden this cultural dimension of our relationship. Ultimately, lasting partnerships are built not only between institutions, but between people who understand each other’s societies and see opportunities in working together.