Unique and significant partnership

The expansion and intensification of cooperation has led to an increase in trade and economic activities between Germany and the UAE

Top-level political dialogue continued to grow in intensity between Germany and the UAE over the last year reflecting strong ties in all areas of bilateral relations.

"New assets have been noted in our bilateral relations," says Jurgen Steltzer, German ambassador to the UAE.

"In view of our strategic relationship forged in 2004, regular consultations and visits from both ends have allowed us to cooperate and work together closely on regional and international issues.

"As the only partnership Germany associates with any country in this part of the world, our relationship with the UAE is regarded as unique and significant."

High-level visits
Consultations and discussions ensued during the visits of top political leaders from both countries that included the visit of the UAE's foreign minister to Germany in May and German foreign minister's visit to the UAE at about the same time.

In addition, several high-ranking officials, including the German federal minister of economics, federal minister for environment, vice-president of the German parliament and a number of federal state ministers also visited the UAE during 2005-2006.

The expansion and intensification of cooperation has led to an increase in trade and economic activities. Germany has already noted a 25 per cent export increase (for the first six months) over last year.

Export market
For Germany the UAE is the biggest export market in the region, and Germany is the fourth largest exporter to the UAE. Major German exports include machinery, electrical appliances and vehicles as well as iron and steel products.

In 2005, German exports to the UAE totalled more than 4.32 billion euros. UAE exports to Germany, which stood at 194.7 million euros in the first six months of 2005, grew to 262 million euros in the first half of 2006.

"While the UAE has a booming economy with abundant investment and development opportunities, Germany continues to be the world's leading exporting country for the fourth time in a row even coming ahead of the US. This credibility makes us competent and provides a reputed name in the UAE market," says Steltzer.

The UAE hosts a 7,500 to 8,000-strong German community as well as 500 German companies. However the ambassador wishes to see more of German representation in the UAE, especially smaller companies that offer good products and big players who are not yet represented here.

"We are focusing on strategies to attract more German business delegations with actual decision-makers. We are expecting the minister of economics from the Bavaria federation for discussions soon."

Popular destination
The UAE hosted about 320,000 German tourists last year and the figure is rising.

"The UAE is a popular destination for tourists from Germany. Recently a world-class German travel magazine featured the UAE prominently and I believe such positive feedback will definitely boost more tourism traffic from Germany.

"On the other hand, 30,000 German visas have been issued from the UAE, which is fairly good and promising. We are working towards attracting more UAE nationals to visit Germany," says Steltzer.

The regional offices of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Goethe Institut opened in Abu Dhabi this May. DAAD provides information on German educational opportunities for students from the UAE and the Goethe Institut offers German language classes.

The interest generated by these initiatives encouraged the embassy to organise presentations on the country's cultural scene.

Cultural weeks
Held from November to December, the German Cultural Weeks are devoted to the country's literature, music, art and craft.

Events include a jazz show, celebration of German National Day, a photo/video exhibition on ‘thoughts about the west', movies and the inauguration of the first Deutsche-Welle-Punkt in the Gulf.

The cultural activities end with a classical music concert by the Deutsches Symphonie Orchestra Berlin on December 3.

"Soon after the opening of DAAD - the biggest organisation of its kind in the world - Berlin hosted a group of UAE national students for summer courses in political and IT sciences. All students came back with very positive experiences, some might go back to Germany to pursue their future studies," says Steltzer.

Study destination
With DAAD students can access information about studying in Germany, which is more economical than the UK or the US. Some German universities offer free tuition. The embassy is also in talks with reputed German universities to open campuses in the UAE.

Because the next six months will see Germany heading the presidency of the European Union and chairing the G8 Summit, the embassy plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union in March 2007 by organising ‘European Cultural Months' in cooperation with the other 15 European embassies in the UAE.