Germany-UAE: A strategic partnership

Germany-UAE: A strategic partnership

The two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2004, further enhancing strong ties in political, economic and cultural areas.

"The UAE is our most important economic partner in the Arab region… We are interested in intensifying our economic relations."

– HE Dr. Angela Merkel, German Federal Chancellor, February 2007

 

The UAE is the largest buyer of German products in the Arab world and Germany’s seventh biggest export market outside Europe, with German exports to the UAE reaching € 8.2 billion in 2008 (+42% over 2007). Dubai accounts for almost two thirds of this amount. The trade balance is overwhelmingly (94%) in Germany’s favour. There are some 750 German companies operating in the UAE.

Germany's exports to the UAE

Emirati investors increasingly choose Germany for their multi-million euro investments in a wide range of German industries and companies. Visitor numbers from the Arab Gulf States into Germany have also been increasing rapidly, outperforming the growth rate of German international tourist arrivals as a whole. Emirates’ services to Germany have had a catalytic effect on these excellent relations between the two countries.