UAE is Most Important Economic Partner for Germany

The Sultan Bin Zayed's Culture And Media Centre hosted a seminar under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President's Representative and Chairman of the Sultan Bin Zayed's Culture and Media Centre, to mark the forty years of the setting up of diplomatic relations between UAE and Germany entitled ''UAE-German Relations....40 years of Friendship and Excellence". The seminar was attended by among others by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, Yousef Habib Al Sayegh, Director-General of the Center and Juma Al Kait, the Assistant Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Affairs at MOFT, Nikolai von Schoepff, Ambassador of Federal Republic of Germany to the State and a number of officials.

Al Mansouri on the occasion stressed the importance of this seminar which highlighted the open policy pursued by the country since the establishment of the Union and even today with all the world countries as UAE has succeeded in strengthening its position as one of the most influential countries in the world in the global economy. He added that the seminar, focusing on the history of forty years of distinguished relations between the UAE and Germany, confirmed State's policy of openness and building strategic relationships with other countries of the world. He pointed out that Germany is enjoying close economic ties with the Arab world, specifically UAE, which is the most important economic partner in the Arab region. He stated that the German product quality and high technological standards have all contributed to make Germany a strategic partner of the UAE based on the keenness of each of the two countries to deepen economic relations between them, resulting in signing a strategic partnership in April 2004.

He added that the bilateral economic relations is consistently supported through visits by senior political officials as in the past few years, important visits have taken place between the two sides to strengthen cooperation, including visits by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the UAE in 2007 and 2010, the visit of the Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to Germany in 2008 as well as the visit of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces in 2009 and also the Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle's visit to the UAE last year, in addition to the visit of H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister to the German capital Berlin.

Al Mansouri said that as a result of these strong relationships, exports and joint investments have increased and the volume of trade exchange between the two countries in 2011 amounted to AED 31 billion and now the UAE is one of the most important export markets to Germany in the Arab world. Moreover, the volume of German investment in 2011 reached to Euros 371 million.

The minister reiterated that the developments and economic changes taking place in the world today and specifically in the European financial crisis makes it imperative for the two countries to strengthen joint work frameworks, consolidate efforts and boost cooperation in various fields and sectors in order to meet these economic transformations with high efficiency. He added that in this context, UAE is currently working on exploring investment opportunities in various vital sectors in Germany, such as renewable energy and knowledge economy, tourism, Islamic finance, infrastructure, information technology, communications, health, science and advanced technology, training, education and small and medium enterprises. For his part, Al Sayegh conveyed the greetings of Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed and his wishes for the success of this seminar.

He stressed that the seminar aims to support political, cultural and economic relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Federal Republic of Germany. Meanwhile, the German Ambassador in his speech stressed that the United Arab Emirates is the most important economic partner for Germany as it is considered the first partner in the region and the fourth at the global level. He also highlighted UAE-German relations in 40 years pointing out that Emirati and German sides are looking forward to more strong relationships as much can be done through constructive cooperation between the two countries. He also discussed the cultural relations between the two sides, adding that Germany is looking forward to further cooperation in this area because the culture and language are the basis of building bridges.