UAE-German Trade Exchange Grows by Leaps and Bounds

Buoyed by strong economic partnership, trade exchange between the UAE and German grew by leaps and bounds, making the UAE the key trade partner of Germany in the Middle East and North Africa, a senior UAE official said today. ''Bilateral trade relations shot up nearly 120% from 3.9 billion Euros in 2004 to 8.5 billion Euros in 2011 thanks to the packages of trade facilities and enables the UAE offers to Germany from free-business environment, incentives and modern infrastructure, ''Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of Ministry of Foreign Trade, told the UAE-Germany Business Council meeting in Dubai.

Germany, he said, exported goods worth over US$7 billion last year Around 1000 German companies are operating in the UAE which also hosts a German community of 9000 people. ''While the UAE is exploring investment opportunities in Germany's key sectors like renewable energy, knowledge economy, tourism, , ICT and advanced technologies, the German companies can tap tremendous business opportunities in the UAE in areas of building and construction, light and heavy industries, manufacturing industries, energy, tourism, finance, and water resources management,'' he added.