UAE, Germany to Strengthen Trade Ties in Key Sectors

The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi and Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany Hendrik Josef Wüst, on Friday agreed to pursue stronger trade ties and collaborate in key sectors such as technology, advanced manufacturing and the green economy.

The meeting of the two leaders was followed by a business roundtable that paired senior figures from the region’s private sector with their UAE counterparts to explore areas of mutual benefit and discuss partnership opportunities.

North Rhine-Westphalia is the economic powerhouse of Germany. Home to 37 of the country’s top 100 corporations, the region’s GDP reached $990 billion in 2024, which equates to 20% of Germany’s total economic output.

Although it has historically been Germany’s industrial heartland, its economic vision is focusing on digital technologies, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing and the green economy, with research projects into water management and agri-tech solutions.

As such, it has many synergies with the UAE, which is reflected in the growing ties between the two countries, including Emirati investments into North Rhine-Westphalia’s ammonia value chain and the development of hydrogen as a form of renewable energy.

Dr Thani said that the meeting with Wüst highlighted these complementarities and offered a roadmap for greater collaboration in key sectors going forward.

He said that the UAE has long enjoyed a positive and productive relationship with Germany, and North Rhine-Westphalia, with its industrial heritage and forward-looking vision, has been central to it.

From the digital economy to energy transition and the green economy, they witnessed a multitude of avenues for cooperation and investment, while their free-trade network can ensure the region’s industrial output can seamlessly reach key markets in Asia and Africa.

UAE Welcomes German Entrepreneurs

He said that the UAE also remained an open, welcoming business environment for any enterprises from North Rhine-Westphalia seeking to expand into the Middle East and help develop our industrial and innovation ecosystem.

“Today’s meeting with HE Wüst and the subsequent business roundtable will help create the networks that can facilitate this activity, and we remain on hand to support bilateral trade and investment flows in the months and years ahead,” Dr Thani added.

The UAE and Germany, the third-largest economy in the world, shared non-oil trade worth $13.8 billion in 2024, a 5.4% increase compared with 2023. The UAE also has investments in excess of $1.2 billion committed to projects across Germany.

The UAE recently announced its intentions to open negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union, of which Germany is the single largest economy.