Last updated in March 2010
Political relations
Germany has maintained diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 1972 and is accorded privileged partner status. In April 2004, a strategic partnership was agreed upon, and in October 2008 it was agreed to hold regular political consultations, underlining the intention of the two governments to step up relations in the political sphere as well as maintaining extensive trade relations. In summer 2009, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation opened a regional office in Abu Dhabi, the first German political foundation to do so.
The numerous high-ranking visits are an expression of the close cooperation between the two countries. Recent visits include that by Federal Chancellor Merkel to the UAE in February 2007, the visit to Berlin by Head of Government Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in February 2008, the visit to Berlin by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on 12 January 2009, the visit to Abu Dhabi by German Bundestag President Lammert on 9 June 2009, a return visit to Germany by the Speaker of the Federal National Council, Al Ghurair, in November 2009 and the visit to Abu Dhabi by Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle in January 2010.
Economic relations
The UAE are Germany’s most important trading partner in the Arab world. The UAE’s importance as a market for German exports is comparable with that of India, Hong Kong or Singapore. In 2008, the volume of bilateral trade grew by nearly 40 per cent, to EUR 8.16 billion. In 2009, German exports fell to EUR 6.1 billion as a result of the global financial and economic crisis; less pronounced was the decline in German imports from the UAE (EUR 466 million). In four years, German exports to the UAE have more than doubled, the principal exports being vehicles, machinery, electrical equipment as well as chemical products and energy technology. In 2009, the Emirate Abu Dhabi in particular made significant investments in Germany (including Daimler, Ferrostaal and Globalfoundries in Dresden and the photovoltaics sector in Thuringia).
All the instruments for promoting German foreign trade are available in thein UAE. The German Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the German Consulate General in Dubai provide advice and political support; the correspondent of Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) draws up sectoral analyses and evaluates calls for tenders. InMay2009, Federal Economics and Technology Minister zu Guttenberg attended the founding ceremony of theGerman-EmiratiJoint Council for Industry and Commerce (AHK) ,making Germany the first country to open a bilateral chamber of industry and commerce in the UAE. Its job is to further intensify bilateral trade and further improve German companies’ access to markets in the UAE.
Some 750 German companies operate in the UAE, most of them in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and a far smaller number in the Northern Emirates. German businesses have joined forces to form the German Business Councils Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In addition, the German National Tourist Board and the Fraunhofer Society have officesin Dubai.There are some 10,000 German nationals living in the UAE.
An air transport agreement and an investment promotion and protection agreement are in place between Germany and the UAE. The new double taxation agreement, on which negotiations were concluded in late 2008, is to take retrospective effect as of 1 January 2009, though it has not yet been signed. The old agreement expired at the end of 2008.
Cultural relations
Stepping up cultural relations is another objective of the strategic partnership. Education and training have become the number one priority of the government of the UAE and are the main items in the current 2009/2010 budget. In May 2006, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Goethe Institute (GI) opened a common regional office for the Gulf States in Abu Dhabi. In addition, a Goethe-Institute German language centre was established in Dubai in December 2007.
There are also numerous cooperation and exchange projects between universities in Germany and the UAE. In June 2009, the DAAD and the Emirati Ministry of Higher Education signed an agreement to send Emirati students to Germany (Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes). There are officially recognized German Schools in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The schools in Abu Dhabi and Dubai offer the German university-entrance qualification (Deutsches Internationales Abitur) and the school in Sharjah offers instruction up to the 10th grade. The German School in Abu Dhabi has been given the status of an International School (Begegnungschule) and moved to new premises in September 2008.
