Key Points
- The UAE will invest €40 billion across German industry, AI, digital infrastructure and energy sectors.
- The pledge builds on €34 billion the UAE says it has already invested in Germany.
- A new investment council and 12-point strategic dialogue give the partnership a formal framework.
The latest:
A €40 billion ($46.47 billion) UAE investment programme in Germany was announced Thursday as President Sheikh Mohamed met Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin, with €10 billion earmarked for Bavaria alone. The money is intended for industry, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and energy. Sheikh Mohamed said the two countries are committed to building lasting opportunities on more than 50 years of cooperation.
Details:
- The numbers: The €40 billion pledge is additional to €34 billion the UAE has already invested in Germany, according to Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology. A quarter of the new sum, €10 billion, is directed to Bavaria. No timeline was given for when the capital will be deployed.
- New machinery: Two institutional steps were announced alongside the money: a UAE-German Investment Council and the launch of a Strategic Dialogue between the two governments. Al Jaber said the council is meant to connect capital with commercial opportunities and strengthen industrial and supply-chain resilience in both countries.
- The 12-point plan: The Strategic Dialogue sets out twelve areas of agreement, from defence and security cooperation and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters to energy, the environment, culture, data hosting and information systems. A separate arrangement covers an international initiative to simplify passenger procedures.
- The aviation opening: One memorandum covers air transport arrangements and access rights for UAE national airlines to Berlin Brandenburg Airport, identified in the dialogue document as a key priority. Emirates has sought to serve the German capital’s main airport for years without success.
- The 1994 obstacle: Emirates currently flies to Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich, but a 1994 ruling bars the Dubai carrier from adding another German airport unless it drops an existing route. No detail was announced on how or when that restriction would be resolved.
- Data centres: A joint declaration of intent commits the UAE to investing in data centres in Germany, and a draft letter of intent covers cooperation in data hosting and information systems. Neither the number of facilities nor their locations was specified.
- Berlin’s framing: Merz said cooperation between the two countries is guided by a shared commitment to a safer, more stable and prosperous future for coming generations. Al Jaber said the investment would reinforce German competitiveness, support skilled employment and strengthen energy security and supply chains.
- The Emirati case: Al Jaber said the package would bring world-class German capabilities into the UAE’s economic platform and create opportunities to invest alongside leading German industrial and technology companies, building businesses able to serve growth markets across the Gulf, Asia and Africa.
- The legal frame: A Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement said the document is intended to revitalise the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership founded in 2004, steering deeper cooperation across security, defence, trade, energy, climate, technology, transport, culture and education toward “concrete outcomes for mutual benefit”.
Background:
The UAE and Germany established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2004. Sheikh Mohamed also held talks with the German President during the Berlin visit, which included meetings on strengthening bilateral ties.
Between the lines:
The aviation memorandum is the most commercially specific item in the package. A 1994 ruling has capped Emirates at four German airports, and Berlin Brandenburg was named a key priority in the dialogue document rather than settled outright — signalling intent without a resolution. The wider structure, a council plus a twelve-point dialogue, suggests both sides are building durable channels rather than one-off transactions.
What’s next
Watch for the first meeting of the UAE-German Investment Council, any regulatory move revisiting the 1994 ruling on Emirates’ German airport access, and named locations for the pledged data centre investments.
