Energy and AI in Germany: Emirates want to make money rain

rtr | The United Arab Emirates (UAE) want to expand their economic relations with Germany and invest an additional 40 billion euros. UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced this on Thursday on the occasion of the first state visit of an Emirati president to Berlin.

The Gulf state's industry minister, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, announced the plans. The funds will be used, among other things, to strengthen the energy supply and supply chains and are in addition to the previous financial commitment of ‌34 billion euros. “Germany has been an important strategic and economic partner for decades,” said al-Jaber.

According to a joint statement by both governments, the new investment package is particularly aimed at digital infrastructure. Among other things, the plan is to build state-of-the-art data centers with a capacity of around 1 gigawatt, according to the English-language document. In addition, companies from both countries signed 29 letters of intent and agreements with a total volume of more than 9.36 billion euros.

In order to permanently deepen cooperation in areas such as defense, trade, energy and artificial intelligence (AI), Merz and the UAE President agreed to start a strategic dialogue. Cooperation in liquefied natural gas (LNG), renewable energies and hydrogen is also to be expanded. Germany grants the UAE additional traffic rights in air traffic.

In addition to economic issues, security policy took up a lot of space. Both sides strongly condemned Iranian attacks on the UAE and other countries in the region as well as on civilian infrastructure. They also accused the Islamic Republic of effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz and called for an end to the threat to merchant shipping. With a view to the Middle East conflict, Germany and the UAE reaffirmed their adherence to a two-state solution. They also urged the disarmament of the radical Islamic Hamas and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

The Russian war against Ukraine was also a topic of discussion. Germany thanked the UAE for mediating the prisoner exchange between Kyiv and Moscow. Since the beginning of the war, almost 8,000 prisoners of war have been released this way. Berlin and Abu Dhabi agreed on joint humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian population this winter, which will focus on decentralized infrastructure and food security. The UAE President ‌ends his visit on Friday.