Page 242 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - APRIL 2025 (Part 1)

P. 242

4/28/25, 3:09 PM HE Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi meets PM of Germany’s North-Rhine Westphalia region to discuss collaboration in high-growth sectors
Abu Dhabi, UAE – HE Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, has held talks with
His Excellency Hendrik Josef Wüst, the Minister-President of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in
Germany, in which they agreed to pursue stronger trade ties and collaborate in key sectors such as
technology, advanced manufacturing and the green economy. The meeting 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 US$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 United Arab Emirates, which is reflected in the growing ties
between the two, including Emirati investments into North Rhine-Westphalia’s ammonia value chain and

the development of hydrogen as a form of renewable energy.

HE Dr Thani said the meeting with HE Wüst highlighted these complementarities and offered a roadmap
for greater collaboration in key sectors going forward. “The United Arab Emirates 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, we see a multitude of avenues for cooperation and investment, while our free-
trade network can ensure the region’s industrial output can seamlessly reach key markets in Asia and
Africa. The UAE also remains 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.”

The United Arab Emirates and Germany, the third-largest economy in the world, shared non-oil trade
worth US$13.8 billion in 2024, a 5.4% increase on 2023. The UAE also has investments in excess of
US$1.2 billion committed to projects across Germany. The UAE recently announced its intentions to
open negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the European
Union, of which Germany is the single largest economy.