Mariam Almheiri, UAE Minister of State for Food and Water Security, recently returned from a four-day trip to Germany, where she met with municipal and state government authorities to examine possible areas of partnership.

Almheiri led a UAE group on a three-city tour from June 29 to July 2, 2021, in Munich, Düsseldorf, and Aachen. The other will become the residence of the new German-Emirati Institute, which will open on the tour's last day.

Mariam Almheiri launched the German-Emirati Institute in Aachen intending to foster stronger collaboration on creating new and innovative technologies and applying them to collaborative Fourth-Industrial-Revolution projects.

Hafsa Abdullah Mohammed Al Ulama, the UAE ambassador to Germany, accompanied Almheiri on the trip. Two representatives from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office were also part of the group: Monira Hisham Al Kuttab, Executive Director of Promotions and Business Advisory, Salvatore Stephen Lavallo, Head of Foreign Direct Investment. Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, Executive Chairman of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), Mohamed Juma Al Musharrk, CEO of Sharjah FDI Office (Invest in Sharjah) and Maitha Al Saleh, Economic Specialist in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation.

“The UAE and Germany have always had strong economic and cultural ties,” Almheiri said. “Germany is among the UAE's most important European commercial partners, and the UAE is one of Germany's biggest active trading partners in the country". Furthermore, German firms have played an important role in the development of major industrial sectors in the UAE, notably energy. Meanwhile, UAE investments in the Federal Republic of Germany have increased consistently and significantly across a wide range of critical sectors.”

“We hope to build on this solid foundation to generate new possibilities for collaboration which could further promote the sustainable growth of both of our countries,” he said.

“The UAE had set big plans for the future, and we are dedicated to working closely with allies across the world to accomplish these goals, and to provide our help and experience. These discussions in three major German cities demonstrate our commitment and provide a forum for us to examine prospects which will be beneficial for both the economies in future.”

The delegation's first stop on the trip was in Munich, the capital of the southern German state of Bavaria, where they participated in an economic roundtable with the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development, and Energy, which had been inaugurated by Vice Minister Roland Weigert.

He then joined the leaders of the UAE Business Delegation for bilateral discussions with Michaela Kaniber, Bavarian State Minister for Food, Agriculture, and Forestry, and Melanie Huml, Bavarian State Minister for European and International Affairs. The first day finished with a discussion between BayWa AG officials and Bavarian government authorities.

On day two in Munich, Roland Weigert, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development, and Energy, convened with the delegates again in a bilateral meeting at his Ministry's headquarters.

The day was then concluded with an SAP Senior meeting. The team then paid a visit to the high-tech business Terra Plasma, in which they were greeted by Dr. Julia Zimmermann and Jens Kirsch (CEO Terraplasma Medical). The visit to Munich came to a close with a bilateral meeting with Ilse Aigner, President of the Bayerischer Landtag (Bavarian Parliament). The second visit was in Düsseldorf, the capital of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Mariam Almheiri met Armin Laschet, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport. The meeting emphasized the UAE and Germany's strong relations, and the two nations' determination to deepen their collaboration in a variety of areas in the future.

The UAE group subsequently met with André Kuper, President of the Landtag Nordrhein-Westfalen, during their visit to Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia Parliament). The team also attended a portion of the Landtag session, when Almheiri was personally greeted and got a warm welcome from its members. This has been preceded by a bilateral discussion with Hendrik Wüst, the Federal State of NRW's Minister of Transport.

Following that, the group attended a business lunch hosted by NRW Global Company in the presence of C-level business leaders.

Andreas Pinkwart, NRW's Minister of Economy, Innovation, Digitalization, and Energy, visited him the following afternoon. The trip to Düsseldorf finally ended with a high-level Business Roundtable, which was conducted by NRW Global Business.