Germany and the UAE to Establish a German-Emirati Investment Council: EUR 13.6 Billion in Trade in 2025, UAE Exports Up 58% and More Than EUR 34 Billion Invested in Germany

10 September 2026

The UAE has put a German-Emirati Investment Council on the table, and the two countries are due to set it up during the state visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Germany. The proposal came from Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and the UAE Special Envoy to Germany, in an opinion article published by the German business daily Handelsblatt on Wednesday 9 September 2026. The council is given three declared jobs: mobilise long-term capital, identify investment opportunities and remove barriers for businesses. The economic base under it, as cited in the same article: bilateral trade of around EUR 13.6 billion in 2025, up 15% on the previous year, UAE exports to Germany up 58%, more than EUR 34 billion already invested by the UAE in Germany, and over 2,000 German companies using the UAE as a regional base. The formal ceremony of the visit runs in Berlin on Thursday 10 September 2026.

What exactly was proposed

Al Jaber wrote that the UAE views Germany as a key location for industry and technology, and that the two countries can jointly lay the foundations for further long-term growth. The concrete instrument he named is an investment council to mobilise long-term capital. According to the same op-ed, the German-Emirati Investment Council will be established during the visit itself, and its remit is to mobilise long-term capital, identify investment opportunities and remove barriers for businesses.

Three things are worth reading carefully here, because they set the limits of the news. First, this is an institution, not a rule: no law, tariff, fee or licensing requirement changes because of it. Second, the published material does not yet name the membership, the secretariat, the first meeting date or a budget. Third, the wording is future tense: the council is to be established during the visit, so at the time of writing it is a commitment rather than a working body with a contact address. Anyone who wants to plan around it should watch for the founding documents rather than the headline.

Al Jaber holds three relevant titles at once, which is itself part of the message: Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, UAE Special Envoy to Germany, and Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNOC. The proposal therefore arrives from the same person who signs off on the largest Emirati industrial transactions in Europe.

The visit the announcement sits inside

This is the first state visit by a UAE President to Germany. The official programme published by the German Federal President runs on Thursday 10 September 2026: a reception with military honours and talks at Villa Borsig in Berlin at 10:00, and a state banquet at 19:30 hosted by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Elke Buedenbender. Diplomatic relations between the two countries date from 1972 and the strategic partnership from 2004.

Around the ceremony sits a commercial programme. Reuters reported on 9 September that Germany and the UAE would sign investment, artificial intelligence and energy agreements worth several billion dollars, including a dedicated framework for technology cooperation and further energy transition agreements building on the existing renewables, hydrogen and energy efficiency track. Lana Nusseibeh, Minister of State at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Reuters that a stronger UAE and Germany relationship can help connect European industrial and technological strengths with capital, energy and growth opportunities across the Gulf, Asia and Africa, and described the agreements as a statement of intent about the future. Speaking to the German newspaper Die Welt, Nusseibeh put the expected number of government and business agreements over the three-day visit at roughly 40 to 45, and said a further negotiating round on a free trade agreement between the UAE and the European Union is due in about a month. We covered the trade and investment backdrop of this visit in detail in our earlier report on the UAE President’s state visit to Germany.

The numbers behind the council, and why they differ

Coverage of this story quotes several different trade figures, and they are not contradictions: they count different things. The table below sets them side by side with the definition attached to each, so the gap stops looking like an error.

The structural point behind the table matters more than any single number. Germany sells the UAE high-value industrial goods: EUR 11.39 billion out, EUR 1.87 billion back in goods terms. On services the flow reverses, with the UAE exporting EUR 4.37 billion of services to Germany against EUR 2.97 billion the other way. In 2025 the UAE ranked 26th among destinations for German exports and 60th among sources of German imports. That asymmetry is exactly what a capital-focused council is meant to address: not more container traffic, but ownership stakes, plants and joint ventures on both sides.

What the EUR 34 billion is actually made of

The EUR 34 billion of UAE investment in Germany is not an abstraction, and it is not spread thinly. A small number of transactions account for most of it, and the two named in the op-ed are the two largest.

• Covestro. XRG, the international investment arm of ADNOC, agreed the acquisition of the German polymer group on 1 October 2024 and closed it on 10 December 2025. The total commitment was around EUR 14.7 billion, made up of roughly EUR 11.7 billion for the offer plus around EUR 3 billion of assumed debt, and it included a capital increase of EUR 1.17 billion paid into the company itself.
• Baltic Eagle. Masdar holds 49% of the 476 megawatt offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea alongside Iberdrola with 51%. The project cost around EUR 1.6 billion in total and reached full operation in July 2025.
• Leichtmetall. Emirates Global Aluminium is investing around USD 170 million in its recycling plant near Hanover, lifting capacity more than sixfold with an additional 110,000 tonnes of sorting and 153,000 tonnes of smelting, with first metal expected in 2028.
• MBS Logistics. AD Ports Group agreed on 18 May 2026 to acquire the German freight forwarder at an enterprise value of AED 300 million, around EUR 70 million. MBS reported 2025 revenue of AED 870 million and runs 26 offices with more than 450 staff; closing is expected in the second half of 2026 subject to European Union approval.
• Energy supply in the other direction. ADNOC Gas signed a three-year LNG agreement with the German state-owned SEFE on 10 July 2025 for 0.7 million tonnes a year, worth around USD 400 million, and ADNOC agreed with RWE in February 2026 to supply up to 1 million tonnes a year for up to ten years.

One point of honesty about the headline number. Official statistics measure this differently: the stock of UAE foreign direct investment in Germany stood at EUR 2.08 billion at the end of 2024 on the German side, against EUR 4.06 billion of German direct investment stock in the UAE. The gap is not a mistake by either side. Announced and committed investment includes deals that closed after the reporting date, debt assumed rather than equity injected, and holdings booked through intermediate jurisdictions. Covestro alone closed in December 2025, after the 2024 statistical cut-off. When you see EUR 34 billion in a speech and EUR 2.08 billion in a statistics table, both can be accurate about different things.

How many German companies are in the UAE: two numbers, two meanings

The figure quoted everywhere this week is more than 2,000 German companies. A separate indicator published alongside it puts the number of German companies operating in the UAE at 7,684, up 35% during 2025. Again, both are right. The 2,000 refers to German companies using the UAE as a regional headquarters or hub for the wider region; the 7,684 counts German companies with an operating presence of any size, including trading licences and small branches. As of late May 2026 there were 20,842 registered German trademarks in the UAE, and 102 scheduled flights a week connected the two countries as of August 2026, which is the practical infrastructure under those company numbers. German visitor arrivals passed 800,000 in 2025.

For anyone weighing a German-linked structure in the Emirates, the second number is the more useful one: it says that the everyday route of setting up a UAE entity for European business is well trodden, not exotic. Our guides to company formation in the UAE and to corporate bank account opening cover what that route looks like in practice.

The sectors named

The op-ed points to further substantial UAE investment in advanced manufacturing, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, healthcare, life sciences and agritech, and calls on more German companies to invest, develop and manufacture in the UAE and use the country as a platform to reach markets across the Gulf, Asia and Africa. That list is consistent with what has already been built between the two economies: a UAE and Germany hydrogen partnership with ministerial task forces, an agreement between Mubadala and Siemens Energy to explore clean energy and green hydrogen, and Siemens Energy selected to supply turbines for the 2.6 gigawatt Al Taweelah C plant in Abu Dhabi with operations from the third quarter of 2028. On the technology side, the UAE brought a delegation of 21 companies including 10 startups to GITEX Europe 2025 in Berlin.

The platform argument is the one most relevant to companies here. It is the same logic behind the UAE trade agreement programme: the country is being sold not as an end market in its own right but as an access point. Recent examples on our site include the UAE trade push into Africa, the UK and GCC free trade agreement and the wider picture in UAE non-oil trade in the first half of 2026.

What already exists, before the council

A German company entering the UAE today is not waiting for a new institution. Several channels already work.

• The German-Emirati Joint Council for Industry and Commerce, part of the worldwide AHK network of around 150 locations in 93 countries, with more than 750 member companies and offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
• The Germany and UAE Business Council, launched in Berlin in July 2025.
• The energy and climate partnership, in place since 2017 and expanded since, with ministerial working groups on hydrogen.
• Direct air links: 102 scheduled flights a week as of August 2026, with Air Arabia adding Sharjah to Frankfurt services to the existing network.
• The wider capital cycle described by BlackRock in its USD 2.1 trillion GCC investment outlook to 2030, which is the pool a bilateral council would be drawing on.

What this changes for business, and what it does not

Set expectations correctly. As of the publication date, this announcement changes no rule that a company in the UAE has to comply with. There is no new tariff line, no new visa category, no new licensing route and no effective date to diary. What it does change is the direction of official attention, and that is worth tracking rather than acting on.

• Watch for the founding documents of the council: composition, chair, secretariat and first meeting. Until those exist, there is nothing to apply to.
• Watch the UAE and European Union free trade negotiations. A further round is expected around October 2026, and tariff outcomes there would affect goods flows far more than a council will.
• If your business already sells German equipment or components in the region, note the direction of the trade balance: EUR 11.39 billion of German goods came into the UAE in 2025. Distribution, service and spare-part operations sit on a growing base.
• If you plan a UAE entity with German shareholders or directors, the practical constraints are unchanged: activity selection on the licence, substance, and legalisation of German corporate documents for use in the Emirates.
• Banking onboarding rules are unchanged too. A council does not shorten compliance, and source-of-funds files for European groups are reviewed exactly as before.
• For staff moving between the two countries, the route remains standard: employment entry permit, medical, Emirates ID and residence visa. See our guide to work visas and residency.

How Atlant Capital can help

We work with European and German-linked groups that want a base in the Emirates. That covers company formation on the mainland for direct contracting and trade, or in a free zone for distribution and holding structures, with an activity list on the licence that a bank will read without follow-up questions. We prepare and run corporate account applications with UAE banks, including the source-of-funds file and the business rationale that decide how long onboarding takes. We handle corporate document legalisation between Germany and the UAE, and residence and work visas, Emirates ID and medicals for owners, directors and staff, since a bank will not complete an account without a resident signatory. Accounting, audit, VAT and corporate tax filing are handled through licensed accounting firms in our partner network.

The bottom line

A German-Emirati Investment Council is a signal about where capital is expected to flow, backed by real numbers: EUR 13.6 billion of trade in 2025, more than EUR 34 billion of Emirati money already placed in Germany, EUR 11.39 billion of German goods sold into the UAE, and between 2,000 and 7,684 German companies here depending on what you count. It is not, on the publication date, a procedure anyone can use. The useful posture is to keep building on the channels that already work, and to read the council’s founding papers when they appear rather than the headline that announced it.

FAQ

What is the German-Emirati Investment Council?

It is a proposed bilateral body announced by Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy to Germany, in a Handelsblatt opinion article on 9 September 2026. Its three declared tasks are to mobilise long-term capital, identify investment opportunities and remove barriers for businesses. It is due to be established during the UAE President’s state visit to Germany, and as of 10 September 2026 no membership list, secretariat or first meeting date has been published.

How much do the UAE and Germany trade with each other?

Bilateral trade was around EUR 13.6 billion in 2025, up 15% on 2024, in the figure cited by Al Jaber. German official statistics show merchandise trade of around EUR 13.26 billion, made up of EUR 11.39 billion of German exports to the UAE and around EUR 1.87 billion of imports from the UAE. In UAE non-oil accounting the same relationship is measured at USD 15.56 billion, up 14.55% on 2024. Services add EUR 2.97 billion of German exports and EUR 4.37 billion of UAE exports on top of the goods figures.

How much has the UAE invested in Germany?

More than EUR 34 billion in announced and committed investment, according to the op-ed. The largest single item is the ADNOC subsidiary XRG acquisition of Covestro, around EUR 14.7 billion, which closed on 10 December 2025. Other components include Masdar’s 49% stake in the 476 megawatt Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm, Emirates Global Aluminium’s roughly USD 170 million expansion at Leichtmetall near Hanover, and the AD Ports acquisition of freight forwarder MBS Logistics at an enterprise value of AED 300 million. Official German statistics record UAE direct investment stock of EUR 2.08 billion at the end of 2024, because that measure excludes deals closed later and debt assumed rather than equity injected.

Does the council change anything for a company operating in the UAE right now?

No. As of 10 September 2026 it changes no law, tax rate, customs duty, licensing requirement or visa rule, and there is no effective date or application process attached to it. Company formation, bank account opening, document legalisation and visa procedures run exactly as before. The practical items to watch are the council’s founding documents when they are published and the next round of UAE and European Union free trade talks, expected around October 2026.

How many German companies operate in the UAE?

Two figures circulate and both are correct for different definitions. More than 2,000 German companies use the UAE as a regional headquarters or hub, while 7,684 German companies had an operating presence of any size in the Emirates, a 35% increase during 2025. There were also 20,842 registered German trademarks in the UAE as of late May 2026 and 102 scheduled flights a week between the two countries as of August 2026.