The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany signed an agreement in 2004 for strategic partnership. The agreement enhanced and improved the ties between the two nations in economically, politically as well as culturally.
Looking into the economic partnership of the two nations it is considerable; given that the UAE is the biggest consumer of German products in the Arab nations while the UAE is German’s 10th largest export destination outside Europe. German’s exports to the United Arab Emirates in 2011 hit 7.5 billion bounds which is over 40 percent increase in 2007. The major exports of German to UAE include chemical products, electrical goods, machinery and cars. German imports chemical products and aluminum goods from the UAE.
There over one thousand companies from German operate in the United Arab Emirates. The Emirati investors continuously prefer German for their investments into a broad variety of industries as well as companies. The number of people visiting German from the Arab Gulf Nations has gone up swiftly increasing the number of tourists visiting German boosting the tourism sector in German. The strategic partnership between the two nations has greatly fostered excellent economic relationship between them.
The foreign exchange trade between the two nations particularly in terms of imports and exports is one of the areas of strategic partnership that has its own opportunities and challenges. Given that the UAE is a major economic powerhouse in the Arab world, German is most likely to enjoy close economic ties between the two nations. There are major changes taking place in the in terms of the economies as well as developments. To be more specific, the European Zone faces a major crisis, the European financial crisis which greatly hurts German being one of the members. The strategic partnership between the two nations chips in to be very imperative for both nations. This would work to reinforce joint cooperation, collaborate efforts and enhance collaboration in different sectors so as to attain major economic transformation for the benefit of the two nations. This will lead to high efficiency in the economies of the two nations, a great opportunity for development.
UAE benefits from the high-tech and quality standards products. German produces quality and products with high technology, one of the major contributory reasons for UAE’s strategic partnership with German. This is a great opportunity for UAE to get an opportunity of accessing the high quality products for its home consumption and industries given the strategic partnership. The UAE will also have the opportunity of exploring more opportunities from the rest of the European nations as German will act as a spokesman of the UAE in the European Union. The foreign trade between the two nations is likely to face challenges considering diverging political and religious views of the two nations. UAE is majorly a Muslim nation while German largely consists of Christians. Diverging views between the two also arise in terms of politics; policies such as the war in the Middle East.
In a nutshell, however, the challenges facing the strategic partnership between UAE and German, the opportunities available for developments and economic prosperity suppress the challenges. The two nation should concentrate and work with the opportunities for the economic advantages.
References
Wam (2012, June 1). UAE important partner for Germany in Arab region - Khaleej Times. Retrieved January 13, 2014, from http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/uaebusiness/2012/June/uaebusiness_June7.xml§ion=uaebusiness
