UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan wrapped up his first state visit to Germany as head of state with a €40 billion investment package and the launch of a new «Strategic Dialogue» format with Berlin.
What happened
The visit ran from 9 to 11 September 2026 at the invitation of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier; the core negotiations were held with Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The two sides then issued a joint declaration (UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mofa.gov.ae, 10 September 2026) that fixed the investment package and renewed the 2004 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The €40 billion package and where it goes
Total announced volume — €40 billion (around $46 billion at the exchange rate on the announcement date). The priority streams named are:
- artificial intelligence and advanced technology;
- digital infrastructure — including approximately 1 GW of new data centre capacity;
- energy.
According to The National, about €10 billion of the package will be directed to the federal state of Bavaria. «I am impressed by the UAE's willingness to invest in Germany. It is a powerful signal,» Chancellor Friedrich Merz said of the outcome.
29 corporate agreements worth €9.4 billion
In parallel with the intergovernmental declaration, companies from the two countries signed 29 B2B agreements totalling more than €9.356 billion. This is a separate track — private corporate deals layered on top of the state-level framework and covering industrial, technology, energy and defence cooperation.
Strategic Dialogue and Investment Council
The second major change is the format of the relationship itself. The two sides launched a Strategic Dialogue renewing the 2004 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and agreed to establish a German-UAE Investment Council that will work on new projects on a standing basis. The priority sectors listed in the declaration go well beyond hi-tech: defence, trade and investment, energy, emerging technology, digitalisation, agriculture, civil aviation, culture and education.
Context: the bilateral trade base
The package sits on an already intensive bilateral base. Per the joint declaration:
- bilateral non-oil trade in 2025 — USD 15.5 billion (+14% year-on-year);
- cumulative two-way investment flows over 2021–2025 — USD 10 billion.
In short, the €40 billion figure is not a headline over a zero baseline — it is a build-out on top of a working corridor. For a wider view of how the UAE builds trade corridors through its network of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, see our overview of the UAE's CEPA network.
Additional instruments signed during the visit
Beyond the investment package, the two sides signed:
- a Joint Declaration of Intent on Data Embassies cooperation;
- a Joint Declaration of Intent on environmental cooperation;
- a Letter of Intent on defence cooperation;
- a Letter of Intent on police and security cooperation.
The Data Embassies track is particularly interesting from a regulatory standpoint: it points to joint approaches to how data is hosted and moved across borders, which dovetails with the planned data centre build-out and with the broader trajectory of the UAE economy in 2026.
What businesses need to know
For UAE-based companies, the announced package signals opportunities on several fronts:
- Data centres and AI infrastructure. Around 1 GW of new capacity in Germany translates into a busy pipeline for UAE data centre operators and contractors (engineering, cooling, power, equipment).
- Energy and advanced technology. Cross-border investment in these areas typically pulls services exports along with it — consulting, audit and legal support.
- Institutional layer. A standing Investment Council gives companies planning joint projects between the two jurisdictions a clear point of entry.
Sector-focused teams targeting the German market should map their roadmaps against the timelines that will emerge from the Investment Council's working documents and track industry-level MoUs as they are announced.
Where to verify
Key verification points:
- UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs website mofa.gov.ae — text of the joint declaration and follow-up statements;
- the German federal government website bundesregierung.de — parallel German statements on the visit;
- WAM (wam.ae) and business media (The National, AGBI, Reuters) — running updates on specific projects in the package.
This material is informational and does not constitute investment or legal advice. Official numbers and statuses of specific deals are published in the underlying UAE MoFA declaration and subsequent industry announcements.
