United Arab Emirates

Last updated: July 2nd, 2021

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) are located on the Arabian Gulf and are around four times smaller than Germany. Neighboring countries are Oman and Saudi Arabia. The population is around 9.7 million, 88 percent of them foreigners. The UAE are federally organized. The largest emirate and at the same time the seat of the capital of the Federation is the oil-rich Abu Dhabi. The Emir of Abu Dhabi, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is also President of the UAE. The second largest emirate is Dubai.

The UAE is a member of numerous international organizations such as the UN, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council. In January 2018, its member states (in addition to the UAE Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia) introduced a value added tax of five percent. From 2016 to 2018, the UAE was represented with a seat on the Executive Council of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. Abu Dhabi is the seat of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), founded in 2011.

The UAE is home to the seventh largest oil and sixth largest proven gas reserves in the world. Sales from the promotion account for 40 percent of GDP. With the exception of 2017 (0.8%), the economy is stable due to consistently high growth rates close to or over three percent and high international fixed assets. The UAE is one of the richest countries in the world. According to Transparency International, the UAE is the least corrupt Arab country.

For Germany, the UAE is the largest Arab trading partner with a total trade volume of around 12.1 billion euros (of which around 11 billion euros are German exports). Germany mainly exports automobile and motor vehicle parts, other vehicles as well as machines and electrical products, while German imports from the UAE consist of half of metals.

One of the most important economic policy measures of the UAE is the diversification of the economy by focusing on logistics, trade, trade fair traffic, tourism, financial services, energy and capital intensive industries such as steel and aluminum production as well as high technology such as microchip production and renewable energies. The measures required for this with regard to company regulation were specified by the World Bank in its  Doing Business Report 2020 stated. It is also noted that the country is a prime example in this area in a global comparison. Investments in the education and training of Emirati citizens should also improve their job prospects in the private sector. A fifth of GDP already comes from aviation income; the country’s airports are important hubs in the international movement of goods and people.