Jochen Clausnitzer

'The UAE has a remarkable image in Germany,' says Jochen Clausnitzer who is coordinating this initiative as the international economic affairs director for North Africa and the Middle East at the DIHK.

'We see this market very positively; the UAE has done a wonderful marketing job. There are huge projects going ahead at enormous speed, and the UAE is the most important market for exports in the Arab World with the regional headquarters of companies such as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.

'The UAE is seen more and more as the ideal place for distribution to the Gulf States. This is also true of the other small Gulf countries but there can only really be one business hub.'

Last year Germany exported $4.2 billion worth of exports to the UAE, of which up to two-thirds probably went for re-export, according to Mr. Clausnitzer. That compared with $3.7 billion sent to Saudi Arabia directly, and $4.3 billion of exports to Iran.

'This year in the first quarter we have German export growth of 15%,' he adds. 'Iraq could also be an excellent market for Germany but took $500 million compared with $5 billion in 1984.'

But the UAE is clearly the country of the moment. 'I take calls every week from German companies looking to set up in the UAE,' says Mr. Clausnitzer. 'They prefer to invest in a place with little red tape despite the higher real estate costs of this location.'

So what kind of German companies are looking at the UAE? Mr. Clausnitzer has an impressive list including IT companies, environmental consultants, retailers, water and infrastructure consultants and construction firms.

'They see the high oil price and massive liquidity and come to us to consult on how to tackle this market. We now have offices on the ground in Dubai and Abu Dhabi under the local control of Dr. Friedrich who is an official trade delegate from the German government.

'Jorg Westphal, vice-president of Schuco is expected to contribute to the UAE-German Economic Partnership Forum International. His company is well known for its involvement with the Emirates Towers office building in Dubai and the offices of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

'More than one thousand people turned up to the launch of the Forum in May which we think demonstrates the very high level of interest in doing business with the UAE. So we are very enthusiastic and positive about the outlook for the new UAE-German Economic Partnership Forum.'