Trade with UAE most important in region, says German envoy

New German Ambassador to the UAE Alexander Schonfelder says for the year 2022, Germany’s imports from the UAE increased 67 percent year on year, already reaching $1.3 billion. (WAM)

• Establishing international hydrogen value chain is very important for both economies, says ambassador
• Country has ‘very good capacity to become a key exporter of renewable energy to the world’

ABU DHABI: The UAE is Germany’s most important trading partner in the region, with exports from the European country totaling $8.4 billion in 2021, says a top German diplomat.
The new German Ambassador to the UAE Alexander Schonfelder said: “For the year 2022, Germany’s imports from the UAE increased 67 percent year on year, already reaching $1.3 billion.”
Schonfelder told the Emirates News Agency that bilateral trade figures showed the strength of the relationship, while cooperation in decarbonization to tackle climate change will open an opportunity for both countries to look forward to a hydrogen future.
The German diplomat added: “I think those trade figures show exactly what the strength of our relationship is.
“In addition to that, I think there is also an enormous prospect for economic relations when we talk about tackling climate change and supporting economic growth in the area of decarbonization, and making both our economies fit for the hydrogen future that we are looking for.”
Establishing an international hydrogen value chain is very important for both economies, he said.
“This is the basis for the decarbonization of the energy sector, and it is also part of what we have to achieve according to the Paris climate accords,” he added.
He went on to say that UAE-Germany cooperation is a catalyst for accelerating the energy transition, not only by facilitating the scaling up of green hydrogen production that both countries had agreed upon, but also for the large-scale export of the product from the UAE to Germany and Europe.
He said: “We see the UAE as a country with a very good capacity to become a key exporter of renewable energy to the world, and this is exactly where Germany and other European countries would like to contribute to.”
The ambassador was speaking in the wake of the arrival of the first hydrogen-based ammonia test cargo from the UAE to Germany for the company Aurubis AG in Hamburg in October.
Copper producer Aurubis is using the blue ammonia supplied by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in its climate-neutral conversion of energy-intensive copper rod production using low-emission ammonia.
The delivery from the UAE is an important step in the establishment of a comprehensive hydrogen value chain between the two countries.
Further ammonia test cargoes are due to arrive in Germany later this year and will play an important role in building a future hydrogen supply chain.
Schonfelder said that the initiative plays an important role in preparing German ports for a new era of hydrogen imports.
The envoy added that the energy security and industry accelerator agreement, signed in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 25, was an attempt to promote projects with political support.
Schonfelder said that the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure’s agreement with GHD Group, in partnership with Germany’s Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, to develop the UAE’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which focuses on achieving climate goals, would further strengthen Germany’s ties with the UAE in this area.