Baden-Württemberg has opened a business representative office for the Arab region in Abu Dhabi. This was announced by Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU) on Wednesday in Stuttgart. “The United Arab Emirates and the entire Gulf region are becoming increasingly interesting for Baden-Württemberg companies.” For the southwest, the energy policy perspectives that could result from bilateral cooperation with the Emirates are of the greatest interest.
The country is internationally represented with a total of nine business representations and two foreign offices (Great Britain and India). In contrast to business representations, foreign offices managed by the State Ministry are also responsible for covering topics such as culture and science, according to a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Baden-Württemberg was also represented with its own appearance at the World Exhibition 2021 in Dubai. The experiences gained there have shown that nowhere else in the Arab world are there such diverse opportunities for cooperation for Baden-Württemberg companies as in the United Arab Emirates.
The Baden-Württemberg House at the Expo in Dubai made headlines. It was originally the responsibility of three partners – the Chamber of Engineers, Fraunhofer and the Freiburg Tourist Board and Trade Fair (FWTM). The building was actually supposed to be built with sponsorship money and was therefore advertised as a project “from business for business”. Initially, the state was only supposed to accompany the project politically and only contribute 2.8 million euros for the exhibition, but it was also forced to bear most of the costs for the pavilion construction.
According to the latest estimate, the total cost of the project is 17.5 million euros. The cost cap for the state is around 15 million euros.
communication
