BERLIN: The UAE will invest €40 billion ($47 billion) in Germany to support artificial intelligence, advanced technology, digital infrastructure and energy, the Emirates News Agency reported on Thursday.

The announcement coincided with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan’s state visit to Germany, where he met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Friedrich Merz among other senior German officials.

Of the planned investment, €10 billion will be directed to Bavaria, WAM reported.

The ⁠additional investment ​comes ⁠on top of the UAE’s existing investment in Germany, worth €34 billion ($39 billion), and underscores the Gulf country’s growing influence in Europe’s largest economy and their longstanding partnership.

The UAE said the investment marks an expansion of the economic ties between the two countries.

It reflected the UAE’s confidence in Germany’s “industrial, technological and innovation capabilities” and its strategy of building long-term international economic partnerships.

“The investment brings together Germany’s advanced industrial, technological and research capabilities with the UAE’s investment expertise and capacity to support major projects and accelerate their growth,” read the WAM statement.

It is also expected to create opportunities for Emirati and German companies and institutions to develop partnerships in sectors viewed as increasingly important to future economic growth and competitiveness, WAM said.

The UAE is Germany’s largest trading partner in the Gulf, with bilateral trade topping $15 billion last year, and many big German companies have a presence there including BMW, Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and rail operator Deutsche Bahn.

Closer cooperation would allow the UAE to expand its investment presence in one of Europe’s largest industrial economies while drawing on German expertise to support its own transition toward a knowledge- and innovation-driven economy, WAM said.

The investment would also provide a platform for greater exchanges of “knowledge, skills and experience” between the two countries while supporting the development of future industries and technologies, according to the agency.