UAE Foreign Trade Minister Sheikha Lubna Bint Khaled Al-Qasimi and the German Consul-General to Dubai, Johann-Adolf Cohausz, on Monday broke ground of German Business Park, a large mixed-use development in Dubai Silicon Oasis that will serve as a hub for German business in the UAE and wider GCC region. Addressing leading representatives of the German and UAE business communities at the official ground-breaking ceremony, Sheikha Lubna said: “Our economic ties with Germany have never been stronger than today. I believe that the ground-breaking of German Business Park represents another important milestone in our ever-evolving partnership. As the UAE Minister of Foreign Trade, I am particularly pleased that the initiators have chosen Dubai as the location of German Business Park. The decision reflects the great amount of trust the UAE enjoys among its key international business partners.” German Business Park, a joint venture between the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority and the Bin Jabr Group of Abu Dhabi, is slated to become one of the world's largest German-themed business clusters. The ceremony held at Dubai Silicon Oasis headquarters was attended by key representatives of the German Business Park project, including Dr. Mohammed Al-Zarouni, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; Saeed Al-Suweidi, chairman of Bin Jabr Group Ltd.; Fawaz A. Inayeh, CEO of German Business Park; and Dagmar Abdelatif, general manager of German Business Park. Al-Zarouni said: “With the ground-breaking of German Business Park at Dubai Silicon Oasis, we aim to further cement our relationship with our German partners. We are confident that this park will provide German companies with a platform to expand their businesses internationally through Dubai in general and DSO in particular.” Cohausz stressed the significance of the project for German trade with the region, saying that “ever since Germany engaged in a strategic partnership with the UAE in 2004, business relations between our two countries have been thriving. The UAE is our most important trading partner in the entire Arab World, and the number of German companies operating here has risen to more than 600. I am confident that German Business Park will constitute a further stimulus for German business activity in the region.” An increasing number of renowned German companies are choosing to base their regional headquarters in the UAE. According to recent statistics, German bilateral trade with the UAE has reached the equivalent of more than $9.8 billion in 2007. The 200 million euros (AED1.1 billion) German Business Park is located within the central district of Dubai Silicon Oasis, the region's premier integrated innovations hub for high-tech industries. The 880,000 square foot development will offer office space for sale and lease, a state-of-the-art business hotel operated by a major German hotel operator, adjunct studios and apartments for sale, a luxury European shopping complex with world-class shops and restaurants, an enclosed garden plaza, roof terraces, and an atrium. “We dedicate this project to our government's commitment to encourage business relations with a major trading partner. We are very proud to be associated with this project in partnership with the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority because we believe in the business partnership between the UAE and German business communities." __
