Press Releases

v.l.n.r. Ghorfa-Präsident Thomas Bach, Amr Mohammed Moussa, Generalsekretär der Arabischen Liga; BDI-Präsident Hans-Peter Keitel und Peter Hintze, Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär beim Bundesminister für Wirtschaft und Technologie ©BDI/Kruppa

»Population and economic growth are fuelling the Arab world’s hunger for energy.«

»There are enormous business opportunities for German industry in the Arab energy sector in particular,« said BDI President Hans-Peter Keitel on the occasion of the opening of the first German-Arab Energy Forum in Berlin.

»To cover the increased demand for electricity in the Arab countries in the next ten years, investments of up to 200 billion USD will be required to build up and expand new power plant capacities”, said Prof. Keitel. Arab energy policy is increasingly focusing on energy efficiency, intelligent energy concepts and a broad energy mix. “German industry is good at efficiency. And efficiency is the magic word with which German companies can open doors on the Arabian market,« Prof. Keitel continued.

In addition to conventional power plant construction, renewable energies in particular offer German companies investment and business opportunities: »From Abu Dhabi to Morocco almost all Arab governments have now launched ambitious pilot projects to develop regenerative electricity production. Be it Masdar City or Desertec: German technology and know-how is on board«, underlined Ghorfa President Thomas Bach.


About the German-Arabian Energy Forum:
The Energy Forum organised by the BDI and the Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry e.V. has identified concrete projects with investment and export potential for German and Arab companies.
At the Forum, attended by almost 300 guests from Germany and the Arab world, electricity production and issues relating to electricity transmission and distribution as well as energy-efficient building were on the agenda. Keys speakers included H.E. Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arabian League, Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus Töpfer, founding director of the Institute for Advanced Studies Climate Change, Earth System and Sustainability (IASS), H.E. Prof. Dr. med. Ossama Shobokshi, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia and Doyen of the Arab Diplomatic Corps, Peter Hintze, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Paul van Son, Executive Director of Desertec Industrial Initiative GmbH, Dr. Henner Gladen, Member of the Board of SolarMillenium, H.E. Dr. Saleh Alawaji, Deputy Minister for Electricity of Saudi-Arabia and Chairman of the Board of the Saudi-Electricity Company, Dr. Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen, Vice President, European Investment Bank and Dr. Khaled Al-Hajri, CEO Qatar Solar Technologies.

Further information can be found at www.gaef.info