The Goals of the Event
Following his visit in January 2005, H.E. Dr. Michael Freytag, Senator (Minister) of the Hamburg Senate (Ministry) of Urban Development and Environment (and designated Senator of Finance) returned to Dubai on the occasion of Hamburg’s participation in “Cityscape 2006” from 4^th – 6^th of December 2006.

In the honour of H.E. Dr. Michael Freytag, Rolf Meyer-Reumann, Senior Partner of Meyer-Reumann Legal Consultancy, Dubai – Abu Dhabi, was hosting a VIP-reception at the newly refurbished World Trade Club of the DWTC for Distinguished Guests. The event will be organized by Sesam Business Consultants, Dubai.

The purpose of the event was to establish and to deepen economical, commercial and political links between Hamburg and the Dubai in general and to discuss forthcoming projects of joint interest in particular. The profile of each Member of the Delegation and of the Distinguished Guests was made available on this Website in order to introduce the Delegation and the Distinguished Guests beforehand. Thus all Participants were in a position to prepare themselves for business talks rather than for small talks.

Some Highlights of the Dinner for the Senator H.E. Dr. Michael Freytag
Irrespective of the fact that always some guests are dropping out because of last minute commitments, the pre-calculated number of seats for dinner were occupied up to the last chair. The original number of 10-15 participants had increased to 21 and an intensive dialogue between the members of the delegation and the distinguish guests started at 5.15 p.m. and lasted without break until 10.30 p.m. The Senator stressed in his speech that Hamburg and Dubai have many things in common: Both are extremely internationally oriented (Hamburg currently hosts more than 101 consulates) and very dynamic when it comes to implementing new ideas.

The inauguration of a daily flight from Dubai to Hamburg by Emirates Airlines in March 2006 has linked both cities even closer together. The new connection has been received extremely well and the Senator announced that there were already negotiations for a second flight per day. The ongoing flight by Emirates Airlines via Hamburg to New York was successfully initiated and a second one is under discussion. Hamburg’s bidding for the Olympic Games 2020 will promote Hamburg further as an international city. Its container port ranks – like Dubai’s - among the top 10 in the world. Hamburg is looking for international partners. Mr. Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg of Hamburg HafenCity highlighted the Hamburg HafenCity Project as an icon of Hamburg at international level with many business opportunities. The Hamburg HafenCity Project is shown the second time on the Dubai Cityscape Exhibition.

Selected Subjects Discussed
Due to their nature many discussions deserve full confidentiality and may not be disclosed at this place. Among those, which are not confidential and which are of general interest the following may be mentioned which should enjoy general attention.

Hamburg is building a new horse racing centre and discussions took place to get Dubai interested and whether such an initiate could be combined with the development of endurance races in or near Hamburg, which are very popular in the UAE.

Hamburg HafenCity and Dubai Maritime City have many issues in common and Dubai Maritime City is planning to visit Hamburg HafenCity soon to discuss questions of town planning.

The Senator advised that Hamburg hospitals were preparing themselves to become more attractive for Arab patients by setting up accommodation suiting Arab families. In this context the idea was discussed to develop also an "Arab Enclave" in Hamburg HafenCity as a common place for Arabs to have a residence in Germany and to be among themselves. Such "Arab Enclave" could be useful for tourism and business alike. Another project discussed was the promotion to intensify the tourism from Hamburg and North Germany to Dubai and the other Emirates of the United Arab Emirates by using the existing connection flights and adding charter flights using the other international airports of the Northern Emirates and Abu Dhabi. In this conjunction Hamburg could be used as the gate for Scandinavia as there are no direct flights from Scandinavia to Dubai for the time being.

The Representatives of Dubai International Financial Centre shared interests of Dubai Maritime City in maritime and shipping activities of Hamburg in general (e.g. ship mortgages, ship registry, ship classification, port operation, cargo handling etc. and other maritime institutes in Hamburg.

Finally, Hamburg has established itself as a strong centre for fuel cell research and is currently seeking various international partnerships. The “round table” provided the opportunity for both sides to explore possible ways of a closer cooperation.

The Hamburg - Dubai Relations in General
In the course of the years Hamburg’s and Dubai’s business communities intensified their relations more and more, which is very logical taking into consideration the business structures of both cities. Indeed, their business environment is very similar and the ties are manifold:

• both cities have seaports ranking in the top ten of the world forming a solid ground as logistic hubs of their respective region

• both cities are traditional trading hubs and financial centres of their respective region

• both cities are centres for horse racing

• the cities co-operate in the medical care sector

• the cities are connected by daily flights of Emirates Airlines

• ..... and ..... and ..... and ......

Hamburg – Dubai Relations in Real Life
Only recently the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry agreed on a close cooperative venture between the Chambers’ private universities, the Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA) and the University of Dubai (UD) to provide joint courses in technical and management subjects.

Joint ventures in the sectors of medicine and logistic are under progress.

The visit of the Lord Mayor of Hamburg, Ole von Beust in January 2006 boosted the relations and can be taken as clear evidence of Hamburg’s economy’s intention to intensify its relations in the Gulf.

Since March 2006 Emirates Airlines established a daily direct route between Dubai and Hamburg, which further strengthened the links between both cities.

Hamburg’s Business in a Nutshell
Hamburg is well known for being an extremely dynamic centre for local and international business: Hamburg's contribution to the German GDP is over 50% higher than the average in terms of gainfully employed persons and nearly 90% higher per capita. Approximately 10% of Germany's top 500 companies are in Hamburg at home. More than 100.000 firms and businessmen are currently registered with the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.

Who is Who in Hamburg’s Business World Internationally renowned names such as Hapag Lloyd AG (Shipowner Company), Hamburg Süd (Shipowner Company), Mabanaft (Oil Traders,) Otto Versand (Trading House), Schwarzkopf Henkel, (Cosmetics, e.g. Hair Schampoo), Beiersdorf (Cosmetics e.g. Nivea, Libello, Hansaplast), Helm AG (Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Nutrition, Polymers, Crop-Protection, Fertilizers), Tchibo Holding AG (coffee trader), Airbus (EADS), Hamburg-Mannheimer (Insurer), Signal Iduna (Insurer), HanseMerkur (Insurer), Eppendorfer Universitätsklinik (Health Sector), Bernhard-Nocht Institut (Health Sector), and the major German publishing houses such as Springer, GEO, Spiegel and Stern are in Hamburg at home.

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• www.hafen-hamburg.de
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