UAE and Greece Announce Billions in Deals
The United Arab Emirates and Greece announced 18 agreements and partnerships worth €12.75 billion, about $14.3 billion, in AI, energy, ports and food security, and Abu Dhabi said it plans to invest a further €15 billion in Greece. No specific projects for the new money have been named.
Eighteen memoranda of understanding, agreements and commercial partnerships, valued together at €12.75 billion, about $14.3 billion, came out of the UAE-Greece Strategic Forum in Athens, and the UAE said it intends to invest a further €15 billion in Greece.
Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended. The deals cover digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, renewable and clean energy, industry, logistics, transport and ports, healthcare and life sciences, and food security, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office, which did not name specific investments.
The new money builds on a joint investment initiative launched in May 2022 with €4 billion, a target Mitsotakis said has already been exceeded, with investments from the UAE companies Masdar and PureHealth. Mitsotakis pitched Greece as a bridge between Europe and the Gulf, an entry point for liquefied natural gas into Europe and a European gateway for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, a project to link India, the Gulf and Europe.
The United Arab Emirates and Greece announced 18 agreements and commercial partnerships worth €12.75 billion, and the UAE said it would invest a further €15 billion in the country.
The deals were announced at the UAE-Greece Strategic Forum in Athens, attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during the crown prince's official visit to Greece. The two also held talks on wider cooperation in areas including energy, infrastructure and healthcare.
What was announced
The 18 memoranda of understanding, agreements and partnerships are valued together at €12.75 billion, about $14.3 billion. They cover digital infrastructure, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy and clean-energy infrastructure, industry, logistics, transport and ports, healthcare and life sciences, and food security, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. The package mixes memoranda of understanding with agreements and commercial partnerships, and the media office did not break it down or disclose specific investments.
The further €15 billion expands a joint investment initiative launched in May 2022 with a value of €4 billion. The media office said that initiative has produced completed transactions in energy and healthcare. Masdar, the UAE's renewable energy company, said last year that it had fully acquired the Greek firm Terna Energy, after buying a 70% stake in 2024 at an enterprise value of €3.2 billion.
Greece's pitch
Mitsotakis told the forum that the original €4 billion target had already been exceeded, citing investments by Masdar and PureHealth. He described Greece as "a bridge between Europe and the Gulf" and said the conflict involving Iran and "the threats to the freedom of navigation in the Gulf and the Red Sea remind us all how fragile regional stability can be." He pointed to Greece's role as an entry point for liquefied natural gas into Europe through the Vertical Corridor, saying Greece covers the energy needs of its northern neighbors, and called Greece "ideally positioned as a European gateway" for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, which he described as linking India, the Gulf and Europe through trade, investment, energy flows and digital connections.