During the New Year’s reception of the Green Party in Hamburg, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck shared about his trip to the Middle East. As reported by “Bild”, the trip apparently made Habeck realize how many things in the Federal Republic are exemplary and well-run. For instance, he was amazed by the experiences in Oman.
“Oman was warm,” said Habeck. “And the sun was shining. The sun always shines there.” However, Oman had not been harnessing solar energy for a long time. Now, the energy transition is supposed to happen – because it works so well in Germany.
Coalition quickly resolved energy issues
“The people in Oman looked at us and said: If you can do that with your northern German weather! We want that here too now!”, said Habeck. “We want to adopt what you have built!”
The fact that the coalition government managed to avert a “severe, deep economic crisis” after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine commands high respect from other countries. Germany quickly resolved its energy issues and thereby shows other countries how the energy transition can succeed.
“Without us, without what we have achieved as a country, Oman could not afford it!”, said Habeck.
Arab countries learning from German gender policies
In the Middle East, one also learns from Germany about gender and equality. As reported by “Bild”, Habeck shared anecdotes in Hamburg about young Arab women who are “increasingly taking on leadership roles everywhere”.
“They looked at the German women and said: the fact that YOU are in companies, that you are CEOs, that you are in the management, has given us the opportunity to do that now too,” said Habeck.
Habeck: “Others see us in a completely different light”
Wherever he went, people praised and trusted German leadership. This is something that can quickly be forgotten in the grey everyday life of Berlin: the world admires the German government, needs it and trusts it.
“From renewables to rights, to the role we can play in the world,” Habeck said, “others see us in a completely different light.”
Second Middle East trip for Habeck
Habeck spent three days on the Arabian Peninsula since January 9. The focus was on discussions about a possible peace in the Middle East, and negotiations for collaboration on the topic of hydrogen.
For Habeck, this was already the second trip to the Middle East during his tenure as Minister for Economic Affairs. After the start of the Ukraine war and the resulting halt in Russian gas supplies, Habeck traveled to places such as Qatar in March 2022 to negotiate gas supplies.
At that time, he discussed with the Arab government representatives about a possible way out of dependency on Russian gas.
