Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates, is currently in Athens with high expectations for new investments in Greece. He is accompanied by representatives from Abu Dhabi’s largest state funds and companies, as well as Badr Jafar, recently appointed UAE Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy and CEO of Emirati conglomerate Crescent Enterprises.

Dr. Al Jaber’s visit, considered a continuation of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to Abu Dhabi two months ago, is expected to further enhance bilateral cooperation. The UAE is already the fifth-largest foreign investor in Greece.

The UAE is behind the two largest recent deals in Greece: the acquisition of 60% of HHG by PureHealth, controlled by the UAE sovereign wealth fund ADQ, for 1.4 billion dollars; and Masdar’s acquisition of Terna Energy, valued at 3.2 billion euros, finalized earlier this month through a successful public tender offer for 100% of the shares. Dr. Al Jaber, who spearheaded the creation of Masdar in 2006, has been instrumental in the development of this green investment fund, which focuses exclusively on the renewable energy sector.

Dr. Al Jaber is accompanied by the Deputy CEO of ADQ Hamad Al Hammadi, the CEO of Masdar Mohamed Al Ramahi, the Founder and CEO of PureHealth Farhan Malik, the senior executive of Mubadala Miira Al Sughayti, and the Chief Strategy Officer of the International Holding Company, Peter Abraham. Also part of the business delegation are the CEO of E PointZero, a renewable energy solutions company, Mohamed Zafar, the CEO of technology company Presight AI, Thomas Pramotedham, as well as senior executives from the defense technology company EDGE and the data center company MGX.

A business investment workshop is scheduled for this morning at a central hotel in Athens between the representatives of the Emirati funds and major Greek companies, where bilateral meetings will take place. Following official government meetings, Dr. Al Jaber and the UAE business delegation will be received by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion.

The UAE’s increased activity in the Greek market is focused on two main sectors, which the Greek Prime Minister has declared as strategic priorities: energy and digital infrastructure. The goal is to establish Greece as a European energy and digital hub at the gateway to the Middle East via Egypt and Israel.

Masdar’s investment in Terna Energy is part of this broader framework, aiming to penetrate European markets. This move also strengthens ties between the Emiratis and Motor Oil, as the Vardinogiannis family group and Terna Energy are jointly developing Greece’s first offshore wind farm. It is worth noting that Masdar’s first investment in Greece came in 2021, through a consortium with Taaleri Energia Ltd (Finland), Kyoto S.A. (part of the Konstantakopoulos Group), and Autohellas (Vassilakis Group), for the construction of a 65 MW photovoltaic park in Asopia, Viotia.

Also aligned with this strategic framework is the Egypt-Greece power interconnection project “GREGY,” promoted by the Copelouzos Group in collaboration with Infinity Power, a joint venture between Masdar and Egyptian partners. This connection may also serve the planned 2,000 km Saudi Greek Interconnection, which is being developed jointly by the governments of Greece and Saudi Arabia.

Regarding digital infrastructure investments, Greece and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding last year between the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance and the UAE Ministry of Investments, concerning the development of data centers in Greece. Sources indicate strong interest from Arab investors, primarily due to the legal requirement that critical data under EU law must be hosted within the Union. According to the same sources, preliminary discussions have taken place with several Arab groups, and the first deal has already been concluded between PPC and DGNEX Data Centers, part of the DAMAC Group.

Their joint venture, named Data In Scale, aims to develop a state-of-the-art data center in Spata. Furthermore, as seen with the Hellenic Healthcare Group deal, there is growing momentum in other sectors such as real estate, hospitality, agrifood, aquaculture, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare.

High on the agenda for Arab investors are real estate and tourism, two sectors that have seen rapid growth in recent years. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi is investing in a 234-stremma plot in Porto Heli, the former site of “Ermioni Club,” with plans to build a €200 million luxury resort under the Waldorf Astoria brand of Hilton. He also owns a five-story neoclassical building at the corner of Dionysiou Areopagitou and Makrygianni streets in Athens, formerly owned by Giannis Tzivelis, and has made significant investments in olive groves in Argolida and Messinia. Since last summer, the luxury resort “One & Only Kea Island” has been in operation, a €150 million investment by Kerzner, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding. The same company also operates “One & Only Aesthesis” at the “Asteria” site in Glyfada since 2023, a project worth over €200 million. Also notable is the involvement of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), through Apollo and now via AGC Partners, in the €400 million acquisition of the “Asteras” resort in Vouliagmeni.

In the food sector, where discussions are ongoing, the state-owned agricultural group of Abu Dhabi, Al Dahra Agriculture, which belongs to ADQ, has acquired 20% of Mills Louli.

It is worth recalling that the UAE, through Mubadala, also makes indirect investments in Greek companies. As part of a €400 million co-investment agreement with the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments (HDBI), Mubadala has invested in three Greek private equity funds (Venture Friends II, European Sustainable Investment Fund – EuSIF, and Diorama II) and is in advanced talks for involvement in five more.

In fact, the collaboration with HDBI, under the leadership of Mr. Haris Lambropoulos, was the key step that opened the door to broader Emirati investments in Greece. As a result, the UAE is now considered the fifth-largest foreign investor in the country, with this cooperation serving as the “bridge” that gave the Emiratis confidence to pursue their strategic penetration into and connection with the European market.

Main image: Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates