The United Arab Emirates will invest a further €15 billion ($16.8 billion) in Greece, a pledge that dwarfs the joint programme the two countries launched four years ago and underlines Abu Dhabi’s growing appetite for European assets.
The announcement came on Thursday on the sidelines of an official visit by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The Abu Dhabi Media Office said the new commitment builds on an initiative that began in May 2022 with a value of €4 billion.
Talks centre on energy, health care and technology
Sheikh Khaled was greeted at Athens International Airport by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis before talks at the prime minister’s office. Discussions focused on strengthening co-operation in energy, infrastructure, health care and advanced technology. The two leaders also reviewed regional and international developments and stressed the importance of security, peace and stability.
The visit coincided with Investopia Mediterranean – Athens, an investment event held alongside the trip. State news agency WAM said the visit also marks 50 years of friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries. In July, President Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Mitsotakis discussed economic and artificial intelligence ties by telephone, a sign that the relationship has been widening beyond traditional sectors.
The Media Office described the pledge as a reflection of the UAE’s confidence in Greece’s economic strengths and its geographic position, which it said allows the country to connect European markets with those further afield. It added that the earlier scheme had already delivered significant transactions in strategic areas, naming energy and health care.
What the first fund delivered
The 2022 framework was agreed during a visit to Athens by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, who is now UAE President. Since then, Emirati capital has flowed into some of the biggest deals in the Greek market. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar acquired Terna Energy in a transaction valued at €3.2 billion, while PureHealth, controlled by the sovereign investor ADQ, bought 60 per cent of Hellenic Healthcare Group for about $1.4 billion. The Terna deal has been described as the largest energy transaction in the history of the Athens Stock Exchange.
Mr Mitsotakis has said on an earlier visit to Abu Dhabi that Emirati direct investment had exceeded the original €4 billion target. Bank of Greece figures showed the UAE among the top three sources of foreign direct investment into Greece in 2024, a first. Trade has grown more modestly: non-oil trade between the two countries reached AED 2.22 billion in 2024, an increase of 6 per cent.
A pledge made at a testing time
The announcement lands as the Gulf economy absorbs the effects of the regional war. The IMF said this month that the UAE economy is forecast to grow 7.7 per cent in 2027, signalling a firm recovery after a softer 2026 caused by the Middle East conflict. Committing a sum of this size abroad suggests Abu Dhabi expects its investment capacity to remain strong through the rebound.
For Athens, which has spent years courting Gulf capital after its debt-crisis era, the pledge is a significant endorsement. Greece needed three international bailouts between 2010 and 2015, and attracting long-term foreign investors in energy, tourism and infrastructure has been central to its recovery strategy.
Officials did not immediately set out how the €15 billion will be deployed, over what period, or through which investment vehicles. Those details are likely to determine how quickly the money reaches projects on the ground, and which sectors benefit first.
The Media Office said the investment would support sustainable economic growth and strengthen the competitiveness of both economies. Both governments are expected to provide further detail as the programme takes shape.
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