By Suzanne Fenton

Dubai: New avenues of business cooperation and trade will be opened during the Hamburg business forum this week, according to Hamad Bu Amim, director-general of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The forum is expected to boost an already strong business relationship between the two cities.

The volume of non-oil trade between Dubai and Germany as a whole stood at Dh28 billion in 2007, a figure that is likely to increase as trade and new business strategies come in to play.

German business activity is already thriving in Dubai with about 577 German companies operating in sectors like manufacturing, trade, tourism and financial services.