Bilateral relations Uruguay and Germany
Political relations
There is direct and effective political dialogue, reflected in the many official visits between the two nations, notably the visit of Minister Mario Lubetkin to Berlin in October 2025.
It is also worth noting that Federal President Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier made an official visit to Uruguay, accompanied by an important official delegation, to participate in the Presidential Inauguration Ceremonies in March 2025. Seeing first-hand Uruguay's seriousness and civic democratic responsibility, he reinforced Germany's view of Uruguay as an anchor of stability in the region.
The German political foundations, both the Friedrich Ebert and the Konrad Adenauer, have an active presence in Uruguay, as do other institutions such as the Uruguayan German Chamber of Commerce and the Goethe Institute, among others.
At the parliamentary level, there is a Friendship Group between the two legislative bodies, with a special and unique feature, as there is a Parliamentary Friendship Group between the Uruguayan Parliament and the State Parliament of the Federal State of Thuringia, which makes this relationship not only special but also close. In this regard, there is also a twinning between the cities of Nueva Helvecia and Neuhaus am Renweg (Thuringia).
Political, commercial, cultural and sporting visits between Uruguay and the Federal State of Thuringia are frequent.
Economic relations
The good economic and commercial relationship is demonstrated by the fact that Germany is one of Uruguay's most important European partners in terms of foreign trade and ranks seventh in Uruguay's trade balance (2025, CIU).
There are also specific bilateral agreements on investment promotion and protection and on the avoidance of double taxation.
Uruguay and Germany are strategic partners, not only in agriculture, clean energy and digital innovation, but also in the Antarctic Treaty System, which consolidates a relationship based on trust, solidarity and a vision for the future.
At the bilateral level, the renewable energy agenda is also extensive, mainly in relation to green hydrogen, which is a priority area for the German executive. In this regard, after multiple technical and political meetings, a Strategic Energy Partnership was signed in 2023.
Cooperation
Although Uruguay is no longer eligible for Official Development Assistance, there are currently cooperation projects underway between the two countries on an equal footing (50% each country), in the form of traditional and triangular cooperation, circular economy projects, labour and employment, energy, water, health and the environment.
The topics of cooperation between the two countries, due to their thematic importance and their continuous and fluid nature, added to the particular imprint of both partners, cover a range that includes:
-High level of technical exchange between various ministries, mainly between the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) and the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Regional Identity, which has resulted in solid relationships with institutes such as the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI), the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), among others.
Cooperation in agricultural matters is a topic of great importance for Uruguay, with a history
of significant work between the two countries.
There are currently two projects underway between the MGAP, the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INIA) and the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Regional Identity and its institutes. One of the projects is on bioeconomy and the other on soil biome.
Along these lines, a forest bioeconomy project, ‘Developing the forest-based Bioeconomy in Germany and Uruguay’, has been launched, with equal contributions from each country (50% each).
Furthermore, binational cooperation is not limited to the above, but also includes Antarctic cooperation for research and the negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the University of the Republic (Udelar) and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).
It is also worth highlighting German technical cooperation through scholarships awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
There is a bilateral agreement in force for study and work, whereby citizens of both countries can stay for up to one year in each other country.