From May 17-19, 2026, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah paid an official visit to Germany. He travelled to Berlin and Hamburg, accompanied by His Royal Highness Prince Mateen; Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II, Dato Amin Liew; Minister of Foreign Affairs II, Dato Erywan Yusof; Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pengiran Norhashimah Hassan; and Ambassador of Brunei to Germany, Pengiran Kritini Tahir, based in Berlin.

His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was received by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the historical Villa Borsig for a confidential one-on-one, followed by a delegation meeting. In addition, His Majesty received Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul for an audience in the Ritz Carlton at Potsdamer Platz, surrounded by architectural highlights of today’s Berlin. In Berlin, Minister Dato Amin also held two meetings with German business associations and company CEOs. In Hamburg, His Majesty paid a visit to Lufthansa Technik, one of the biggest and most modern aviation industry sites in all of Europe.

In the talks amongst friends with Federal President Steinmeier and Foreign Minister Wadephul, both sides highlighted their trustful cooperation and reciprocal support, not just bilaterally, but also in the ASEAN and EU contexts as well as within the United Nations. His Majesty emphasized the German contributions to Brunei’s recent development such as the successfully producing factory of Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI), built by German engineering leader ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions. Other examples of ongoing win-win projects are the Lufthansa Technik cooperation with Royal Brunei Airlines and His Majesty the Sultan’s Flight, and the 50/50 joint venture in modernizing Bruneian navy ships including vocational training between the German shipbuilding company Lürssen (now part of German high-tech company Rheinmetall) and Darussalam Assets.

Both sides agreed to cooperate even more in mitigating global crises and tensions, and to enhance their cooperation in the fields of security and defence, agriculture, energy