Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon | Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images brexit files insight When Scotland met Germany Edinburgh has a friend in trade ahead of Brexit.

Call it the Edinburgh-Berlin-Munich axis.

Scotland is looking to strengthen trade ties with Germany before Britain leaves the EU. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that she had signed an economic collaboration declaration with Bavarian Economy Minister Ilse Aigner this morning. As part of the economy minister’s trip, representatives of Bavarian startups and energy companies are touring Scotland to meet with Scottish government officials and representatives of businesses such as Edinburgh-based travel aggregator Skyscanner.

Scotland is also looking to open its own trade representation in the German capital, a government spokesperson confirmed to POLITICO, mentioning "a number of reasons, including Germany consistently being in Scotland’s top five export destinations with exports worth [more than €2.02 billion] in 2015, and being Scotland’s third-largest inward investor."

Sturgeon traveled to Berlin last summer to meet with Germany’s Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth. Since then, both sides have actively forged closer ties, particularly through business cooperation.

Earlier this month, the Scottish economy secretary, Keith Brown, met with representatives of the Scottish Chamber of Commerce and the Association of German Chambers of Commerce to discuss the details, and said afterward that he was “heartened by the positive response” he received.

Edinburgh has launched similar hubs in London and Dublin, and plans to open another in Brussels, according to the Scottish government.

In Berlin, officials have certainly taken notice of the efforts “to open offices all across Europe," as one German trade official put it, and the Germans are also pushing for closer relations with Edinburgh. Through strengthening ties, the country's government in Berlin and the 16 regional governments, particularly in Bavaria, hope to gain leverage during the Brexit negotiations with the U.K. government.

Ever since Britain voted to leave the EU, Berlin has pledged Edinburgh its support for efforts to remain in the common bloc if Scotland decided to split from the United Kingdom. Just three days after the referendum, the head of the EU affairs committee in the German parliament said that “the EU will continue to have 28 member states, as I expect another independence referendum in Scotland." Shortly after, then-Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel (who has since become foreign minister) promised Edinburgh that “the EU will certainly take in Scotland, if [it] wants to leave the U.K. and enter the EU.”

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