German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn has moved closer to a deal worth billions of euros to build a rail network in the United Arab Emirates, the company said after it signed an agreement on Sunday.

The memorandum of understanding, signed in UAE capital Abu Dhabi, lays out a strategic partnership between the rail giant and UAE-based Al Masaood Group for the planning, construction and operation of rail systems, a Bahn statement said.

German transport minister Peter Ramsauer, Bahn chief executive Ruediger Grube, and Al Masaood Group chairman Abdullah Al-Masaood were present at the signing, which Bahn hopes will lead to contracts in the near future.

'What is being planned involves projects in the double-digit billions range,' a Bahn spokesman said, declining to be named.

Bahn is already involved in a 17 billion euro ($22.66 billion) project in Qatar. - Reuters