Moscow: Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, chaired the meetings of the fourth joint committee between the UAE and Russia in Moscow yesterday (Friday).
During the meeting, bilateral relations between the two countries were discussed, in addition to strengthening economic cooperation, trade and investment relations between the UAE and Russia.
The Russian side was headed by Denis Valentinovich Manturov, Minister of Commerce and Industry, with the participation of a number of senior officials from various ministries, agencies, institutions and companies from the two countries.
During the closing meeting, Shaikh Abdullah expressed thanks and appreciation in his speech to Minister Manturov and members of his country’s delegation. He praised Moscow for hosting the fourth meeting of the Joint Commission between the two countries.
“The UAE and Russia have strong friendly relations built on a spirit of understanding, mutual respect and a shared desire to develop and promote these relations,” Shaikh Abdullah said, noting that the convening of the current meeting indicates the success of the previous meetings of the joint committee.
He emphasised that the work of the committee and all the efforts to support the relations between the two countries are being backed and encouraged by their leaders and are aimed at maximising the benefit for their peoples.
Shaikh Abdullah noted that Russia is a strategic economic partner of the UAE, with trade between the two countries growing significantly to reach $2.5 billion (Dh9.18 billion) in 2013, up from $1.48 billion in 2012.
“These figures do not satisfy our aspirations for the level of development of our current bilateral relations but require us to find more ways to increase the volume of our trade exchange,” he added.
He also noted that the value of mutual investments between the two countries stood at more than $18 billion, and that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi signed a Memorandum of Intent creating a US$5 billion investment fund in September 2013, the biggest ever foreign investment into Russia’s infrastructure.
Shaikh Abdullah further noted that there are multiple opportunities for expertise exchange between the two countries, in manufacturing and infrastructure in particular, and that the UAE and Russia are cooperating on the peaceful use of atomic energy and in the oil, gas and mining sectors.
Shaikh Abdullah also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, between the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, and the signing of a MoU between the UAE Ministry of Economy and the Russian Ministry of Economic Development
