Dubai: The UAE is becoming a favourite second home for Australian expatriates and is now ranked as the 9th most popular country among the community, said the Australian Ambassador to UAE and Qatar as he bid farewell at the end of his tenure.
During a farewell organised by the Australian Business Council in Dubai (ABCD) last week, Pablo Kang said the relationship between the UAE and Australia has grown tremendously, driving trade, investment and tourism.
“It is estimated that 23,000 Australians reside in the UAE, apart from those unregistered. They take up all kinds of professional jobs from design, engineering, teaching to legal professions,” he said, addressing members of the community and Emirati businessmen.
Kang pointed out that growth in the aviation sector has contributed to trade and investments, attracting more Australians to work and live here.
“We don’t tend to think of commercial aviation as unfair competition; it doesn’t make any sense to us. Our carriers and UAE carriers are all servicing the two countries, and I believe this has greatly contributed to more Australians visiting the UAE and more Emiratis going to Australia to study.”
Speaking to Gulf News about the longest diplomatic posting he has had in any country, Kang described his four years here as “fast and productive”.
According to him, Australian service exports hit a record last year of $700 million, mainly in the transport sector, and goods exports from Australia hit $3 billion, which he described as “quite high”.
“Australia is known for exporting meat, dairy, and motor vehicles to the UAE, but is now increasingly exporting vegetables, all facilitated my more flights. As for the UAE exports to Australia, it’s predominantly been oil and will continue to be.”
Investment is the biggest contribution UAE makes to Australia and is considered the 10th largest foreign investment partner for Australia, he said.
However, Kang feel there’s more work to be done in terms of encouraging Australian companies to keep coming into the UAE market and encouraging UAE sovereign wealth funds to take advantage of investment opportunities in Australia.
Kang reflected on how the UAE and Australia share the same goals and ambitions and hoped the relationship between them would continue to be strong.
“We both love to see a more stable and peaceful region, and are certainly playing our part against Daesh in both Iraq and Syria. We have a similar mind with the UAE on the dangers of violent extremism and radicalisation, so security is really important to us,” he said.
