Dubai: Saudi Arabia’s visiting Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz was received by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, at Zabeel Palace on Thursday.
Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was then later taken on a tour of the Dubai Expo 2020 site by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid and Prince Mohammed Bin Salman exchanged views on a number of topics related to fraternal relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in various fields, and explored ways to develop them for the benefit of their peoples and the entire region.
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid welcomed Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and reiterated the strategic and inseparable relations between the two fraternal nations, in the presence of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed and Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s Deputy Ruler.
Sheikh Mohammed hosted a lunch banquet in honour of the country’s guest and his accompanying delegation. The banquet was attended by a number of shaikhs, ministers, dignitaries of the country and senior officials from the two countries.
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed later took Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on a tour of the site of Expo 2020 Dubai, which will take place from October 20, 2020, to April 10, 2021, with the participation of 195 countries.
Sheikh Hamdan said that Prince Mohammad’s visit to the Expo 2020 site exemplifies Saudi Arabia’s keen interest in supporting this major global event. The kingdom is participating with a large-scale pavilion, the expo’s second largest pavilion after the UAE.
On the first leg of their tour, Shaikh Hamdan and Prince Mohammad viewed the expo’s prototype, which featurs the components and pavilions within the expo event, which will be held for the first time in the Middle East in the events 168-year history.
They stopped at Al Wasl Plaza, one of expo’s main landmarks, and then visited the UAE pavilion, which is designed in the shape of a falcon in flight, forming a major attraction at Expo 2020 Dubai. Shaikh Hamdan and Prince Mohammad visited the Saudi pavilion, designed to highlight the kingdom’s message to the world and its openness for a better future for all. They watched a short video showing the stages of construction of the Saudi pavilion that is set to be an attraction at the grand global event, which is projected to attract more than 25 million visitors from all over the world.
At the end of the visit, Sheikh Hamdan and Prince Mohammed took commemorative pictures at the site.
These meetings occurred at the end of Sheikh Salman’s two-day visit to the UAE, which involved high level talks between delegations from both countries and the announcement of several joint initiatives and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs).
Prince Mohammed arrived in the UAE on Wednesday to a ceremonial welcome in Abu Dhabi where he was received by Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Among the announcements made was the development of a joint $70 billion oil refinery project in Maharashtra, India that will have a capacity of 1.2 million barrels a day, able to secure the supply of 600,000 barrels per day of Saudi and UAE crude to the Indian market.
Shaikh Nahyan joins Expo 2020 team
“We are pleased that Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan has joined the Expo 2020 Dubai team as a Commissioner General---along with Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee. We are proud to have a national team consisted of an elite group of the best qualified cadres who are ready to present the best Expo edition in its 168-year-old history that will impress the world,” ) -- His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, tweeted.
