Abu Dhabi: The UAE has pledged $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) to invest in promising economic sectors in Pakistan, according to the UAE Ministry of Investment.
This announcement was made on Thursday after a meeting between His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan. The purpose of the meeting was to enhance support for the Pakistani economy and boost cooperation between the two nations.
During the meeting at Qasr Al Shati, Sheikh Mohamed and Prime Minister Sharif discussed opportunities to develop cooperation in various priority sectors, particularly economy, trade, and development, to serve common interests and enhance both countries’ vision of sustainable economic development and prosperity.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan affirmed his country’s commitment to bolstering its ties with the UAE and expanding their cooperation in economy, trade and investment, as well as benefiting from the UAE’s inspiring development journey.
The meeting was attended by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Presidential Court; Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei, Minister of State for Defence Affairs; Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed, Chairman of the National Media Office, and a number of officials.
One day visit
Earlier, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived on Thursday in Abu Dhabi on a working visit to the country. Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, and a number of officials received Prime Minister Sharif upon his arrival at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, reported wam.
This is Sharif’s first visit to the UAE since his election early this year. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising key ministers of the cabinet including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
UAE-Pakitan Tech Collaboration
During his visit PM Sharif also participated in a round-table session titled “Innovate together: UAE-Pakistan Tech Collaboration” in Abu Dhabi. The event was organised by Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) and Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in coordination with Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication; supported and coordinated by Pakistan Embassy in Abu Dhabi. The event was attended by representatives and heads of Information Technology (IT) companies based in UAE as well as Pakistani IT experts.
The event was also attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar; Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan; Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif; Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar; Minister of State for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi.
Read More
- Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrives in UAE
- UAE, Pakistan ink MoU to boost agricultural innovation, research
- Aga Khan University’s global impact highlighted among a diverse audience in Dubai
- Video: With the help of UAE, Pakistan city of Lahore uses artificial rain to combat smog for the first time
Enhanced collaboration
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Sharif acknowledged and encouraged Tech entrepreneurs, IT professionals and IT firms from Pakistan and the UAE for converging and exploring avenues of enhanced collaboration in the areas of IT and Telecom. With the UAE spearheading digital transformation in the Middle East and ranked as the third largest destination for Pakistan’s IT exports, the Prime Minister urged to foster deeper engagements between Pakistani IT enterprises and their UAE counterparts.
The core objective of organising the event was to bring together UAE based IT companies with strong collaborating network with Pakistani companies; acknowledge success stories; and chart a course for future partnership aimed at strengthening business to business linkages and driving innovation for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
The Prime Minister also held an interactive discussion with the participants and responded to various comments and suggestions. He shared commitment of his government for improving investment ecosystem in digital economy of his country and invited investors to visit Pakistan.
He also witnessed signing ceremony of three MOUs, singed between Pakistani and UAE IT companies to implement digital transformation.
