Visit to United Arab Emirates

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held talks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan as part of the working visit to the United Arab Emirates on 31 October.

The sides discussed the prospects of bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, including in the economy, trade, and investment. Joint work and the exchange of experience in the high-tech sector and sustainable development were also on the agenda.

Aleksandr Lukashenko and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan discussed the progress in the implementation of the agreements reached during the previous meetings, pointed out an increase in the bilateral trade, first of all, in Belarus’ export.

The meeting lasted for almost two hours. The sides talked about every project in detail and gave necessary instructions.

The meeting focused on investment prospects. In particular, UAE partners are interested in setting up joint ventures in Belarus for the delivery of products to the market of the United Arab Emirates. The governments of the two countries will be instructed to prepare and submit three-four projects in promising areas before the expected visit of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi to Belarus.

Belarus, in turn, is interested in ramping up the delivery of products to the UAE market. These are foodstuffs, wood processing products. The United Arab Emirates are interested in these products.

The sides are ready to cooperate in a number of high-tech industries, including in the aerospace industry and information technologies where Belarus has a big authority worldwide. The sides are mulling over the prospects of cooperation in logistics, tourism, defense industries, science, technology, and other fields.

Promising projects and contracts developed within the framework of Belarus-UAE cooperation are estimated at dozens of millions of dollars.

The negotiations ate focused on the international agenda, including the situation in the Middle East and in the CIS.

In the photo: Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Vice President, Prime  Minister and Defense Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, 1 November 2016

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Vice President, Prime Minister and Defense Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Emir of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on 1 November.

“I thank you for the kind words addressed to me and my nation. In turn, I would like to say that Belarus’ doors are always open for the United Arab Emirates and the Emirate of Dubai. I would like to state my key view during our meeting in order to encourage you to visit Belarus more often. We are greatly interested in that. We should advance our economic relations to the level of political ones,” the Belarusian head of state said.

In turn, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum remarked he was glad to welcome Aleksandr Lukashenko. He stated that the UAE on the whole and the Emirate of Dubai in particular were ready to take relations with Belarus to the next level. “We would like to advance these relations for the better,” he said. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also spoke in glowing terms about Belarus and its people.