The United Arab Emirates and Federal Republic of Russia have agreed to extend bilateral relations to wider horizons through exploring new economic and investment opportunities in different development sectors.
UAE Minister of Economy, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri and Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, Igor Slyunyayev signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, during the inauguration of the UAE- Russian Business Forum in Moscow, to strengthen the bilateral cooperation in areas of economy and investment.
In his inaugural speech, Al Mansouri said that the UAE “Is convinced the trade exchange and joint investment between the two countries are below expectations given potentials and good relations between the two countries.” He called for both sides to exert more efforts to attract investments through promotion of projects and setting up of joint projects in areas of economy, industry, trade and investment, adding that the UAE is looking forward to benefiting from advanced Russian technology in the areas of industry, agriculture and energy to enter into the Russian market.
Al Mansouri said the UAE accounts for more than two-thirds (67 per cent) of the volume of trade exchange between the GCC states and Russia. The volume of trade exchange between the UAE and Russia had tripled during the past 10 year. It surged during the last year more than $3 billion at growth rate of 90 per cent compared to 2012.
He noted that there are 350 joint projects between Emirati and Russian businesspersons in the UAE. Meanwhile, hundreds of Russian companies opened representative offices in the UAE. The UAE investments in Russia touched about $18 billion.
For his part, the Russian minister called for upgrading the level of trade and investment cooperation between the two countries to keep abreast with huge economic potentials and bilateral relations.
He added that there are investment opportunities between the UAE and Russia in the fields of building materials, agriculture, services, tourism, oil, gas, SME and knowledge economy. Slyunyayev said over 750, 000 Russian tourists visited the UAE last year, benefitting from 80 weekly flights between the two countries.
Source : WAM News Agency for United Arab Emirates
