Speech by H.E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade

Event: AIM Eurasia – Demonstrating Resiliency and Accelerating Digital Transformation in Eurasia

Date: 2-3 March 2021

Location: Virtual

Excellencies; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen; Good afternoon.

It is an honor to join you for the first digital edition of the Annual Investment Meeting Eurasia Chapter, hosted in collaboration with The Roscongress Foundation. Today’s dialogue is an important milestone in the strategic partnership between the UAE and the Eurasia region, and reflects the critical need for governments and business to work together to accelerate digital adoption for global economic recovery and growth.

The UAE and Eurasia share a longstanding relationship, with strong economic ties. In fact, the total value of the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade with the Eurasia region reached over 17 billion US dollars and grew by 23% between 2017 and 2019.

The UAE is deeply committed to strengthening our strategic partnership with Eursasia to achieve our shared goals of economic development and prosperity. Today’s meeting occurs at one of the most opportune times for investment in the UAE economy, as our country transitions towards a more diversified, competitive economic landscape, based on knowledge and innovation.

Additionally, with Eurasia’s growing economies and young and educated workforce, the UAE sees many trade and investment opportunities to explore. For example, on the UAE and Eurasia are already working together in science, technology, artificial intelligence, aviation, and healthcare, and there is great potential to expand collaboration in these areas.

The digital economy in particular is a promising area for investors from Eurasian countries to explore as the UAE is prioritizing digital transformation and has launched innovative policies to attract new investments.

And, as the UAE continues to down the path of economic diversification, we are working to stimulate investments in other priority sectors as well, including petrochemicals, manufacturing and industries, renewable energy, space, Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, education, healthcare, and innovation, to name a few.

We are also developing other sectors, such as retail and e-commerce, agricultural technology, entertainment and games, information and communications technology, financial technology, and logistics services, presenting many new investment opportunities for Eurasian countries.

The UAE believes that increased partnership and cooperation with governments and the private sector will be key to building a stronger and more resilient post-COVID economy. As such, platforms such as today’s AIM Eurasia platform will be instrumental to bridging the gap between our economies and supporting global efforts to strengthen international trade and investment.

Thank you.

Reference:

Annual Investment Meeting - Eurasia Chapter