United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to Ankara Saeed Thani Al Dhaheri on Thursday revealed his country’s intention to sign new agreements with Türkiye in the field of defense industries soon.
His statement came in response to a question posed by Daily Sabah during his briefing in Istanbul regarding the UAE’s hosting of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28), during which he also touched on the Turkish-Emirati relations on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries.
“We are following the developments and successes achieved by Türkiye in the field of defense industries, and in the coming days, there may be agreements between the two countries in this field,” Al Dhaheri said in response to Daily Sabah’s question.
On July 27, Türkiye and the UAE signed a defense cooperation agreement between the Defense and Aviation Group (OSSA) at the Turkish Middle East Center for Industry and Trade and the Black Cobra Military Equipment Company (BCMS) in Abu Dhabi during the International Defense Industries Fair (IDEF) in Istanbul.
The strategic relations between Türkiye and the UAE are witnessing great prosperity, with accelerated and escalating cooperation and close fraternal ties between the two countries' leaders, as the two countries achieved a growing strategic partnership in record time.
Al Dhaheri stressed in the briefing that the UAE is looking forward to strengthening cooperation and exchanging experiences with the friendly Republic of Türkiye in all sectors that work to develop Emirati-Turkish relations in accordance with the aspirations of the leaderships of the two countries and in a way that serves the interests of the two friendly peoples.
“The Emirati-Turkish relations are in light of the successful mutual visits between the president of the Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to Türkiye in November 2021 and then in June 2023, as well as the visit that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made to the UAE in February 2022 and July 2023, and the important agreements that resulted, especially after the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in March, as it is an important step to promote trade and investments at the highest levels, which entered into force on Sept. 1,” the Emirati ambassador added.
The comprehensive partnership agreement between Türkiye and the UAE entered into force in early September and was signed in the presence of President Erdoğan and his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed, on March 3, 2023.
The agreement aims to reach a trade volume between the two countries of $25 billion within five years. The agreement also grants facilities to businesspeople, including reductions in customs tariffs and ease of communication between the two countries.
Al Dhaheri pointed out the importance of President Erdoğan’s recent visit to the UAE last July, during which a joint agreement was announced to establish a “high strategic committee” between the two countries, and memorandums of understanding and agreements worth $50.7 billion were signed. The developments aim at diversifying the areas of a comprehensive partnership between the two countries and expanding their horizons to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity.
He explained, “These agreements and memorandums of understanding focused on promoting several areas such as investment and economy, law and judiciary, advanced technology, digital transformation, energy and natural resources, space and education.”
“We look forward to stronger cooperation with Türkiye at various levels, and there are many promising opportunities to develop our economic partnership, especially in areas that serve the goals of sustainable development, primarily the economy, investment, infrastructure, tourism, culture, food security, renewable energy, the environment, technology and other vital areas,” Al Dhaheri added.
Al Dhaheri stressed that these agreements will provide an opportunity for Emirati companies and investors to implement investments and projects within the framework of ambitious plans that include areas related to renewable energy, green hydrogen and ammonia, electric power stations, transportation projects, battery storage, nuclear energy, emerging technologies, and the use and storage of hydrogen and carbon.
The Emirati ambassador to Ankara also stressed that, “The UAE emphasizes strengthening aspects of intra-trade and joint cooperation in new sectors, as Türkiye is the first trading partner of the UAE within the GCC countries, as the total non-oil trade between them amounted to nearly $19 billion in 2022, an increase of 40% over 2021, making Türkiye the fastest growing partner for the UAE among the top 10 trade partners."
Türkiye’s exports to the UAE during the first seven months of 2023 amounted to $2.5 billion (TL 67.07 billion), an increase of 9% compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Turkish Exporters Council (TIM).
On the other hand, the Emirati ambassador to Ankara expressed his hope for Türkiye’s active participation in the COP28 climate conference and said: “We look forward to the participation of His Excellency Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the work of the climate summit in Dubai soon.”
The UAE will host COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, 2023.
In his speech to reporters, the Emirati ambassador stressed that the UAE is committed to using this opportunity to accelerate global efforts to address the effects of climate change and to prepare for the first global assessment of the Paris COP21 conference by enabling an inclusive and solution-oriented society.
He explained that his country’s government announced four pillars in July 2023 for this occasion, which will take action on fast-tracking the energy transition, transforming climate finance, focusing on life and livelihoods, and is fully inclusive of the COP28 process.
He said: “It is no secret that the scale of global climate change and its impacts on societies around the world, especially across the global south, cannot be addressed without solutions that involve the whole of society. All voices and actors will be brought to the table at COP28 to accelerate just climate action.”
