This came during a meeting which brought Thani Al-Zeyoudi together with Neil Gray, General Secretary of the Scottish Council of Social Economy, Fair Work and Energy Ministers, to hear the latest developments in the joint projects between the two parties, and to discuss ways to consolidate cooperation in areas of mutual interest, particularly in the food and energy industries. Clean and advanced technologies.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed the opportunities offered by the Next Generation of Foreign Direct Investments initiative for Scottish companies specializing in the robotics industry and other areas of the future knowledge-based economy. and innovation.
They discussed the latest developments in the UAE’s preparations to host the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) next November.
Al-Zeyoudi’s meeting with the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Social Economy, Fair Work and Energy, who took office last March, is part of a series of meetings and visits that his Excellence has performed during the last period with ministers and senior officials. in Scotland, where Al-Zeyoudi met last February via video technology Evan Mackie, Scottish Government Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Projects. Last December, he led an Emirati delegation on an official visit to Scotland, which included a number of business leaders and investors to discuss renewable energy projects and other potential areas of cooperation, such as advanced technologies and science. During this visit, he met several Scottish ministers, senior officials and business leaders.
During this visit, the two parties agreed to form a joint working group to monitor the implementation of the initiatives and agreed elements.
Since then, a joint working group has engaged in constructive consultations with stakeholders from both sides in areas of common interest such as clean and renewable energy, advanced technologies and robotics, food safety, industrial projects and support for start-up incubators under the umbrella of the ‘next generation foreign direct investment’ initiative implemented by the United Arab Emirates, enabling Scottish businesses to benefit.
Thani Al-Zeyoudi said that the Emirati-Scottish cooperation and partnership relationship enjoys promising growth prospects, thanks to the mutual willingness of both parties to strengthen common denominators in a way that helps push investment and development. commercial cooperation on new levels, referring to cooperation between the two parties in important projects in Scotland through Masdar Energy Company renewable energies, such as the Haywind offshore wind farm.
It should be noted that Scotland acquired 9% of the UK’s total exports to the UAE, as well as 5% of the UK’s total imports from the UAE in the year 2022, with a value of ‘about $900 million of the UK’s total merchandise trade with the UAE amounting to about 3.2 billion dirhams.
The value of UAE imports from Scottish markets amounted to around 2.3 billion dirhams ($625 million), while UAE exports to Scotland registered 920 million dirhams ($250 million). dollars) in 2022, bringing the total value of non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and Scotland to more than 3.2 billion dirhams in 2022, with a growth rate of almost 70% compared to 2021.
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