During an official visit to the United Arab Emirates, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The interlocutors noted the importance and necessity of maintaining the high dynamics of the bilateral political dialogue. Special attention was paid to the issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation.
"Today, we have to bring our economic relations to a new level. Our people have many contacts, and economic contacts should be more friendly and warm. I am confident that together we can develop modern large-scale projects," the Ukrainian President stressed.
It was noted that the two countries have the potential to increase trade turnover several times over the next five years.
The parties spoke in detail about the issue of food security. Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine will continue to be a reliable supplier and guarantor of food security not only in the UAE, but also in other countries of the region. There are all opportunities to intensify agricultural investment in Ukraine and thus increase exports of Ukrainian agricultural products dozens of times.
The parties also discussed issues of cooperation in the fields of energy and infrastructure, military-technical cooperation and focused on specific joint projects that are already underway.
Topics of scientific and technical cooperation, cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and joint space exploration were raised.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed about the dynamics of reforms in Ukraine, in particular, the land reform and the legal framework for the protection of foreign investments. In general, the parties agreed to significantly intensify intergovernmental relations.
"Our relations are reaching a new quality level," the President of Ukraine said.
The issue of fighting the spread of COVID-19 and minimizing the negative impact of the pandemic was also discussed. In this context, Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the humanitarian assistance provided to Ukraine to combat COVID-19 and agreed on further cooperation in this area.
The meeting took place in a warm atmosphere. Following the meeting, a number of bilateral documents were signed.
