UAE and Malta Commit to Enhancing Bilateral Economic Cooperation

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Abu Dhabi-UAE: 16 March, 2014 - His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, reaffirmed the importance of the economic relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Malta during the visit of Dr Christian Cardona, Malta's Minister for Economy, Investment and Small Business to the UAE.

His Excellency Al Mansouri received the visiting delegation at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

During the meeting, the two sides expressed interest in collaborating in the small and medium enterprises and the renewable energy sectors to provide further impetus to bilateral economic development.
Commending the synergy achieved to date, Al Mansouri pointed out that the openness and flexibility of the two economies make them attractive foreign investment destinations.

His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri reiterated the importance of allocating joint economic work teams and the establishment of joint ventures according to a time-bound framework for promoting bilateral investments.

Drawing parallels to the growth of the tourism and economic sectors in Malta and the UAE, Al Mansouri said the daily connectivity between the two countries has spurred notable tourist exchanges between both sides.
On his part, Dr Christian Cardona, Malta's Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business expressed his admiration for the progress achieved by the UAE, especially in the services sector. Expressing interest in learning from the UAE's experience in developing state of the art ports and free zones, he conveyed his country's desire to replicate the UAE's global benchmark in government performance. Citing the advances in the UAE's higher education sector, Cardona said Malta is keen to acquire the country's best practices in shaping a knowledge based economy.

The UAE Minister of Economy invited the Republic of Malta to participate in the Annual Investment Meeting 2014 to be held during April in Dubai.