Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, have deliberated the strategic relations between the UAE and the US across various levels, with special emphasis on areas of defence…reports Asian Lite News
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, have deliberated the strategic relations between the UAE and the US across various levels, with special emphasis on areas of defence.
This came as Sheikh Mohamed received Austin at Qasr Al Shati’ Palace in Abu Dhabi, where they also reviewed a number of international and regional issues of interest.
The meeting was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, the Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports Company, Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, the Undersecretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, and Major General Saleh Mohammed Saleh Megrin Al Ameri, Commander of Joint Operations.
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US participation at Airshow
Almost a 100 US companies are taking part in this year’s Dubai Airshow, which is “about 25 percent more” than in the previous edition that took place in 2019, according to Sean Murphy, Chargé d’Affaires at the United States Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
“This reflects the greater degree of comfort that the world is feeling coming out of COVID-19 and it’s a recognition that the UAE has done a great job in managing [the pandemic]. I think people feel very comfortable about coming to the UAE whether for the Dubai Airshow or for Expo 2020 Dubai,” Murphy told Emirates News Agency (WAM) on the sidelines of Dubai Airshow 2021.
“That’s a tangible manifestation of both the importance of the Airshow itself, which is really one of the most important aerospace and defence platforms in the world, and the confidence that people feel in coming to the UAE knowing that all the issues that surround the pandemic are being appropriately addressed,” he added.
According to the US Embassy’s latest figures, the bilateral trade between the US and the UAE stood at more than US$16 billion in the first nine months of 2021. The total trade in 2020 amounted to US$18 billion.
“The UAE and the United States are both top investors in each other’s countries and they support thousands of jobs. Emirati investments in the United States, its purchases from our companies support tens of thousands of jobs. This Airshow is a tremendous opportunity for our companies to exhibit their products and services, do business and strengthen those economic ties that are foundational to our relationship,” Murphy said.
Strategic relationship is of equal significance, according to the US official. “The UAE and the United States are very close partners in securing peace and stability in this region and other parts of the world. Of course, the UAE has demonstrated its leadership in creating the condition for peace most tangibly and most recently in the Abraham Accords,” he said.
“It has shown leadership in those areas and an increasingly important area of collaboration [with the US] has to do with humanitarian operations,” he added, hailing the UAE’s evacuation efforts in Afghanistan.
“We are very grateful for the assistance that the leadership and people of the UAE have shown in Afghanistan’s evacuation operations. We know that the evacuees are very grateful for it as well.”
Murphy also congratulated the UAE for winning the right to host the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in 2023.
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“It is an incredible accomplishment and a real vote of confidence in the UAE’s leadership in renewable energy and efforts to address climate change. It’s really a very exciting time in the history of the UAE during this year of the Golden Jubilee. And the good news just keeps coming.”
