President Klaus Iohannis will pay an official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saturday to Tuesday, at the invitation of the President of the Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, write Agerpres.

„Further developing Romania’s relations with states of the Gulf region is an important objective of our country’s foreign affairs policy, taking into account the solid tradition of the bilateral relations, the impact of the current global developments on the strategic interests of both sides, but also a series of pragmatic objective regarding the joint development of several sectorial projects with states from this region,” reads a press release of the Presidential Administration sent to AGERPRES on Friday.

According to the same source, the attention Romania pays to these relations is also included in the new directions of global action of the European Union which stipulate the development of a strategic partnership between the EU and the Gulf area.

„These directions of actions have been vastly reflected through the adoption of a Joint Communication of the EU, on 18 May 2022, intended for these new strategic approach, a document to which Romania brought its own active contribution. In this developing global, European and regional context, the visit of Romania’s President to the United Arab Emirates is part of the very good dynamics of the Romanian-Emirati bilateral dialogue at all levels, in the last period and reflects the solidarity and complexity of the bilateral relation. The United Arab Emirates continues to represent one of the most important partners in the region, being the first trade partner of our country in the Gulf area,” the Presidential Administration mentions.

The main objectives of the visit are the following: the deepening of the political-diplomatic dialogue on topics of maximum interest for both sides, the boost of economic relations between the two states, which are already on a significant upward trend, attracting investments in the Romanian economy through projects in the area of infrastructure, energy, fight against climate change, cyber-security and food security, the diversification of direct sectorial contracts in these priority areas and in others with emerging potential (education, research and innovation, culture, inter-human contacts), so that these can additionally deepen the political and economic dialogue.

„The meetings occasioned by the visit will set the concrete guidelines for intensifying the activity of the Cooperation Committee between the Government of Romania and the Government of the United Arab Emirates, which will be organized in the second part of the year, in Bucharest,” the quoted source mentions.

On the occasion of the official visit to the UAE, the head of state will have meetings with the president of the Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and with the vice president, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, who also serves as the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The official visit of President Klaus Iohannis is Romania’s first presidential visit to this country in the last 20 years,” the release said.

The cooperation in terms of combating climate change will be a special topic on the agenda of discussions, taking into account the priorities of Romania’s president in this area and the role of the UAE as the host of the future Conference of Parties on the topic of climate change (COP28), the Presidential Administration added.

Several bilateral documents are to be signed by the relevant Romanian ministers and officials in the areas of energy, cyber-security and education and, within the discussions, a special attention shall be paid to tacking topics of shared interest such as the developments in the Middle East, especially those having a direct impact on the security in the vicinity of the EU and NATO.

Moreover, Romania’s president will present the developments related to the aggression war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, its regional and global consequences and will promote the provision of sustained support for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

Source: AGERPRES