Page 629 - MOE ENGLISH PR REPORT - FEBRUARY 2025 Part 1

2/26/25, 9:22 AM UAE: Al Zeyoudi engages with senior officials, ministers to accelerate trade ties in high-potential markets
Siphandone, Prime Minister of Laos, Al Zeyoudi restated the increasing importance of the

ASEAN region to the UAE, and the willingness to cement ties to a region with well-
developed manufacturing and food-production sectors.

With Manoa Seru Nakausabaria Kamikamica, Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji, the talks
revolved around logistics, the fishing industry and the importance of moving forward with

climate-mitigation policies.

Improving connections to Latin America was the subject of the conversations with Gabriela
Garcia, Minister of Economy of Guatemala and Felix Ulloa, Vice President of El Salvador,

while trade and investment with the key industrial state of Michigan, USA was the focus of

the discussions with Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
He also held talks with Erkki Keldo, Minister of Economy and Industry of Estonia, and

Ismael M'Fala Nabe, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Guinea.

The World Government Summit also provided the opportunity to review several of the
UAE's Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements.

Thani was able to meet Bui Thanh Son, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign

Affairs of Vietnam, with which the UAE signed a CEPA with in October 2024, and Luis
Carlos Reyes Hernandez, Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism of Colombia, a

CEPA partner since April 2024.

Al Zeyoudi said the meetings serve to strengthen the UAE's position as an important
partner for economic development across the world. "The UAE has a long-standing belief

that foreign trade and investment are the key to sustainable economic development,
industrial productivity and innovation. My meetings with ministers this week have

highlighted that nations across the world are not only keen to expand their trade networks

but make trade simpler, faster and more efficient. Our CEPA programme is establishing
corridors of growth between Asia, Africa and the Americas, and many countries are

expressing their interest in deepening their collaboration with us. I look forward to

continuing these conversations to ensure a prosperous and equitable future for all."
The transformative power of artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and

sustainability-driven technologies was also a major theme at this year's World
Governments Summit. With Roberto Viola, Director-General of the European Commission's

CONNECT project, Al Zeyoudi outlined the UAE's efforts to harness advanced technology

to improve industrial efficiency and innovation - and to establish the appropriate regulatory
frameworks to facilitate it.

He also underlined the UAE's role as a champion of innovation with key industry pioneers

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