UAE, Germany seek to promote economic growth in Egypt
Egypt, Iran, Syria situations worrying for mutually-satisified trade partners UAE, Germany
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H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, foreign minister of the UAE said Germany’s four-decade long bilateral trade relations with the country continue to assume importance with the UAE’s leaders.
Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Abu Dhabi alongside Frank-Walter Steinmeier, foreign minister of Germany, Sheikh Abdullah also said the meeting with Steinmeier ‘tackled the situation in the region, including preserving of stability in Egypt and backing its economic growth’.
“We discussed the latest development of the 5+1 group’s talks with Iran on its nuclear programme, and touched upon the importance of continuing the Middle East peace process, and bolstering efforts to combat extremism and violence as well as the principles of tolerance and moderation in the region,” he said.
He also highlighted that 15 direct flights operate between the two countries, which traded as much as $13.6 billion (€10 billion) last year. Three German schools and up to 1,000 German companies are currently operating in the UAE.
“The U.A.E. is home to more than 12,000 German residents who are making every effort to drive our economies forward,” Sheikh Abudllah added.
Steinmeier prided upon the relationship between Germany and the UAE, but expressed concerns about the regional security situations in Syria and Iran. Lebanon, he said, alarmed him ‘with the number of Syrian refugees there’, and he is also closely watching Iran’s nuclear programme, which is a ‘worrying issue’ for its neighbouring countries.
In April 2014, it was announced that UAE-based construction firm Arabtec Holding would undertake the construction of up to a million low-cost housing units in Egypt at a cost of $40 billion in a joint venture collaboration with the Egyptian government.
