The upcoming five years will see substantial growth in trade and new projects between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Türkiye, UAE Ambassador to Ankara Saeed Thani Hareb Al Dhaheri said Wednesday.
Al Dhaheri underlined that the two countries celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations this year and described ties as “strong and brotherly.”
“There will be new developments in the upcoming five years. Further dialogue and areas of cooperation and investment will be looked into,” the ambassador told a group of journalists at the embassy in the capital Ankara.
He pointed to several deals that were signed between the two countries during the recent visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the country, which will open the way for future collaborations.
The three-day Gulf tour, which included Abu Dhabi, comes after Erdoğan secured reelection in late May and builds on Ankara’s diplomatic efforts since 2021 to normalize relations.
Türkiye and the UAE signed 13 agreements worth $50.7 billion (TL 1.37 trillion), and ties have been elevated to the level of strategic partnership because of the agreement. The parties have also advanced the existing cooperation in energy, transportation, infrastructure, logistics, e-commerce, finance, health, food, tourism, real estate, construction, the defense industry, artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.
Meanwhile, the two countries plan to organize a trade and investment forum in Istanbul in autumn. Being asked about the scope of the forum and whether new agreements could be signed, Al Dhaheri elaborated that the meeting would be an opportunity to investigate potential cooperation areas and enhance contact between the two countries’ businesspeople.
The two countries expect to increase bilateral trade volume to $40 billion in five years.
The ambassador further stated that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which will enter force on Sept. 1., will create 100,000 employment opportunities in Türkiye as well as 25,000 in the UAE.
Al Dhaheri also highlighted that relations are not limited to the economy and investment but that strong social relations, the same religion and similar traditions bind the two countries.
On the other hand, the ambassador also mentioned plans to engage in a green transformation of the embassy in Ankara.
“Renewable energy is an issue we place high importance upon. We also plan to transform our embassy greenly and consider using TOGG as the embassy’s vehicle.”
The ambassador’s words came after Erdoğan gave Türkiye’s first domestically produced electric car as a gift to UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The UAE is one of the countries at the sharp end of climate change as it lies in one of the world’s hottest regions, with summer temperatures nudging 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
The country has announced ambitious environmental initiatives, including plans for 20 gigawatts of installed solar capacity by 2030 and a fully operational nuclear power station by 2024.
The UAE will also host the U.N.’s flagship COP28 climate conference at the end of the year. Scheduled to take place in Dubai between Nov. 30 and Dec. 12, the conference will be the first global assessment of progress since the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015 to limit global warming.
