By R.Ravichandran
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Bernama) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is keen to strengthen its existing strategic partnership with Malaysia, and has urged the Malaysian business community to explore investment opportunities in the UAE specially in the fields of agriculture technology, renewable and clean energy, halal industry and tourism.
The Gulf country’s Ambassador to Malaysia Khalid Ghanim AlGhaith said that Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur have enjoyed good relations since the establishment of the UAE federation in 1971, founded on the principles of cooperation and mutual respect.
Malaysia opened its Embassy in Abu Dhabi in 1983 while the Arab country opened its Embassy here in 1995 and since then the ties between the two countries have gone stronger, he said.
In an interview with Bernama recently, the envoy said the green technology and renewable energy sector were two particular areas that had great economic potential and would be also environmentally beneficial for both countries.
“We are really keen to see more interactions in this area,” he said.
As UAE has been focusing also on diversifying its economy, it has huge potential for investment and collaboration in the field of tourism, where in recent years, the country’s tourism sector has been developing rapidly and places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi are being visited by millions of people from around the world.
This is more so, with the huge connection of Dubai with the outside world, he said.
The Dubai International Airport is one of the world's busiest airports based on international passenger traffic.
The UAE consists of seven emirates namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah.
Khalid Alghaith said Malaysia was also a hub for Islamic finance and halal products and a very attractive country for doing business.
He said in the field of oil and gas, there was a joint venture between Malaysian national oil company Petronas and the United Arab Emirates.
The Ambassador said trade between the UAE and Malaysia was valued at US$ 6.1 billion in 2017, with the UAE re-exporting US$ 3.5 billion worth of Malaysian products to the global market.
Replying to a question, Khalid Alghaith said that people to people relation was also rapidly with more Malaysians travelling to the UAE compared to UAE citizens travelling to Malaysia.
In 2017, more than 68,000 Malaysians visited the Gulf country but in the same period, more than 8,500 UAE citizens visited Malaysia.
"The UAE is also home to more than 6,600 Malaysians residing in the UAE, who contribute to its economy," the ambassador explained.
On the same note, he pointed out that currently there were more than 500 UAE students pursuing their postgraduate studies in various Malaysian institutes of higher learning.
He also said that many UAE citizens were also coming to Malaysia for the purposes of medical tourism, with Malaysia known for its well-established facilities in that area.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the economy of the UAE is the second largest in the Arab world and the Middle East with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$407.5 billion in 2017.
With regard to foreign trade, UAE's market is one of the world's most dynamic markets worldwide, placed among the 16 largest exporters and 20 largest importers of commodities.
The UAE is in the 17th position in terms of the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and is placed at 21st in terms of the Ease of Doing Business Index in 2018 by the World Bank Group.
"There are more than 50 Free Zones operating in UAE. Each Free Zone is designed around one or more business industry categories and only offers licenses to companies within those categories. An independent Free Zone Authority (FZA) governs each free zone," he said.
In terms of port facilities, Khalid Alghaith said the UAE seaports ranked among the top 50 world container ports with Jebel Ali Port ranking 9th globally and 1st in the Middle East and Africa. UAE ranked 13th in the Global Logistics Index.
Replying to another question, the ambassador said his country’s economy was well diversified following measures taken by the government, with the better development of the tourism sector as well as the services sector, ports, seaports and the aviation industry.
Now the oil industry only contribute to about 26 per cent to its national revenue.
In the context of Vision 2021, the ambassador explained that it was aimed at developing economic policies and legislation in accordance with the best international standards to accommodate a competitive economy based on knowledge.
In terms of foreign aid and humanitarian assistance, Khalid Alghaith pointed out that the UAE was the world's largest foreign aid donor for 2017 for the fifth year consecutively, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
The total amount of development aid provided by the UAE last year amounted to about US$5.26 billion to 147 countries. He stressed that the UAE’s humanitarian assistance was non-discriminatory and it was based solely on the humanitarian needs of communities throughout the world.
Talking on international issues, Khalid Alghaith said that the UAE and Malaysia worked closely on a number of issues, most recently this was manifested in the Rohingya crisis.
Both countries have collaboration in the Cox Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh where the UAE provides medical equipment and hospital items and vehicles for the Field Hospital, and Malaysia provides medical expertise and staff.
In Malaysia, the UAE also provides assistance to Rohingya refugees valued RM4 Million through the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation in collaboration with local NGOs such as Humanity Malaysia.
"We have provided food baskets and Household items to the Rohingya in the past two years.
“This year we are planning to provide and sponsor skills training programmes for the Rohingya students as well as sustainable income for the neediest families. In addition, we are also coordinating with the UNHCR Office in Kuala Lumpur and Local NGOs to provide maintenance and renovation, as well as uniform and stationaries to Rohingya schools and learning centres," the ambassador said.
"I am satisfied with the current level of the bilateral relations...but we always look forward to further enhancing our bilateral relations, and we will continue to work towards that end.“
-- BERNAMA
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