UAE, Slovakia discuss economic and trade ties

Eng. Sultan Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy has discussed with the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, Pavol Pavlis the bilateral relations and ways to boost them, especially at the economic, trade and investment levels. The two sides discussed possibility of setting up joint economic committee to further strengthen the economic cooperation ties and links between the business communities in the two countries. Al Mansouri stressed that the ministry is keen to activate the existing joint economic committees with a number of sisterly and friendly countries. The meeting also tackled the opening of Slovak trade representative office to bolster the trade and economic relations. The meeting focused on stepping up mutual visits for officials and businesspersons in the light of abundant investment opportunities in both countries. For his part, the Slovak official praised the steps taken by the UAE to mitigate the repercussions of the World Financial Crisis, a move he said had accelerated the economic recovery in the UAE, thanks to the wise vision of the UAE leadership. He noted that Slovakia has a host of attractive investment opportunities, especially in the areas of health, food industry, tourism and others. The Slovak official expressed his admiration about the UAE economic model, adding that his country is looking forward to upgrading the ties with the UAE, especially at the economic and trade levels. The trade exchanged between the two countries stood at Dh567 million at the end of 2011. This modest figure does not reflect the potentials and ambitions of the two countries, especially in the economic and trade areas.