Polish President honors UAE Minister of Economy

This honor is being conferred for the first time at a ministerial level. His Excellency Waldemar Pawlak, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, presented the honour to Mr Al Mansouri, who headed a UAE delegation to Poland.

The delegation discussed with the Polish officials suggesting proposals to form a joint economic committee to be finalised in the first half of 2010. The committee is aimed at strengthening trade and business relations between the UAE and Poland.

Mr Al Mansouri said that Poland is a strategic gateway to the entire European Union and said the visit of the delegation comes in line with an integrated plan by the UAE to strengthen global partnerships in trade and economy.

Discussions focused on cooperation in the fields of petrochemicals, food industries, renewable energy, tourism and agriculture. Mr Al Mansouri suggested to the polish officials the possibility of manufacturing Polish products in the UAE to be distributed to the whole region, which was welcomed by Poland.

Mr Al Mansouri said the UAE and Poland will strengthen bilateral trade relations by leveraging the investment environments in both countries. On the four-day official visit, he met with senior officials and more than 55 leading Polish entrepreneurs, who expressed their interest in investing in the UAE. Mr Al Mansouri is accompanied by senior officials of leading UAE companies, who presented their profiles to the Polish officials and entrepreneurs.

Mr Al Mansouri said the visit is a step forward to furthering economic, trade and investment relations between the UAE and Poland. The volume of trade between the two countries reached $642m (Dh2,361m) in 2008 and Polish investments in the UAE reached $80m through 18 companies operating here. The UAE is Poland's leading trading partner in the Gulf and imports from Poland are valued at $617m.

Mr Al Mansouri said the two countries have signed a series of agreements covering double taxation in 1991 and civil aviation in 1994, among other areas.

The UAE delegation include Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Shehi, Director General of the Ministry of Economy; Mohammad Hassan Al Qamzi, General Manager, ZonesCorp Executive President; Shukri Al Muhairi, General Manager of Dubai Investments Industries; Khalid Eisa Bu Humaid, Deputy Chairman for International Relations and Affairs at Dubal; Obaid Salim Al Daheri, Director of International Affairs at Borouj; Ahmad Al Shamsi, Director of Development at Al Maabar International Investments; Rashid Al Daheri, Director of Projects at Masdar, and Anas Al Barghouthi, Director of Business Development at Mubadala.