Qassim Sultan holds discussions in Moscow

The meeting explored the possibilities of more co-operation and enhancing the relations between the two cities.

Sultan, who visited Moscow on invitation from the Mayor of Moscow, discussed signing a co-operation agreement and twinning cities agreement between the two cities. The meeting agreed that a delegation from Moscow city will visit Dubai to sign the agreements soon.

The exploratory meetings between the delegations of Dubai and Moscow were held in the presence of UAE Ambassador to Russia Mohammed Al Osaymi. The Mayor received the Dubai delegation at the main building of the Moscow Municipality.

The Dubai delegation included Jassim Darwish, Secretary General of UAE Municipalities Secretariat, Mohammed AbdulRahim Al Zaabi, Assistant Under Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs for International Co-operation, Qadi Al Murooshid, Director of the Department of Health and Medical Services, Mohammed AbdulKarim Julfar, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Finance and Properties Affairs, Abdullah Al Shaibani, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Technical Services Affairs, Munther Akram Juma, Director of Public Relations and Organizations Department, Dr. AbdulRazzaq Al Madani, Director of Dubai Hospital, Dr. Shouqi Khoory, Director of Rashid Hospital, Essa Al Dosary, Acting Director of Dubai Municipality's Public Transport Department and Farhan Al Marzouqi, Head of Media Section.

Sultan said, "The meeting comes under the directives of Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and on instructions from the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It also comes as part of the country's policy or opening up towards the world as shown by the late President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, due to whose efforts the UAE has achieved high prosperity.

About the Dubai delegation's visit to Moscow, Sultan said: "We have agreed in principle to sign a twinning cities agreement, which will be signed during the visit of Moscow Mayor to Dubai soon."

"In the exploratory meeting, we discussed basic things such as ways of enhancing our relations with Moscow in the fields of trade, health, social and the expertise of both the countries in the municipal affairs. We hope to translate these thoughts into an agreement and we have presented in front of the Moscow officials everything and asked them to benefit from the location of the UAE and Dubai for promoting Russian expertise and capabilities in the Middle East region and the world as a whole," said Sultan.

During the meeting the Russian side gave a presentation on the expertise available with them in the filed of purification of water and cultivable soil, medical equipments and inventions, especially for incurable diseases. The Russian side suggested that a permanent exhibition of Russian products can be set up in Dubai with the participation of Russian businessmen in the UAE.

The Moscow Mayor expressed his appreciation of the fast paced growth of Dubai and the infrastructure developments that are taking place in the emirate, which will bring in more visitors. The Russian team also gave a presentation on the administrative set up of Moscow city and gave a brief description about the 11 million population of the city that include people from 167 nations.

The Mayor of Moscow, who had visited Dubai twice, said that Dubai is a very enjoyable place and things go very logically in that city. "Russian businessmen give big importance to Dubai and the number of Russian visitors to Dubai are also very high. This has led to the increase of trade exchanges between the two cities," he said.

Lyuzhkov said signing of agreement between the two cities will strengthen the mutual economic and trade relations further. "We hope to set up joint projects in construction, medical and advanced technological fields. We want to open up new areas that serve the population," he said.

Sultan said that UAE gets around 250,000 Russian visitors annually. "Dubai has signed twinning cities agreements with 12 cities of the world and hosts a forum for this cities every two years facilitating cultural and expertise exchanges in addition to offering co-operation for organizing trade exhibitions."

As Dubai delegation consisted of experts from different areas, the members of the delegation held discussions with different sectors of Moscow to explore possibilities of effective co-operation between the two cities.

The Dubai delegation also visited the e-Government projects of Moscow to know how the services are connected with the concerned departments electronically.