His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, congratulated the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the occasion of his country’s 30th Independence Day. During a telephone call, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid also conveyed the sincere congratulations of the UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his wishes for further progress and prosperity for the people and government of Uzbekistan. Sheikh Mohammed hailed the exceptional relations between the two nations, which have witnessed remarkable progress in many fields including government development, economy, trade and investment. The UAE-Uzbekistan partnership covers 25 areas and a total of 160 initiatives. As part of the cooperation between the two countries, up to 125 workshops were organised with the participation of more than 250,000 Uzbek government officials and trainees. These workshops covered a total of 2.5 million hours of training. Furthermore, the first edition of Uzbekistan’s Government Accelerators Programme, which saw the participation of 38 officials from 29 government agencies, achieved significant success in finding solutions to various challenges. The first cycle of the ‘One Million Uzbek Coders’ initiative, attracted the participation of around 500,000 trainees, which added a significant boost to the competencies of Uzbek youth in the fields of computer sciences and software development. On an economic level, the UAE stands as Uzbekistan’s first trade partner in the Arab world, with trade exchange representing more than 50% of Uzbek trade with the Arab countries. Non-oil foreign trade between the two countries reached around $400 million (AED1.5 billion) in 2020. Meanwhile, mutual investments between the two countries amounted to more than $3.8 billion, 97% of which are UAE investments in Uzbekistan. The investments covered several vital sectors, including real estate, wholesale, retail, transportation, as well as scientific and technical projects. Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation
