Press Advisories

23. 2. 2023 16:20

Prime Minister Fiala held talks with the President of the United Arab Emirates and supported Czech companies at IDEX fair

The Prime Minister met with the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, 23 February 2023.
The Prime Minister met with the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, 23 February 2023.
Economic cooperation, strengthening energy security and defence-industrial cooperation. These were the main topics of the meeting between Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, held on Thursday 23 February in Abu Dhabi. The Prime Minister also visited IDEX, one of the largest arms fairs, which is attended by nearly thirty companies from the Czech defence industry.

The United Arab Emirates is, together with Israel, our largest trading partner in the Middle East. It is also one of the most open countries in the region. The Prime Minister thus spoke with the President and Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE mainly about deepening cooperation. ‘‘We discussed cooperation in the field of energy, development of modern technologies, cybernetics and education - including the mutual exchange of students between the Czech Republic and the United Arab Emirates,“ Prime Minister Fiala said after the meeting, adding that the country will soon reopen its embassy, which the UAE closed at the end of 2021. "We have agreed with the President that a business delegation from his country will visit the Czech Republic to discuss business cooperation on specific projects and investments. Both are very important for the further development of our mutual relations,“ continued the Prime Minister.

The IDEX 2023 defence technology and engineering fair is taking place in Abu Dhabi at the same time. Nearly three dozen Czech arms industry companies are presenting at one of the world's largest exhibitions of this kind. Among them there are those that have already successfully established themselves in the UAE - TATRA Trucks, OMNIPOL, COLT CZ Group, Sellier&Bellot and AURA - and others that would like to offer their products to the lucrative local market.

At the fair, the Prime Minister saw the Czech exposition, which, according to the organisers, is to show the world the story of the successful democratic transformation process of the Czech Republic, which since 1989 has been integrated into the international community and the international market. "I am very glad that I could come to Abu Dhabi for the IDEX security fair, where the Czech Republic has a strong presence and thus shows the importance of our defence industry. Our government is aware of the growing importance of the defence industry for our economy and we are doing our utmost to strengthen the Czech defence industry,“ said the Prime Minister, who also added that the defence industry is important for the economy also because it has a significant impact on employment and the overall production has a high added value.

Very good news is that our Czech Excalibur Army has signed a contract with Resource Industries from the United Arab Emirates for the delivery of 200 vehicles on Tatra chassis. "This country is very interested in cooperation, including cooperation in the defence industry. We have an open door here, so it's up to all of us to take advantage of it together,“ the Prime Minister commented the contract.

Petr Fiala arrived in Abu Dhabi on a commercial flight from Warsaw, where on Wednesday, 22 February, he attended a meeting of the so-called Bucharest Nine (B9) with US President Joe Biden. The meeting took place on the eve of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Putin's Russia launched on 24 February 2022. The Prime Minister subsequently held talks with his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki.

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