Egypt and the United Arab Emirates join forces to fight instability in the region

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday. During the meeting they discussed peace and stability in the Middle East and the recent agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, among many other issues.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed said that "it was a pleasure to meet the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. We discussed different ways to strengthen our bilateral ties and develop areas of cooperation. We also considered issues of peace and stability in the region".

The Egyptian presidential spokesman, Bassam Rady, explained that the two leaders have also addressed recent developments in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Palestine, as well as the controversial Nile dam being built by Ethiopia. 

The hydroelectric dam has been a source of concern for Egypt and Sudan. Both nations have been trying, for a decade, to persuade Addis Ababa to accept a legally binding agreement on the operation of the dam and the dynamics of dealing with the persistent drought in order to resolve future disagreements.

During the visit Al-Sisi expressed his satisfaction at the news that the Emirates would join the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum as an observer state. The Egyptian President added that the measure would give "added value" to the organisation's activities and the strategic interests of its members.

This forum includes Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Jordan. It also aims to establish economic and trade partnerships between Member States to invest in gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean region as a means of laying the foundations for peace and stability.

The Egyptian Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Tarek el Molla, revealed last September that 320 trillion cubic feet of gas had been discovered in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which could make the area a world centre for the gas industry.

During the meeting between the two high-ranking leaders of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, different commercial strategies were put forward for forging closer ties between the two countries. Last year, Egypt was the sixth largest trading partner of the United Arab Emirates in the region, while the Emirates was Egypt's second largest trading partner.

"The discussion between the two leaders reflected their determination to continue working together in the face of threats to the security and stability of the region," said Egypt's presidential spokesman. "In this context, the President has again stressed Egypt's firm position on the security of the Gulf region as an extension of its own security and the rejection of any practice that undermines its stability".

The trade relationship between the two countries is vital to their economy. The United Arab Emirates ranks first in the world in terms of investments in Egypt, with total foreign direct investment (FDI) of 24.3 billion dirhams from 990 Emirati companies investing in Egypt by the end of 2018. Meanwhile, Egypt ranks 28th in the world in terms of FDI in the UAE, with a total investment of Dh3.3 billion over the same period