- The United Arab Emirates’ Minister of State for International Cooperation expressed the Emirate’s eagerness to maintain Nigeria as a strategic partner
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu engaged in private discussions on Thursday with the United Arab Emirates’ Minister of State for International Cooperation, Reem Alhashimy, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The meeting occurred just a week before the initiation of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, scheduled to take place in Dubai.
After the meeting, Alhashimy addressed journalists, expressing optimism regarding the potential to strengthen relations between Nigeria and the UAE, aiming for mutual prosperity.
She emphasized the richness of resources in both nations and underscored the UAE’s commitment to building upon the existing human resource foundations between Nigeria and the UAE.
Alhashimy expressed the Emirate’s eagerness to maintain Nigeria as a strategic partner.
She said, “We are as you also are aware, expecting to receive the whole world at COP 28 in the UAE in about a week’s time, and are very committed to ensuring that Nigeria continues to be a strategic partner for the UAE and we continue to work on important issues for the Nigerian people.
“We’re very keen on looking at how we can strengthen our ties more than they already are. And we’ve come with a really positive letter to this new Nigerian government.”
Reflecting on the meeting between both leaders last September, Alhashimy noted that “the president of Nigeria and the President of the United Arab Emirates, met for the first time in September, and we are optimistic about all of the great projects we’re going to be working with you on.
“We’ve come with a really positive letter to this new Nigerian government,” she mentioned.
During the meeting with President Tinubu, Alhashimy presented a plan for bilateral cooperation, crafted under the direction of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the President of the UAE.
She said “We’re here to deliver a very promising positive and futuristic plan for cooperation partnership between our two countries.”
The envoy also expressed plans to strengthen the ties between the UAE and Nigeria, highlighting the rich human resources both nations possess saying “we’ve tried to build on what we already have between our two nations,” adding that the Emirate stands hopeful for the prosperity and strengthened relations that the future holds for both states.