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UAE to focus on business and tech in US state visit

Updated Sep 19, 2024, 5:22pm EDT
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UAE Presidential Court/Reuters
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The Middle East’s geopolitical turmoil is dominating headlines, but the UAE’s president has different priorities for his first state visit to Washington: business and tech.

While acknowledging security concerns are a constant in the region, the UAE is fully focused on an “economy-first, prosperity-first” agenda, Dr. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, told reporters during a briefing in Dubai on Thursday.

In next week’s meetings with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Sheikh Mohamed will discuss Gaza, Sudan, and counter terrorism, Gargash said. But the UAE is primarily seeking to deepen its cooperation with the US to bolster its economy and build new industries that can replace oil revenue as the world enters what he called “the fall season of the hydrocarbon age.”

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Gargash referenced Microsoft’s $1.5 billion investment in G42 as an example of how tech partnerships are evolving. The UAE has the capital to invest in the latest AI models, he said, and “there’s also a deep understanding of technology at the leadership level,” noting that Abu Dhabi’s deputy ruler Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed has had discussions at a technical level with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

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The UAE isn’t ignoring the conflicts in the region, and is actively engaged in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and other areas of unrest. The US-UAE relationship was historically centered on oil and defense, and is now moving more toward commerce and tech, Gargash said.

Dr. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to UAE President.
Denis Balibouse/Reuters

There are more than 60,000 US citizens living in the UAE, he noted, while a million Americans visit annually, and trade is more than $50 billion a year. More than half the new firms that registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre this year are from the US, he said.

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Sheikh Mohamed has met Biden several times, and Harris visited the UAE twice — once to convey condolences after the death of former president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed in 2022, and then during COP28 in Dubai last year.

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