NO doubt, the visit of the President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to Pakistan was short but he held substantive talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif covering all aspects of the bilateral relations as well as important regional and global issues. Their discussions focused on exchange of views on further strengthening the longstanding fraternal relations between the two countries and the two leaders reviewed the progress achieved in ongoing areas of cooperation and also explored avenues to deepen engagement across a wide range of sectors. Both sides underscored the importance of expanding collaboration in economic cooperation, investment, energy, infrastructure development, IT, technology and people-to-people exchanges.
The warmth with which the UAE President was received and the similarity of views on different issues reflected the depth of the relations between the two brotherly countries as well as their commitment to take them to new heights to their mutual advantage. Pakistan was the first country to recognize the UAE when it acquired independence in 1971 and since then bilateral relations are acquiring new dimensions in all fields including political, economic, defence and social. The first official visit of the UAE President will surely help boost mutual cooperation in different sectors, especially investment and trade. The agreement to boost trade is important in the backdrop of Pakistan’s renewed focus on ‘trade not aid’. No details are available but the objective of more trade can become a reality if the UAE gives further market access to Pakistani exports, especially agricultural products. There is also a need to enhance the investment flows and capital from the UAE to support key sectors like energy, infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing and mining. Analysts point out that there is untapped potential in areas such as logistics, ports, renewable energy and digital infrastructure. It may be pointed out that the UAE is home to 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates who are not only contributing their share to socio-economic development of the host country but also remit about $5.5 billion annually, playing an important role in efforts to overcome financial problems of the motherland. Of late, there have been reports indicating problems in issuance of visa and stay in Pakistan and it is hoped the issue will be sorted out on priority basis.
