UAE And Singapore To Enhance Ties in Bilateral Co-operation

The 14th session of the Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum (ADSJF) was co-chaired by the Executive Affairs Authority Chairman, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, and Singapore's Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations, S Iswaran.

The forum was attended by Sarah Bint Yousef Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology, Chairwoman of the Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE), Chairwoman of the Emirates College for Advanced Education Board of Trustees, and Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General and Special Representative of COP, in addition to officials and senior representatives from a number of significant public and private organisations in the UAE and Singapore.

The Co-Chairs reiterated the session's focus on Singapore and the UAE's close ties.

The UAE will remain Singapore's largest commercial partner in the Middle East, with total non-oil trade of $4.1 billion in 2021.

Both parties expressed a desire to look into opportunities for collaboration in a variety of areas that are strategically important to them, such as innovation, technology, financial services, industries, skill development, climate change, and food security.

Al Mubarak commented, “For more than a decade, the Abu Dhabi Singapore Joint Forum has been an effective platform for public and private entities from the UAE and Singapore to develop productive partnerships across a range of sectors of mutual interest. Serving as a cornerstone of the countries’ bilateral relationship, we look forward to further exploring and expanding our cooperation to benefit our businesses and people.”

Minister Iswaran, in turn, stated, “As important business hubs in our respective regions, Singapore and the UAE share a mutual interest in promoting economic collaboration for the benefit of our business communities. Over the years, we have made significant progress in innovation, trade digitalisation and fintech. I look forward to taking this partnership forward, focusing on fresh and forward-looking ideas such as low-carbon alternatives and food security.”

The Emirates College for Advanced Education and NIE International signed a strategic partnership to collaborate in the education sector on governance and policy, training programmes, and capacity building for UAE educators in order to promote greater skill and knowledge exchange between the two countries.

EnterpriseSG and Hub71, Abu Dhabi's international tech hub, also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to encourage businesses in both countries. According to the agreement, Hub71 and EnterpriseSG will work together to provide a variety of services to entrepreneurs, including mentoring, access to networks and resources, and opportunities for international collaboration.

For more than 35 years, the UAE and Singapore have actively cultivated a fruitful and positive bilateral relationship based on active trade and investment. The Abu Dhabi-Singapore Shared Forum was established in 2007 as part of both governments' joint commitment to investigate areas of mutual strategic interest. This was done in order to boost cooperation.

The Singapore-UAE Comprehensive Partnership (SUCP), signed in 2019, is a framework designed to strengthen existing areas of cooperation and explore new ones of mutual interest and benefit to both countries. These include trade, industry, and investment, financial cooperation, education and human resource development, as well as sustainable development and energy.

“Singapore and the UAE enjoy very strong bilateral relations; we are both maritime hubs in different regions of the world and it is our role to ensure that whatever ships that cross in Singapore and the UAE, we are able to handle the different types of challenges, moving forward,” said Quah Ley Hoon, Chief Executive of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

“Therefore, we are really looking forward to collaborating with the UAE in digitalisation and decarbonisation,” she added in an interview with WAM in Abu Dhabi.

Three important aspects Ley Hoon cited digitalization as one of the three crucial aspects that will assist the maritime sector in overcoming some significant obstacles. She stated that by implementing digitalization, "we make sure that different parties are able to interface with one another, not just on port clearance but also on cargo clearance, allowing the commodities to flow in a more fluid manner." The attempt to reduce carbon emissions is obviously the second, according to the CEO.

“It is important that the maritime industry further reduces emissions and works towards the IMO [International Maritime Organisation] goals of 2050. We need to look at what’s the future ship, what’s the type of ship that we can cater for in future,” she explained, referring to the IMO’s initial greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy that envisages reducing the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 50 per cent by 2050 compared to 2008.