HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer receives Danish Ambassador to the UAE

HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, recently received Merete Juhl, Danish Ambassador to the UAE, who recently took up this post, at the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) premises in Abu Dhabi. The meeting was attended by HE Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoF and HE Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Assistant Undersecretary of International Financial Relations at MoF.

The meeting saw discussions on economic and investment relations between the UAE and Denmark, particularly in the field of technology. Both parties emphasised the need to commence negotiations on signing an agreement to avoid double taxation on income as well as an agreement on investment promotion and protection. The two countries also discussed the importance of signing an agreement on transparency and the exchange of information for tax purposes approved by G20 and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer highlighted the importance of conducting meetings with finance and economic experts from both the UAE and Denmark in addition to the need to strengthen mutual participation in international exhibitions and conferences. HE mentioned that he is expected to head the finance and economic delegation in a visit to Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland next November, to review bilateral relations with these countries and ways to upgrade them to a strategic partnership.   

During the meeting, both parties confirmed the two countries’ efforts in supporting and enhancing their position in global competitiveness reports. This is important as possessing notable competitive advantages helps in attracting investments and improving the economic environment in both countries. The meeting also covered the mechanisms and methods of exchanging knowledge and expertise, specifically in areas of renewable energy investments and preventing and reducing pollution.

HE Al Tayer pointed out the UAE’s unique position according to various reports on competitiveness issued over the past few years; whereby the country was recently classified in the annual World Competitiveness yearbook 2015 issued by the International Institute for Management Development and ranked 12^th place globally, outranking all the countries in the region for the third year in a row. 

According to the report, which monitors UAE organisations and institutions activities on a global scale, the UAE ranked first in the the ‘Need for economic and social reforms' and second in the ‘Attitudes toward globalisation'. Under the Infrastructure and Economic Performance components, the UAE retained the first position in the ‘Quality of air transportation' for the second year in a row and achieved fifth place in the ‘Diversification of the economy'.

The volume of bilateral trade between the UAE and Denmark amounted to AED 1,405 million in 2014, representing an increase of 11.2% compared to the trade volume in 2013 which was AED 1,248 million.