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29 March 2024

Mohammed attends Boao Forum for Asia

Published
By Wam

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday joined more than 350 high-ranking government officials, global finance leaders, policy makers and academics, including former Vice Premier of China Zeng Peiyan, who gathered in Dubai to attend the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Financial Cooperation Conference.

BFA, which will run until November 26, is recognised as the most prestigious forum in the region and will provide a platform for two days of discussion aimed at driving forward the conversation on key financial issues confronting Asian countries and laying the groundwork for closer collaboration in the future.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid was flanked by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development (Micad), and Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Director-General of Dubai's Protocol Department.

Minister Al Qasimi noted that trade between the UAE and China reached $47 billion in 2013, as China became Dubai's second largest trading partner.

She said that  more than 4,200 Chinese companies are operating in the UAE in various sectors. More than 200,000 Chinese people who live and work in Dubai account for 10 per cent of total number of residents in the emirate, she further noted.

"The BFA Financial Cooperation Conference will deepen the conversation on issues of critical financial importance to Asian countries," said Zhou Wenzhong, Secretary-General for the BFA. "Our decision to stage the event in Dubai, strategically located at the crossroads between East and West, is recognition of its growing importance as a conduit for financing, trade and exchange between East and West Asia, as well as the role it can play in financing infrastructure and energy investments that will help further integrate Asia into the world economy."

Shaukat Aziz, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Dominique de Villepin, former Prime Minister of France, lead  the international leaders in attendance, while senior figures from the UAE include Abdulla Al Saleh, Undersecretary of Trade and International Affairs, UAE Ministry of Economy; Abdullah Mohammad Al Awar, CEO, Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre; and V Shankar, Group Executive Director and CEO Europe, Middle East, Africa and Americas of Standard Chartered Bank.

Leading Chinese speakers include Jin Liqun, Secretary-General, Multilateral Interim Secretariat for Establishing Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Wang Heshan, Vice Governor, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; and Ma Zehua, Chairman of the Board, China Ocean Shipping Group Company.

The Chinese finance sector is also well represented through Zheng Zhijie, President, China Development Bank; Li Jiange, Chairman, Shenyin & Wanguo Securities; Zhang Hongli, Vice President, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Mohammed attends IAP conference

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended the opening session of the 9th International Conference of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) and General Meeting, which began on Monday  in Dubai and runs until November 27.

Sheikh Mohammed along with Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and other dignitaries watched a documentary film about the prosecution's history in general and in particular in the UAE, and its role in the establishment of justice in communities.

Gerhard Jarosch, President of IAP, in his opening speech welcomed Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for patronising the conference and thanked the UAE for hosting the IAP Annual Conference for the first time in Dubai.

"It is a moment of great pride for us to see this great gathering in Dubai, UAE, as there are 500 attorney generals and public prosecutors from 156 counties. This is the first time such a conference is being held in an Arab city, to exchange expertise with our peers and discuss topics that top the agenda of several public prosecutions around the world," he said.

Following the key note speech, Sheikh Mohammed launched the Arabic-language website of the International Association of Prosecutors, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands, in the presence of members of the delegations, Dubai Attorney General, Essam Issa Al Humaidan, UAE Attorney General, Salem Kpich, Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director- General of the Department of Protocol and Hospitality in Dubai, Tarish Eid Al Mansouri, Director-General of Dubai Courts along with a number of members of prosecutors in Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said on this occasion that "our state has the honour to be a leader in the disseminating  and consolidation of the Arabic language and its literature and rules and respect it at the public and official levels, as it is the language of the Holy Quran and the language of our forefathers, who were always proud of their mother tongue, which is a language of civilisation, religion and literature."

Sheikh Mohammed welcomed the participants in the conference and wished them success in their meetings to service justice and promote a culture of  "All are equal before the law".

Mohammed bin Rashid receives former Vice-Premier of the State Council of China

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday received Zeng Peiyan, former Vice-Premier of the State Council of China and the current Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA).

During the meeting at the head office of 'Falcon and Associates', Sheikh Mohammed and Peiyan had exchanges on the relations between the UAE and China. They also discussed the role of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Financial Cooperation Conference which opened in Dubai on Monday, in enhancing these relations and encouraging investors from both countries and Asian members of the forum to forge and develop economically-feasible partnerships to strengthen the member economies and ultimately the global economy.

The Chinese former official lauded the UAE's significant economic growth as the natural outcome of the policies pursued by the country's wise leadership and its keen vision for the future.

He noted the giant projects undertaken by Dubai, thanks to the vision and innovative ideas that Sheikh Mohammed puts at the disposal of his people and country.

BFA, which will run until November 26, is recognised as the most prestigious forum in the region and will provide a platform for two days of discussion aimed at driving forward the conversation on key financial issues confronting Asian countries and laying the groundwork for closer collaboration in the future.

In attendance at the meeting were Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Director-General of Dubai's Protocol Department, Zhou Wenzhong, Secretary-General for the BFA, and Huang Jiemin, Chinese Ambassador to the UAE.