An official UAE delegation led by Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, will arrive in France this week to explore further development of economic partnerships between the two countries.

The visit will focus on enhancing partnerships in the sectors of trade, entrepreneurship, tourism, aviation, travel, new and circular economies, education, health, energy, anti-money laundering, space, AI, and intellectual property in particular.

Bin Touq will hold several bilateral meetings with French ministers, officials, and private sector representatives to further enhance the economic and trade relations between the two sides by exploring more promising investment opportunities.

The Minister will also participate in a meeting with the private sector, which will also be attended by several officials from both sides, to highlight the promising investment and commercial opportunities offered by the UAE economy.

It will turn the spotlight on the advantages that the UAE’s business environment offers to investors and entrepreneurs, especially since French investments in the UAE continue to grow. More than 12,500 French economic licenses are active in the UAE as of 10 July 2023.

Bin Touq will visit some of the largest business incubators and accelerators in France, namely ‘Station F’ and the ‘Airbus’ Creative Centre to exchange experiences and best practices in entrepreneurship, startups and technology, and to learn more about their operations. In addition, he will visit the First Abu Dhabi Bank branch in France.

The UAE and France enjoy distinguished trade relations, as reflected by their non-oil trade indicators. The total volume of non-oil foreign trade between the two countries amounted to approximately AED31 billion (US$8.36 billion) by the end of 2022, up 22 percent from 2021.