Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, held a bilateral meeting with Zdravko Počivalšek, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Technology of Slovenia, to discuss strengthening economic relations and enhancing trade exchanges.

During the meeting that took place at the Ministry of Economy headquarters in Dubai, the two ministers discussed frameworks for the development of the existing economic partnership, the expansion of areas of cooperation, and the opening of direct channels of communication between the UAE private sector and its Slovenian counterpart.

In addition, they explored means to develop the volume of intraregional trade and double the movement of imports and exports in vital sectors of common interest, apart from the diversification of qualitative and future investments over the coming period.

These investments will be focused on the health, logistics, information and communication technology, e-commerce, tourism, real estate activities, financial services and insurance, and agricultural technology sectors. Furthermore, the discussions covered ways to improve air connectivity between the two countries by increasing the number of direct flights.

Dr. Al Zeyoudi underlined the strength of the UAE-Slovenia growing economic partnership and the importance of enhancing economic cooperation through the Joint Economic Committee and the agreements signed between the two friendly countries.

He also noted that the UAE is keen to advance cooperation with Slovenia in many vital sectors such as food security, agriculture, technology, infrastructure, tourism, and family companies, and take advantage of Slovenia's strong industrial base in many sectors.

The UAE minister further expressed confidence in the two countries efforts to pave the way for broader prospects for cooperation in the next phase, which will be reflected in the growth of the trade volume and the enhanced presence of UAE exports in Slovenian markets.

These efforts will also establish quantitative and qualitative trade and investment partnerships, he said, noting the importance of capitalising on all available opportunities in the two countries' markets.

He added that the UAE's position as a vital trade gateway for Slovenian exports to enter the Asian and Middle Eastern markets and Slovenia's strategic location in the Eastern European region must be capitalised on to achieve growth in the bilateral economic partnership.

Al Zeyoudi pointed out the importance of Expo 2020 Dubai in strengthening economic cooperation for all participating countries in general. He called on the Slovenian business community to take advantage of the golden opportunity offered by the Expo and build fruitful partnerships for the future in various areas of the economy, business, trade, investment, talent attraction, tourism, and culture.

Počivalšek said, "The economic cooperation between the two countries continued its momentum and pace of activity despite the impact of COVID-19 in all sectors globally. In the coming period, we will strive to accelerate this momentum by deepening economic cooperation with the UAE and enhancing our business communities' access to the markets of the two countries. This will enable them to explore further investment opportunities and sign economic agreements that contribute to the growth of trade and investment exchanges between the two friendly countries."

The Slovenian minister also praised the excellent organisation of Expo 2020 Dubai, highlighting his country's active participation in the global event, with its pavilion organising more than 11 conferences and business forums during this period.

The non-oil trade between the UAE and Slovenia grew by 23 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, outperforming the pre-pandemic year of 2019 with a growth of about 13 percent. This reflects the strength and vitality of relations between the two countries.