The meeting also discussed ways of encouraging trade and investment between the two countries, as well as supporting their economic development, forging new economic partnerships in strategic sectors, and taking advantage of opportunities during the Expo 2020 Dubai.
During the meeting, which was attended by Hanan Khalfan Obaid Al Alili, UAE Ambassador to Latvia, the sides agreed to operate direct flights between the two countries this year, to support their overall economic growth.
They also agreed to hold a joint economic forum on the sidelines of the expo, which will be attended by Latvian and UAE companies, as well as the second edition of the Joint Economic Committee between the two countries in February 2022, which will discuss public and private economic collaboration opportunities, create new and diversified opportunities for their business communities in priority sectors, drive non-oil trade exchange, diversify investments in the post-coronavirus era, and encourage companies to explore available opportunities in their markets.
Al Marri highlighted the profound relations between their countries, supported by their leaderships’ keenness to boost their bilateral ties, most notably in economic areas, a fact evidenced by the growth in their trade in 2020 despite the COVID-19-related challenges.
The non-oil foreign trade exchange between the two countries rose significantly last year by over 58 percent from US$71.6 million in 2019 to US$113.5 million in 2020.
"Latvia is a key economic destination and trade partner for the UAE in the Baltic Sea region. We recently achieved significant progress in the cooperation between our business communities. In the coming period, we will work to enhance our cooperation and partnerships in many new areas, most notably innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), renewable energy, industry and ICT," Al Marri said.
For his part, Vitenbergs highlighted his country’s keenness to develop partnerships with the UAE and boost their bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, advanced and digital technologies, entrepreneurship, SMEs, innovation, creative industries and tourism.
The two sides agreed to launch initiatives that will encourage entrepreneurs in both countries and help explore investment opportunities in their markets, as well as exchange expertise and experiences, and draft an action programme to increase their trade in technology and the digital economy.
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