President's whirlwind tour ends with surprise visit to Abu Dhabi

This article was written by Shih Ying-ying and published by the Taiwan Journal on October 7, 2005. It reports that President Chen Shui-bian ended his recent diplomatic trip to Central America and the Caribbean with a surprise visit to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Although there is no official diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the UAE, Chen and his officials discussed issues such as the promotion of tourist exchanges, the opening of direct flights between the two countries, and other trading issues. The UAE also expressed interest in launching a joint venture with Taiwan in the oil industry.

Currently, Taiwanese exports to the UAW are worth US$1.07 billion every year, with imports valued at a yearly US$1.32 billion. Approximately US$1.14 billion of the imports is crude oil.