Foreign minister meets new UAE leader in Dubai

This article was written by Shih Ying-ying and published by the Taiwan Journal on January 13, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chen Tan-sun, recently met with the new Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktum, in Dubai.

Chen was in Dubai to pay tribute to the former UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheik Maktum bin Rashid al-Maktum, who recently passed away in Australia.

During his visit, Chen visited several government officials of the UAE and expressed the hope that traditional friendship and cooperation between Taiwan and the UAE could continue to expand and strengthen in the years to come.

Taiwan currently maintains a commercial office in Dubai, as it has no official diplomatic relationship with the UAE. Every year, Taiwanese exports to the UAE are worth US$1.07 billion. Taiwanese imports from the UAE are valued at a yearly US$1.32 billion, about US$1.14 billion of which is crude oil.

In September 2005, President Chen Shui-bian made a stopover in Abu Dhabi. During his visit, the president discussed several issues with the UAE's authorities, including military cooperation, tourist exchanges, direct flights between Taiwan and the UAE, and the possible relocation of Taiwan's representative office from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.