UAE, Russia Ink Several MoUs, Agreements during Putin Visit 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo during the official welcome ceremony in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo during the official welcome ceremony in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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UAE, Russia Ink Several MoUs, Agreements during Putin Visit 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo during the official welcome ceremony in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan pose for a photo during the official welcome ceremony in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The United Arab Emirates and Russia have signed agreements and MoUs on investment and the environment to develop the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said that it has agreed to sell a stake in the Ghasha gas project to Lukoil, and also signed a strategic framework agreement with Gazprom Neft on upstream, downstream and technology cooperation.

The agreements were signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the UAE.

The Russian and UAE energy ministries also signed an MoU that envisages creating a working group on energy that will develop concrete proposals for joint energy projects.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that promising areas for cooperation between Russia and the UAE include LNG and nuclear and electric power, according to a ministry statement.

More so, the sovereign funds of Russia and the UAE are expected to sign 10 investment deals worth over 1.3 billion US dollars.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said Tuesday that the deals with its UAE counterpart, Mubadala Investment Company, will cover areas such as high technology, healthcare, oil and gas, logistics, industrial production, and artificial intelligence.

During Putin's visit, the two sovereign funds will also organize a meeting of business leaders from the two countries on expanding cooperation and implementing joint projects and prepare an exhibition on investment cooperation, the RDIF said in a statement.

During six years of successful cooperation between the two sides, investments worth more than 2 billion dollars have been made and approved for more than 45 projects, it added.

Russia and the UAE are successfully developing partnerships in trade, energy, industry, tourism, and even in specialized fields such as training astronauts, the statement quoted RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev as saying.

Hazza Al Mansouri became the first UAE astronaut to take part in a mission at the International Space Station (ISS) from Sept. 25 to Oct. 3.



Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Taiwan is investigating who is responsible for modifying the pagers that were turned into explosives in the hands of the Lebanese people, including members of Hezbollah.

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang told Asharq Al-Awsat that 260,000 pagers were exported from his country between 2022 and 2024, and 16 percent of them were sent to the United States and Europe.

He expressed his regret that the pagers were planted with explosives that were used in the attack in Lebanon last month, clarifying that the devices were not directly exported from Taiwan to Lebanon.

He explained that the components of the device are made of material that is not liable to explode.

Apollo Gold, the Taiwanese company that exported the pagers between 2022 and 2024, has never received any complaints that its devices have caused harm or exploded.

The attack in Lebanon has raised several questions and they are being probed by authorities in Taiwan, he went on to say.

One thing is for certain, the devices were not harmful in the shape they were exported from the country, stressed Chang.

Asked about whether the attack may harm Taiwan’s economy, he replied that his country’s industry sector has a strong reputation that will be difficult to undermine given the trust it has from clients.

The size of the sector and Taiwan’s investments cannot be measured by a small number of pagers, as they only make up a mere fraction in the country’s trade relations with countries all over the world, he stressed.

Separately, Chang revealed that Taiwan was considering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the chip industry, saying he was optimistic over the broad potential for cooperation in the technology sector.

There are no limits to the cooperation between them, he added.

Taiwan constantly wants to maintain the relations and discuss opportunities for joint investments, he stated.

Taiwan was among the first countries to leap to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in all fields to help the Kingdom achieve its Vision 2030 that is spearheaded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chang said.