The United Arab Emirates and the Swiss Confederation held the sixth round of political consultations in Abu Dhabi. The session was co-chaired by Her Excellency Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs, and Her Excellency Monika Schmutz Kirgöz, Assistant State Secretary for Middle East and North Africa.
The consultations were a substantive and productive opportunity to highlight the continuous development/strength of the UAE-Switzerland bilateral relationship. Both sides shared current achievements and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepening ties across a range of sectors including enterprise, science and technology, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, water, healthcare, and people-to-people connections.
One particular focus were ways of accelerating trade and investment promotion. In this regard, the two sides welcomed the remarkable growth in non-oil bilateral trade, which increased by more than 40% in 2023. The UAE and Switzerland also discussed how to unlock the promise and commercial potential of artificial intelligence, while ensuring the ethical, secure, and responsible development of this technology.
Both countries highlighted their support for international institutions, including the UN, in providing mediation, humanitarian assistance, development support, and peacekeeping, among others. They emphasized the importance of upholding international humanitarian law and discussed their efforts to this end. Both sides also discussed their cooperation to ensure the 2026 Water Conference, co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal, delivers tangible outcomes.
Furthermore, both sides held an in-depth review of regional and international developments, including the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Europe, with a focus on promoting dialogue, de-escalation and diplomatic solutions. They also reviewed the damaging impact that extremism and hate speech have on communities in all parts of the world, including Europe and the Middle East, and they discussed ways of countering those who promote such harmful ideologies.
The consultations were attended by H.E. Omran Sharaf, Assistant Minister of Advanced Science and Technology, and H.E. Dr. Hessa Abdullah Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation. From the Swiss side, H.E. Arthur Mattli, Ambassador of Switzerland to the UAE.
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