Her Excellency Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, led a high-level UAE delegation to the Commonwealth of Australia to bolster cooperation between the two friendly countries in the fields of politics, economy, and trade.
H.E. Al Hashimy and the accompanying delegation, which included His Excellency Dr. Fahad Obaid Altaffag, UAE Ambassador to Australia, and officials from Edge Holdings Group, began the official visit with a meeting with the Honorable Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, in the Australian capital, Canberra. The meeting was attended by the Honorable Penny Wong, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, with the two sides reaffirming the commitment of the UAE and Australia to strengthen and develop bilateral relations, as they approach the milestone of celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties next year.
The two sides discussed cooperation in trade, investment, aviation and renewable energy, with H.E. Al Hashimy underscoring that the bilateral relations are in constant development, as evidenced by the number of high-level visits conducted between the two countries over the past several years.
H.E. Al Hashimy also met with the Honorable Richard Marles, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence of Australia, to discuss bilateral relations and potential areas of development across various fields. The two sides stressed the leadership’s keenness to strengthen economic and trade cooperation and to further enhance growth and prosperity, for the benefit of both countries and peoples.
Notably, non-oil trade exchange between the UAE and Australia has increased over the past four years by 16.3%.
Furthermore, Her Excellency and the delegation visited the Australian War Memorial to lay a flower wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Her Excellency also placed a flower wreath on the International Humanitarian Memorial in Canberra in honor of the memory of Zomi Frankcom, the Australian national who lost her life after the World Central Kitchen Organization convoy was targeted on April 1st, 2024, in Gaza. Her Excellency reiterated the UAE’s condemnation of acts of violence against humanitarian workers, affirming the importance of respecting the international humanitarian law.
