Australia and the United Arab Emirates will explore closer defence ties after a meeting on Sunday between a senior Australian government minister and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Australia’s defence industry minister Christopher Pyne and Sheikh Mohammed met on the sidelines of the biennial International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex) in Abu Dhabi.
The two agreed to consider a 10-year defence plan that could include more than 1 billion Australian dollars in sales to the UAE, Mr Pyne said.
“What the Crown Prince is talking about is a more mature long-term relationship built around security and procurement,” he said.
A final agreement has yet to be reached but could include a transfer of knowledge from Australian to UAE companies.
“They are looking for genuine partners, not just foreign military sales, and that suits Australia’s attitude extremely well,” Mr Pyne said.
Sales could include everything from ammunition to large items such as “high-speed support vessels”, he said.
“We have very significant capabilities, particularly around coastal protection and surveillance, which I think we should be sharing with our Middle Eastern partners.”
Australian companies could finalise hundreds of millions of dollars in defence sales to the UAE at idex this week, Mr Pyne added.
The UAE, a federation of seven emirates on the Arabian Peninsula, has invested heavily in its domestic defence manufacturing capabilities through international partnerships.
It is also a close US ally and a global trade, transport and tourism hub. The development of its defence industries has been led by Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s main petroleum-exporting emirate, to boost the non-oil economy.
“I think potential here for defence procurement partnerships as well as security partnerships is very significant,” Mr Pyne said, calling the UAE one of Australia’s “closest friends in the Arab world”.
* Reuters
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