Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed on official visit to Colombia

The UAE’s business links with Colombia are growing and have the potential to expand because of strong political ties, said Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Foreign Minister, during his official visit to Colombia.

Sheikh Abdullah said the visit was an opportunity to further expand the links between Colombia and the UAE, particularly in terms of business relations.

“Current trade exchanges between our countries have the potential to expand significantly, given the strength of our political ties,” Sheikh Abdullah told Colombia’s daily newspaper El Tiempo,

“UAE companies are interested in investing in Colombia and in order to facilitate these investments, the UAE is keen on making progress on several important bilateral economic agreements,” he said.

“The beginning of direct flights between our countries could also serve to bring our people and companies closer together.”

Colombia is one of Latin America’s “most attractive investment destinations” and has the third largest population in Latin America.

Sheikh Abdullah also commended Colombia’s support for the UAE’s successful bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai. He said that this was proof of the strength of the relations between the countries.

Colombia was one of the first countries to officially support the UAE’s bid. The country opened an embassy in Abu Dhabi in August 2011 and the UAE opened one in Bogota in October 2013.

Sheikh Abdullah said he looked forward to welcoming visitors from Colombia to the first World Expo in the Middle East in 2020.

Last month, members of the Federal National Council met representatives from Latin American and Caribbean nations over trade and other issues.

FNC Speaker Dr Amal Al Qubaisi said at the time that the amount of exchange between the two countries – at less than 1 per cent of their gross domestic products – needed to grow.