ABU DHABI // After four years of strained diplomatic relations, the UAE and Serbia have re-engaged.
Last week, a Serbian delegation headed by Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s first deputy prime minister and minister of defence, visited the UAE to discuss agreements on diplomatic and economic relations, as well as defence cooperation.
The UAE and Serbia agreed to establish full diplomatic relations in 2007, but the deal was never signed. The Serbs pulled out when the UAE recognised Kosovo as an independent state in 2008.
Since then, only air and trade-route agreements have been signed between the two governments, despite approximately 15,000 Serbians living in the UAE.
Earlier this year, Serbian residents started an online petition calling on their government to set up an embassy in the UAE. Consular services can only be accessed at the Serbian embassy in Cairo.
According to state news agency Wam, Mr Vucic expressed his interest in strengthening Serbia’s relations and cooperation with the UAE.
The Serbian minister of finance and economy, Mladan Dinkic, added that an arrangement on cooperation in the military industry has been signed.
"Possibilities for the sale of Serbian weapons and ammunition to the UAE and joint projects for the development and production of rocket systems and supersonic trainer aircraft have been discussed," Mr Dinkic said.
Mr Dinkic said Serbia provided a good environment for investments from the UAE.
A proposal was also presented by the Serbian government to create a new national airline and purchase a new fleet of aircraft in cooperation with the UAE carrier Etihad.
"We have plans to lease 12 new aircraft from Airbus and the new company would receive US$140 million [Dh514m] worth of guarantees for that purpose," Mr Dinkic said.
"This is still an idea, but creating the new JAT and a fleet renewal is a definite government decision," he said, referring to the airline of the former Yugoslavia.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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How Filipinos in the UAE invest
A recent survey of 10,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE found that 82 per cent have plans to invest, primarily in property. This is significantly higher than the 2014 poll showing only two out of 10 Filipinos planned to invest.
Fifty-five percent said they plan to invest in property, according to the poll conducted by the New Perspective Media Group, organiser of the Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition. Acquiring a franchised business or starting up a small business was preferred by 25 per cent and 15 per cent said they will invest in mutual funds. The rest said they are keen to invest in insurance (3 per cent) and gold (2 per cent).
Of the 5,500 respondents who preferred property as their primary investment, 54 per cent said they plan to make the purchase within the next year. Manila was the top location, preferred by 53 per cent.
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