The UAE and the US this week emphasised areas of current and future collaboration, releasing a joint statement with a focus on business, climate, foreign policy and space exploration.
This came during the first visit by a UAE President to the White House, with President Sheikh Mohamed holding talks with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday.
Here, The National breaks down key aspects of co-operation and their significance.
Clean energy
The UAE and the US reaffirmed their strong commitment to collaborate on “sustainability and climate resilience” through initiatives including the Partnership to Accelerate Clean Energy. Both nations said they were “committed to investing together in Africa and working to end energy poverty across sub-Saharan Africa”.
Launched in 2022, Pace aims to generate $100 billion in investment and 100 gigawatts of clean energy globally by 2035. UAE-based companies Averi Finance, Amea Power and Phanes are investing in Africa as part of the US led-Power Africa Initiative.
Averi Finance intends to enable $5 billion in investments, build 3 gigawatts of power generation projects, construct more than 3,000km of transmission lines and establish more than 500,000 home and business connections, while Amea Power hopes to create 5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in Africa by 2030, along with $5 billion in capital.
Adnoc announced the acquisition of a 35 per cent stake in ExxonMobil’s proposed low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia plant in Baytown, Texas, as part of the Pace initiative. This plant is intended to produce up to 900,000 tonnes a year of low-carbon ammonia, enabling the transition to cleaner fuels in hard-to-abate sectors.
Plynth Energy – a recently established Abu Dhabi government-owned early-stage fund focused on fusion technologies and supply chains – also invested in the US-based company Zap Energy, which plans to build scalable and commercially viable fusion energy. This investment will help fund the further development of Zap Energy’s small-format commercial fusion technology.
Economic goals
Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Biden also discussed progress on the landmark India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, launched at last year’s G20 Summit in New Delhi.
The corridor – which connects India to Europe by ship-to-rail connections through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Greece – will generate economic growth and incentivise new investments, as well as generating jobs, reducing costs and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
“The leaders charted an ambitious course for the United Arab Emirates and the United States to lead global efforts to develop and expand new fields central to the global economy, particularly in advanced technologies and the clean energy required to power artificial intelligence,” the two leaders said.
In the AI field, the UAE’s Group 42 received investments worth $1.5 billion from Microsoft to help expand its operations. Last week, G42 also unveiled a partnership with global chip maker Nvidia to develop AI solutions aimed at enhancing the accuracy of weather forecasting globally through Earth-2.
Foreign conflict and Gaza war
Among the discussions surrounding foreign conflict, Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Biden stressed the importance of finding a peaceful solution over Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and the Abu Musa islands, which have been occupied by Iran since 1971, “through bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice”.
The also spoke about reaching “sustainable solutions” to security threats in the region “including those posed by non-state actors”, in an apparent reference to Iran-linked groups including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
On Gaza, the two leaders spoke about reaching an end to the conflict, a “sustainable ceasefire” and the release of hostages and Palestinian detainees, while adding that all parties should adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law. More than 41,400 people have been killed and at least 95,875 injured in Gaza since the start of the war, health authorities in the enclave said. Thousands more missing or under rubble.
As Israel continues to hinder the delivery of aid to Gaza, with only a fraction of the growing needs for food, water and medicine being met, Mr Biden lauded the UAE’s humanitarian response and its launch of a maritime corridor for the movement of aid, opening a field hospital and evacuating the sick and wounded from Gaza to receive treatment in the UAE.
The two leaders also expressed the importance of continuing to deliver aid in an unhindered manner to address the growing needs of the civilian population, while maintaining the safety of humanitarian workers and “creating the conditions needed to facilitate an effective response”. At least 280 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, in what has been the deadliest war for UN employees since the world body was launched in 1945.
Sheikh Mohamed praised US diplomatic efforts with Egypt and Qatar to negotiate a ceasefire and secure an agreement to end the war. The two leaders also discussed a future path for Gaza that addresses the humanitarian crisis, “establishes law and order, and lays the groundwork for responsible governance”.
Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Biden also stressed the importance of securing a two-state solution, where Palestinians and Israelis live in peace and security, “as the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, as well as the need to refrain from “all unilateral measures” that undermine these efforts.
Israel is accused of carrying out a widespread attack in Lebanon where pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, killing dozens of people, including civilians, and injuring thousands. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but has since launched air strikes that have killed more than 550 in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has fired rockets into Israel that have reached as far as Haifa.
On Sudan, the Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Biden expressed concern over the situation facing civilians and neighbouring countries.
“Both leaders expressed alarm at the millions of individuals who have been displaced by the war, the hundreds of thousands experiencing famine, and the atrocities committed by the belligerents against the civilian population,” state news agency Wam reported.
They agreed that there can be no military solution to the civil war in Sudan and voiced support for an immediate end to the hostilities, a return to the political process and a transition to a civilian-led government.
They also stressed the importance of ensuring that humanitarian assistance reaches those in need, and preventing the emergence of terrorist networks in Sudan. The fighting in the Darfur region is of particular concern, they said, and it is imperative to hold those who have committed war crimes accountable.
Space exploration
The UAE and US are set to deepen their collaboration in space exploration. Both countries have been long-standing partners in the space sector, with four Emirati astronauts having undergone training at Nasa.
Universities in the US also worked with Emirati engineers to develop the Hope probe, which has been sending back data from Mars’s orbit since 2021.
During their meeting, Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Biden discussed the agreement between Nasa and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in January, under which the UAE would provide a crucial part of Nasa’s planned Gateway, a station to orbit the Moon.
MBRSC engineers will develop an airlock in exchange for a place for an Emirati astronaut on a future flight to the station. The deal was signed a few months after Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, now Minister of State of Youth Affairs, carried out a long-term mission on the International Space Station, travelling on a SpaceX rocket launched from a Florida spaceport. The mission achieved several milestones, including the first spacewalk carried out by an Arab astronaut.
