UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H.H. Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, met Alistair Burt, the British Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for the Middle East and North Africa. During their meeting, they reviewed a number of projects already achieved as a result of the establishment of the UAE-UK Taskforce, including a Memorandum of Understanding on Nuclear Cooperation, the establishment of a UAE-UK Businessmen Council, international Cooperation and development, repatriation of prisoners, defence and other issues mutually beneficial to the UAE and UK. The ministers also discussed recent developments in the region, in particular the current crisis in Syria. The meeting was followed by a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The UAE Minister expressed his optimism with regards to the UAE-UK relations, saying that the success of the Taskforce meeting had enhanced further the bilateral relations, already much strengthened as a result of the visit by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Britain a few weeks ago. Dr. Gargash also expressed his thanks for the British support for the UAE in its bid to host EXPO 2020.
UK Minister praised the efforts made by the Centre for Countering Violent Extremism, which he visited earlier in the day, and the way it was making good use of the generous resources allocated to it to fight global terrorism.