Colombian President: The UAE can contribute to transforming Colombia into a Silicon Valley in Latin America

His Excellency Ivan Duque Marquez, President of the Republic of Colombia, affirmed his country's endeavor, which is the third largest economy in Latin America, to reach the volume of bilateral trade with the United Arab Emirates to more than one billion US dollars by 2030.

In exclusive statements to the Emirates News Agency (WAM) in Dubai, the President of Colombia - who is currently on an official visit to the UAE - expressed his hope to triple the number of trade exchange with the UAE during the next 24 months.

On the possibility of achieving one billion US dollars in terms of trade exchange by 2030, he said: "We can reach more than that.. But I think that we must link markets and remove barriers with the possibility of bringing investments from the United Arab Emirates to Colombia.. I think the challenge is The next thing that follows is the tripling of trade volume between Colombia and the UAE over two years and being able to achieve the largest rate of Emirati investment ever in Colombia.”

The Colombian president expected that areas such as green energy, hydrogen, unconventional renewable energy sources, and conventional energy such as oil and gas would receive great interest from Emirati investors in Colombia.

According to the latest figures issued by the Ministry of Economy and published in 2020, non-oil bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $176 million in the first half of 2019.

During his stay in the country, the Colombian president visited the Dubai Multi Commodities Center today, accompanied by 50 senior Colombian businessmen and the delegation accompanying him. This is his first official visit to the country.

The two countries had established diplomatic relations 45 years ago..Colombia was one of the first countries to support the UAE’s hosting of the Expo 2020 Dubai.. Currently, there are no direct flights between the two countries..However, the Colombian president revealed his desire to discuss the matter with senior officials. UAE officials, he said, "We discussed with His Excellency Salem Rashid Al Owais, the country's ambassador to the Republic of Colombia, the launch of direct flights between the two countries."

The Colombian president noted that the two countries are working to sign a cooperation agreement on avoiding double taxation.

On whether the UAE could be the second country in the Middle East, after Israel to sign the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia, he said: "I think there is a great opportunity and we can do something effective, fast and effective..we are working to avoid duplication." There is an agreement on investment with the UAE that is being discussed in the Colombian Congress, and it is expected that it will be in the interest of both countries.

President Duque Marquez - who was elected President of Colombia in 2018 - stressed that the UAE can be an "accelerator and an important partner" in transforming Colombia into the "Silicon Valley of Latin America".

He stressed that the UAE plays an important role in terms of exporting technology, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and cybersecurity, and said: "We have been able to develop technologies that can be suitable for Emirati companies looking to invest in Latin America...The UAE can be a very important partner through Providing support to our country in order to transfer more startups in the field of specialized technology to become a service provider and be able to connect.

Speaking about the economy and tourism in Colombia, President Duque Marquez expected that his country's economy would grow this year by more than 8.5 percent, which is the best growth rate for Colombia in this century.

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