Emirates and Spain cooperate in the area of advanced technology
The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote an advanced technology framework over the next three years.
This initiative seeks to develop bilateral cooperation in the areas of technological advancement, technology transfer and the deployment of key Industry 4.0 developments.
The signing of the agreement was attended by senior government officials from both countries. Sarah al-Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Advanced Technology, and Pedro Duque, Minister of Science and Innovation of Spain, sealed the memorandum telematically in the presence of Omar Ahmed Suwaina al-Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, Majid al-Suwaidi, UAE Ambassador to Spain, Antonio Álvarez Barthe, Spanish Ambassador to the UAE, and other officials from both Ministries.
Sarah al-Amiri noted that this MoU "is at the heart of the Ministry's goal of enhancing industry and building new economic sectors through the adoption and deployment of Industry 4.0 technologies and fostering strong research and development partnerships." "Through our work with Spain's Ministry of Science and Innovation, we will create lasting value in the country by collaborating in national priority sectors, enhancing our competitiveness and further accelerating our economic diversification efforts as we foster a knowledge-based economy supported by advanced technology," she added, Al-Amiri added, as quoted by the official Emirati news agency WAM, that "this partnership will also support our efforts to enhance our research and development (R&D) sector, catalysing our efforts to ensure that innovation remains an integral part of our future growth and progress".
For his part, Spanish Minister Pedro Duque said that this agreement is "fundamental" for both countries. "It will allow us to increase scientific cooperation through the establishment of a solid institutional framework. Close collaboration in critical fields such as health and life sciences, renewable energies, space, transport, artificial intelligence, industry 4.0 and enabling technologies; areas that will help our countries to better face society's most urgent interdisciplinary and interdependent challenges," Duque added.
The areas of collaboration covered by the MoU include life sciences and healthcare integrating personalised and precision medicine solutions; space systems, including the commercial development and launch of small multi-purpose satellites; transportation and logistics technologies, such as real-time logistics and supply chain management systems; renewable energy, including storage, smart grid and solar energy technologies; and artificial intelligence (AI) and 4IR technologies to improve the efficiency of industrial manufacturing processes. The agreement aims to promote several areas of cooperation, including industry-academia collaboration, joint research and development projects, the formation of joint innovative industry clusters, knowledge sharing protocols, intellectual property (IP) and capabilities and licensing agreements.
This initiative demonstrates the good relationship between the Emirates and Spain, also demonstrated in recent times with the visit to the Arab country of the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, to meet with senior Emirati leaders and in the agreements reached during the recent visit of the Emirati ambassador Majid al-Suwaidi to Santander, a Spanish autonomous community where both parties studied forms of cooperation and collaboration in various fields such as the economic and cultural ones.
Indeed, the Emirates has for some time now been developing a programme aimed at promoting the development of various sectors, such as technology, with a view to reducing its economy's dependence on oil. With the promotion of other areas, the Arab country is managing to diversify its economy to avoid this dependence and boost other sectors that could be key, all of this on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UAE nation itself.
