The UAE Ministry of Economy met with representatives of Dubai Aluminium Co. (Dubal) and a delegation from Russia at its Dubai offices on Monday to discuss the strengthening of the UAE's aluminum sector and enhanced bilateral relations with Russia. The series of meetings started off with talks between Eng. Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri and MoE representatives that included Jamal Nasser Lutah, executive director of industry; Saeed Abdulla Al-Roken, director of the Department of Industrial Development; Abdullah Jasim Bin Kalban, CEO of Dubal; and Khalid Eisa Bu Humaid, general manager of Dubal's Corporate Relations and International Affairs. They discussed the status of the UAE's aluminum sector and highlighted the expansions and major initiatives being planned to boost the industry at the UAE and Gulf levels. “The aluminum industry is a vital component of our country's economic diversification initiatives and generates around 12 percent of total global supply; several projects are in fact underway to establish the UAE as an aluminum production hub. Aluminum is a highly strategic sector since it provides various job opportunities; we are thus committed to further enhance this and other components of the industrial sector, which we believe is essential to attaining sustained economic growth,” said Al-Mansouri. Participants discussed how the aluminum sector has emerged as a major contributor to the national GDP after oil, and how the metal products industry in general has received AED7.5 billion in investments with around 75 companies operating within the field as of 2007. They also talked about Dubal's own contributions, as the company produces about 900,000 tons of aluminum annually and is expected to generate around a million tons by 2010. Al-Mansouri received a Russian delegation led by Senator Oleg Shurdumov, first deputy head of the Federation Council Committee, to discuss the strengthening of bilateral relations between the UAE and Russia. The group talked about intensifying bilateral commercial, industrial, and agricultural trade, ensuring food security, improving the role of the UAE in the World Trade Organization (WTO) with the full support of Russia, and enhancing the functions of the UAE-Russian Economic Council. Al-Mansouri spoke about finding solutions to rising inflation and the scarcity and rising prices of basic food commodities, and on exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the construction materials sectors of both countries. “The UAE has maintained healthy diplomatic and economic relations with Russia since 1971. The UAE in fact remains Russia's closest trade partner in the Gulf. Our collaboration just recently entered a new phase when we jointly signed a protocol related to Russian accession to the WTO. We can expect even closer economic ties as we both seek to leverage our respective strengths to gain a firmer foothold on global trade,” Al-Mansouri added. __
