Abdulla Basti, Secretary-General of the Executive Council of Dubai, today stressed that Dubai is focused on its efforts to take a leadership position across a number of key strategic sectors by strengthening its partnerships with international cities.

This came off the back of a meeting between Abdullah Basti and a high-ranking delegation from Shenzhen City, China, headed by Wang Weizhong, Deputy Secretary of Communist Party of China, CPC, Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee.

The delegation is currently on an official two-day visit to Dubai to learn about the Dubai Government’s achievements in key sectors like technology, trade, finance, manufacturing and SMEs, as part of the joint cooperation agreement signed by the two cities last December.

Dubai’s efforts reinforce the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, to establish productive partnerships with the world’s leading cities and adopt international best practice to help Dubai enhance its position as an attractive hub for investment, Basti said.

Shenzhen is a microcosm and reflection of the major strides China has made following the implementation of its ‘opening doors to other countries’ policy. Shenzhen is considered a market leader across three key sectors: high-tech equipment manufacturing, logistics and distributions and finance, in addition to being the largest producer of computer hardware and telecommunication devices in China.

Al Basti added, “This visit enables us to shed light on Dubai’s experience, in addition to our capabilities and achievements in the business and innovation fields. The visit comes at a time when UAE-China relations are seeing significant development across all sectors. This opens doors for both cities to expand cooperation in other sectors to include advanced technology, artificial intelligence, logistics, and trade – all of which are currently the key drivers of global economic growth.”

Al Basti met with Weizhong Wang and the delegation at Emirates Towers, in the presence of officials.

The meeting explored a number of avenues to strengthen economic and investment relations between the two cities and to diversify their plans towards achieving their developmental goals. The meeting also discussed ways of strengthening economic relations between the UAE and China to build new potential partnerships.

As part of the meeting, the Chinese delegation visited Dubai Future Foundation, the Government Accelerators, Area 2071 and Burj Khalifa, during which they were introduced to a number of initiatives that aim to boost its competitiveness in line with its strategic plans and vision to lead in all competitiveness indexes.

Commenting on their visit to Dubai, Weizhong Wang said, “Dubai enjoys a strong international reputation as a promising economic hub, offering a model that other cities can follow in utilising the advanced technology to drive development. We are happy to bolster our ties with such a vibrant city and emphasise our common desire to broaden our collaboration efforts at all levels and activate the joint cooperation agreement between our cities.”

The visit by the delegation follows an MoU signing in December between Dubai and Shenzhen City, agreeing that the two cities will cooperate to achieve prosperity and development in a number of different sectors of common interest.