Bangladesh-UAE

Photo: PID

UAE keen to invest in renewable energy sector

Visiting UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber expressed this interest during a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban on Thursday.

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said in a press briefing, quoting the Emirati minister, "We are very interested in the energy sector, especially renewable energy, in addition to conventional energy."

Dr. Sultan Ahmed, chairman of energy company Masdar and managing director of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), said they will send two teams from the UAE to Bangladesh - one to discuss renewable energy and the other to discuss business. In the meeting, they mainly discussed climate change and bilateral relations along with economic cooperation.

Emirate Special Envoy on Climate Change and President-elect of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) Dr. Sultan Ahmed praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership on the issue of climate change and sought her further support in this regard. He also requested the Prime Minister to extend support to watershed change and food security issues.

"We want to be a game changer," he said, adding that they are focusing on raising climate funds to tackle the problem ahead of COP28. He then pointed out that the UAE is being greened, saying they want a positive impact from the UAE's COP28.

The Prime Minister said that COP28 is very important, as this conference will discuss the global stocktake of the Paris Agreement.

She said, “We hope that the UAE Presidency will facilitate a realistic assessment of the progress made, as well as the huge gap, in accelerating global climate action to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Talking about the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates, the Prime Minister said that we have many things in common."