Macron receives UAE President Sheikh Mohamed at Élysée Palace

French President Emmanuel Macron has received United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

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The trip is Sheikh Mohamed’s first overseas visit since taking post after the death of his brother and the country’s former President Sheikh Khalifa on May 13.

During this meeting, the two leaders will explore opportunities for bilateral collaboration to address substantial challenges facing our world today, including those in the areas of climate change, energy, and economic sustainability, reported Emirates News Agency WAM.

In the evening, President Macron will host a state dinner for Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed at the Grand Trianon, situated within the grounds of the Palace of Versailles.

Sheikh Mohamed will meet several French officials during his two-day visit, including Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne; President of the Senate Gérard Larcher; and President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet.

The UAE has maintained and strengthened its relationship with France through decades of action-driven, bilateral partnerships across climate change, sustainable technology, space exploration, cultural exchange, traditional energy, and regional security.

A focus of the trip is likely to involve the UAE guaranteeing energy supplies to France, one of Macron’s advisors told AFP.

Sheikh Mohamed, in his first televised public address on Wednesday, said the UAE would continue to support global energy security, amid rising fuel prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

UAE exports to France in 2019 reached 1.5 billion euros, much of it petroleum products.

France is seeking “to diversify its sources of supply in the context of the conflict in Ukraine,” the Elysee source also told AFP.

MoUs and contracts are also reportedly expected to be signed in the transport and waste treatment sectors during the three-day visit.

Relations between the two countries have grown considerably in recent years. The UAE is home to the only foreign branch of the Louvre museum, and in December it signed a record 14-billion-euro contract for 80 Rafale warplanes.

The UAE is home to the largest French and Francophone expatriate community in the Gulf region.

With WAM & AFP

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