At the beginning of the meeting, Minister Lipavský appreciated the reopening of the Emirati diplomatic mission in Prague. “I am pleased that the United Arab Emirates have reopened their Embassy in Prague. The new Chargé d'affaires has been in Czechia since January and we expect that the ambassador will be appointed soon,” Minister Lipavský said.

Minister Lipavský and his Emirati counterpart agreed on the interest in continuing the security dialogue between the foreign ministries.

The ministers supported the further development of economic cooperation. The United Arab Emirates are an important partner of Czech companies in the Middle East region, with mutual trade exceeding more than CZK 23.3 billion (USD 1 billion).

They also agreed on the joint implementation of development projects in third countries. “I am glad that the negotiations on the possibilities of cooperation in the field of development aid in third countries, especially in Africa, are moving smoothly. We would like to expand our cooperation to other areas, including humanitarian aid and post-war reconstruction of Ukraine,” Minister Lipavský said.

A Memorandum on Cooperation in this regard has already been signed in December 2023. “Joint pilot projects will soon be launched in a few selected African countries. They will be primarily focused on health, infrastructure and agriculture sector,” the head of Czech diplomacy added.

On the agenda of the meeting was also the complicated security and humanitarian situation in connection with the Russian war in Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and the terrorist organisation Hamas in the Gaza Strip.