PRIME Minister Anwar Ibrahim has described his visit to the United Arab Emirates as fruitful, with investment commitments amounting to RM40.6 billion (US$8.6 billion) secured.

He said it is now up to the government’s leadership and the relevant ministries and agencies to turn it into a reality that would benefit the country and its people.

Anwar said the largest investment came through the signing of two memoranda of understanding, one between the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and the UAE International Investment Council for investment promotion cooperation and the other between Mida and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC-Masdar for renewable energy projects in Malaysia with a capacity of up to 10 gigawatts worth US$8 billion (RM37.8 billion).

“I also want to emphasise the field of artificial intelligence because the UAE has achieved remarkable progress in this field,” he told Malaysian media at the end of his two-day working visit to the UAE yesterday.

He said Masdar City is developed in a sophisticated, modern way and meet green requirements and also have the world-class Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the first university specialising in AI.

“They are paving the way for cooperation with Malaysia and local universities and Malaysian students to study there for graduate programmes,” he said.

Anwar said during his visit, he had the opportunity to meet many key figures in the UAE’s economic, trade and investment sectors, including UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and several senior ministers.

He also met with the stakeholders of UAE’s sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and major UAE business figures such as Mubadala, Lulu Group International, Aldar and ILC.

Besides Masdar, other investment commitments include US$450 million in the logistics sector and US$150 million in the aerospace sector.

The prime minister also interacted with 35 major UAE industry players during a roundtable meeting as well as a meeting with G42, a company specialising in AI.

Commenting on his meeting with the UAE president, Anwar said the meeting lasted longer than planned which is approximately an hour.

“During the meeting, I did emphasise economic, trade and investment issues. As both are Islamic countries, we discussed diplomatic matters and regional issues in the Arab and Asian worlds,” he said. – Bernama, October 7, 2023.