Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, U.A.E. Minister of Economy, and Asif Ali Khan Durrani, Pakistan's Ambassador to U.A.E, discussed ways of promoting economic relations, increasing trade and encouraging mutual investment between U.A.E. and Pakistan.
During the meeting which took place at the Ministry of Economy, Minister Al Mansouri stressed on the need to build on the outcome and the resolutions of the 11th meeting of the U.A.E.-Pakistan Joint Committee in order to develop relations between the two countries various sectors including energy, oil and gas, civil aviation, transport, finance, banking as well as humanitarian and charitable work.
The discussions also took in ways to encourage businessmen and investors from both countries to engage in dialogues and specialised meetings and to exchange visits in order to explore opportunities in sectors such as tourism, real estate, industry, technology, telecommunications, environmental preservation and renewable energy.
The long-standing relations between U.A.E. and Pakistan were established in November 1972.
In February 1977, the first meeting of the U.A.E.-Pakistan Joint Committee took place in Abu Dhabi.
The two countries signed an agreement on avoidance of double taxation in 1999.
The Ministry of Economy says non-oil trade, excluding trade through free zones, between U.A.E. and Pakistan stood at more than AED1.9 billion in 2013. Seven thousand Pakistani companies and 12 trade agencies are operating in U.A.E.