GOLF SUPPLEMENT - INTERVIEW, THE AMBASADOR OF UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, HIS EXCELENCY, YACUB YOUSIF AL HOSANI The Arab Emirates - interested in Romanian air transportation, tourism and services - 08.03.2011

• Your Excelency, how does UAE face the global economic crisis?

The visionary policies designed by our responsible leadership, taking full consideration of the very serious constraints posed by the current global economic crisis, have generated results in terms of development and modernization beyond the highest world rates of growth, placing the UAE in an area of excellence, among the leading countries in many sectors of economic endeavour, including tourism. The past year only confirmed that UAE are solidly anchored on an authentic path of renaissance in all walks of life and are becoming more and more a popular destination for businessmen and investors.

• What is the opinion of the UAE officials about the cooperation between the United Arab Emirates and Romania?

Besides our first priority to ensure a sustainable and fast-growing growth of the UAE economy, the UAE leadership, especially the President of the country, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahiyan, and the Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, attaches great importance to the development of cooperation between UAE and Romania. In its overall frame, the UAE foreign trade policy is derived from the philosophy of economic openness to the world and positive interaction with trade partners. It is based on the principles of parity and mutual interests.

• How did the relation between Romania and the United Arab Emirates evolve in time?

In its pursuit to provide an attractive environment for investments, UAE has taken successful steps of ratifying several agreements to promote and protect investments and to avoid double-taxation with many countries, including Romania. UAE is a signatory to a set of economic and commercial cooperation agreements with many countries all over the world. Based on those agreements, we have set the legal frames of economic and commercial cooperation. Romania is one of our partners with which we have signed earlier than 15 years ago, the Agreement for the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments and the Agreement for Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation. I would say that commercial relations evolved well in the past year, but there is still room for improvement

• What is the trade value between UAE and Romania?

The overall trade value reached almost 299 million USD in 2009.

• What types of goods is Romania importing from the UAE and what is

exported in this country?

Imports consisted mainly of: electrical and electronic products, consumer goods, cosmetics, essential oils, laboratory equipment, textiles, auto accessories, seafood. The exports to the UAE consisted mainly of: metallurgical and petrochemical products, electric motors and transformers, industrial fittings, rolling bearings, timber, helicopters and spare parts, paper, chemicals.

• How many UAE investors are here in Romania and who are the most important?

At this moment around 240 companies with UAE capital operate in Romania. By far, the most important UAE"s business presence in Romania is DP-World Constanta /SC Constanta South Container Terminal S.R.L. Other UAE"s investments to Romania appear in real estate, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, and agriculture, tourism and transportation fields.

• What other areas are of interest for the UAE companies?

There is interest from the Emirate"s business sector to invest in Romania in the following sectors: air transportation, tourism and services, financial services/ banking, agriculture and infrastructure.

• What is your message to the Romanian companies?

We welcome Romanian businesspersons and investors to seize untapped investment opportunities and facilities offered by the UAE to business community. We must underline the UAE openness and tolerance, mentioning that the UAE recruits employees from 182 countries worldwide. Romanian specialists are very appreciated in UAE. Some of them are involved in very important governmental projects like Masdar Initiative.

It is our goal is to encourage effective cooperation between both business environments, Romanian and Emirati, in order to overcome all the difficulties if appear. We maintain a solid interest in exploring and putting to mutual profit all fields of bilateral relations, with particular emphasis on trade and investments, in order to pave the way for the consolidation of a true partnership between the UAE and Romania.