Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE visited Guangdong twice; what’s the attraction?

Starting from November 19, His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, United Arab Emirates Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), along with a delegation from the region, started a visit to South China's Guangdong Province.

The trip marked the second visit of His Highness in 2024 to Guangdong, as he and his delegation has visited Shenzhen and Dongguan in September.

His Highness and his delegation first arrived at Sun Yat-sen University and looked into the major achievements of the school in academics and education on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

His Highness later joined students and teachers to exchange views on China-UAE friendship at a sharing session themed on "Building Cultural Bridges: Friendship and Cooperation between China & the United Arab Emirates."

"I was really much impressed by this historic university, in terms of excellence in academics and education, especially since it is now celebrating its 100th anniversary this year," said Ismail Matalka, President of the RAK Medical & Health Sciences University, a local medical college in RAK.

As someone with a medical background, he feels the potential for his school and SYSU to establish forms of collaboration. "So we are really looking forward to this great potential that we have, in terms of faculty exchanges and student exchanges, and of course, in terms of research collaboration," he proposed.

The delegation also held a conference meeting with representatives from the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, opening up a dialogue for landing more two-way investment.

Later, the delegation visited Midea, a flagship home appliance company based in Foshan, gaining insights into its trajectory over the years and the latest technological breakthroughs.

Touring through home appliances and robotic devices at the exhibition hall, Mohamed Ali Al Nuaimi, Chairman of RAK Chamber of Commerce and Industry, praised the technological prowess he saw behind these products at Midea. "Actually, it is amazing. It's very well-designed and very futuristic, and it looks very good," he said.

He also added that the UAE and his region, RAK, have been under construction for the past 50 years and will continue this trend for another 50 years. From this angle, he saw the fact that the UAE's market is very open to such products produced by China.

As statistics show, the UAE has remained China's largest export market and the second-largest trading partner in the Middle East for years. In 2023, the bilateral trade between China and the UAE reached nearly 100 billion US dollars.

"The UAE is the most advanced logistic hub for products coming from all over the world and going to the region, and we are the largest partner with China from our region in the Middle East." He agreed that it is the right way and the right move for such companies from Guangdong to actually open manufacturing plants, assembly plants, and even R&D centers for what the market requires right now.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the UAE, and this trip comes as a force to further strengthen collaborative relations between RAK and the GBA in an all-round way.