The President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will study in the United Arab Emirates possible cooperation projects in renewable energies and will also try to attract investments to Spain and support Spanish companies that opt for infrastructure contracts in this oil-rich country.
Zapatero arrived yesterday in Abu Dhabi from Qatar, where he has closed the commitment of the authorities of the emirate to invest around 3,000 million euros in savings banks and Spanish telecommunications and energy companies.
The head of the Spanish Executive dined last night with the crown prince of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nahyan, this morning, already in Dubai, he will visit at 10.00 am the Masdar city of Renewable Energies designed by the study of Norman Foster, an authentic 'green' city in the middle of the desert raised seven meters above the ground and where electric vehicles will circulate through tunnels.
With six million square meters designed to house about 50,000 inhabitants, Masdar is advancing in its construction towards the goal of becoming the 'Silicon Valley of alternative energies'.
The solar power plant that will supply the city with energy will be the largest in the world. Only in a first phase, it is expected to produce the energy needed for the construction works of Masdar, where the students of the Masdar Institute already reside, although the inauguration of the city is not expected for 20 years.
From Masdar Zapatero will move to the International Food Fair of Dubai 'Gulfood' to visit the pavilion of Spain, guest country in this edition in which a total of 123 national exhibiting companies from the agri-food, beverage and hospitality equipment sectors participate.
Gulfood is the largest food fair in the Persian Gulf. The countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman) are the largest importers of food in the world. More than 90 percent of the products consumed in the region come from abroad.
Exhibitors from Valencia, Alicante, Seville, Madrid, Murcia, Zaragoza, Córdoba, Palencia, Barcelona, Granada, Lleida, Orense, Malaga, Pontevedra, Toledo, Castellón, Navarra, Tarragona, Lugo, Valladolid, Burgos, Segovia, Cáceres, Huelva, Jaén, Guipúzcoa, Cuenca, Albacete, Guadalajara, Asturias, Gerona, Baleares, A Coruña and León participate in the fair.
Spanish exports of agri-food products to the Emirates amounted from January to November 2010 to 169.42 million euros, 45 percent more than in the same period of the previous year.
PREPARATION OF AGREEMENTS
After his visit to the fair, Zapatero will meet with the Prime Minister of Dubai and Vice President of the Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum, who will offer him a lunch at the end of their meeting. The president will return to Spain after that meal and on Wednesday he plans to travel to Tunisia.
Zapatero's visit to the Emirates, his first as head of the Executive, will serve to prepare various agreements with the Emirates so that they can be signed in the visit that the country's president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahya, will make to Spain in October.
Among them, one stands out to allow Spanish troops to use the Emirates as a stopover for the supply of troops and material to the contingent stationed in Afghanistan, as France or Germany already do. (EUROPA PRESS)
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