UAE Minister of Economy delivers an open lecture for St Petersburg University students

In his welcoming address, Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University, noted that the relations between our two countries continue to develop in a friendly and constructive manner in accordance with the Declaration on the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the United Arab Emirates signed in 2018. Today, the UAE is the largest partner of Russia in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.

The University aims to ensure commercial, economic and cultural cooperation in the training and academic education of highly qualified personnel and to offer the results of research and development for implementation.

Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University

"St Petersburg University has everything necessary to achieve these objectives. We create special academic programmes in cooperation with partner universities, and I hope that our joint efforts and your visit will provide an additional impetus to the development of the University’s academic ties with partners in the UAE. I am confident that we will have a long-term and fruitful cooperation for the benefit of our bilateral relations," 

Sergey Andryushin emphasised. Sergey Andryushin quoted the words of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and first President of the United Arab Emirates: "Education is like a lantern that lights your way through a dark alley. Learning never ends and we should value it. Only an ignorant person can think that he or she has got enough education. A sage always lacks knowledge, for learning is a lifelong process." 

His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri shared that he also attended the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2023, when the UAE was chosen as the guest country. He noted that the bilateral relations between our countries have become stronger in recent years. Three years ago, the UAE’s trade turnover with Russia was $2bn, whereas today that figure has increased more than fivefold. In his open lecture, His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri focused on the transformation of the economy in the post-COVID-19 era and the development goals the United Arab Emirates has set for itself.

In 2020, the UAE Ministry of Economy outlined two goals that must be achieved in order to deal with the adverse effects of the pandemic. The first goal is to promote fast economic recovery and growth; and the second one is to double economic performance over the next decade.

To meet these challenges, a new economic policy was launched in September 2020. First of all, the restrictions on foreign ownership in the UAE were lifted. Before that, foreign investors’ shares were limited to a maximum of 49%, whereas now, foreign investors can fully own onshore companies in the UAE. "Furthermore, we realise that not only oil is our important resource. Human resources are also extremely valuable. We will be able to implement our economic recovery strategy by attracting talented and productive professionals," said His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri. In this regard, provisions were made for the long-term residence visas for students, educators, doctors and some other categories of citizens, allowing them to obtain resident permits for up to 10 years. 

In 2021, the United Arab Emirates managed to stabilise its economy and restore the normal rhythm of life in the country. According to His Excllency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the pandemic turned out to be a source of both challenges and opportunities, serving as the driving force for economic modernisation. "When in 2020 COVID 19 took over the world, oil and gas production and sales in different economic sectors, including the important to us tourism sector, dropped to almost zero. We realised that for the future of our economy, preserving what we had would not be enough. We have to create new things as well," said the Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri. "Hence, we focused on a green, sustainable economy. We understand that climate change and global warming are major challenges facing the world today, and the UAE can help the world to solve them."

The United Arab Emirates, whose GDP was traditionally based on its oil and gas output, has begun to implement recycling programmes. In particular, we focus our efforts on the recycling of lithium batteries and the recovery of waste cooking vegetable oil utilised in biodiesel production. The country aims to reach net zero emissions of carbon dioxide by 2040. The next big step would be to create a non-carbon economy.

His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri also noted that medium and small businesses play a vital role in the country’s economy. They account for up to 95% of the UAE economy, while large corporations account for only 5%. In this context, the UAE provides support to start-ups and foreign companies that can catalyse a scaling up of the country’s economy. To this end, 30 nations have been offered a trade facilitation agreement for the upcoming 70 years. The United Arab Emirates has been developing new markets across the globe and attracting talented professionals. The country has managed to achieve significant economic growth over the past two years, His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri summarised. 

After the lecture, the UAE Minister of Economy answered questions from the students of St Petersburg University.

The visit included a business meeting attended by: Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University; Anastasia Yarmosh, Senior Vice-Rector for Strategic Development and Partnership at St Petersburg University; and Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Research at St Petersburg University. The meeting discussed the establishment of a joint university and a research centre of St Petersburg University in the United Arab Emirates, with the key focus areas in the field of Arabic studies; Oriental studies; philosophy; and inter-religious dialogue.