The United Arab Emirates and France on Friday signed agreements and Memorandums of Understanding in many areas, helping to boost the strategic partnership between the two countries to serve their mutual interests.
The signing was attended by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Emmanuel Macron, President of France.Â
Earlier in the day, the UAE signed a deal with French firm Dassault to buy 80 Rafale jets for $18 billion.
The Emirates is the fifth-biggest customer for the French defense industry, with $5.31 billion (€4.7 billion) of purchases from 2011-2020, according to a parliamentary report.
The agreements other than the Rafale deal included:
1. An MoU between Mubadala and the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery, signed by Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO and Managing Director of Mubadala Investment Company and Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery.
2. An MoU between Mubadala and BPI France, signed by Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO and Managing Director of Mubadala Investment Company and Nicolas Dufourcq, CEO of BPI France.
3. An MoU between the UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) and French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery, signed by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery.
4. A cooperation agreement between ADNOC and TotalEnergies, signed by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of TotalEnergies.
5. A contract between Borouge and Technip for construction of word-class ethane cracker unit as part of the Borouge 4 expansion project, signed by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and Arnaud Pieton, CEO of Technip.
6. An MoU between Masdar and ENGIE on a strategic alliance, signed by Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Chairman of Masdar, and Catherine MacGregor, CEO of ENGIE.
7. An agreement on the purchase of aircraft and associated products and services between the UAE’s Ministry of Defence and Dassault Aviation, signed by Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, CEO of Tawazun Economic Council and Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation.
8. An agreement on the supply of Rafale arms equipment between the UAE’s Ministry of Defence and MBDA, signed by Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, CEO of Tawazun Economic Council and Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA.
9. An agreement on the purchase of H225M helicopters between the UAE’s Ministry of Defence and Airbus Helicopters, signed by Tareq Abdulraheem Al Hosani, CEO of Tawazun Economic Council and Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus Helicopters.
10. An MoU between ADQ, and French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery, signed by Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, CEO of ADQ and Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery.
11. An amendment to the agreement between the Governments of the UAE and France on Louvre Abu Dhabi, singed by Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman, Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, and Roselyne Bachelot, French Minister of Culture.
12. A Letter of Intent (LoI) on moon exploration between Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), signed by Salem Humaid Al Marri, Director General of MBRSC and Philippe Baptiste, President of the French National Space and Research Centre (CNES).
13. An MoU between Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and Electricitie De France (EDF), signed by Mohamed Ibrahim Al Hammadi, CEO of ENEC and Jean-Bernard Lévy, Chairman and CEO of EDF.