The UAE’s Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) hosted its second “Sci-Tech Virtual Tour” on Wednesday for a high-level Spanish delegation to highlight the UAE’s advanced science and technology ecosystem, the role of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, and opportunities for global investors, innovators, and business leaders in the life sciences and healthcare sectors.
The two-day event was organized in cooperation with the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the UAE Embassy in the Kingdom of Spain. It welcomed researchers, start-ups, SMEs, and representatives of major businesses in the fields of science and technology from both the UAE and Spain.
The discussions also highlighted Operation 300bn, the ten-year national industrial strategy developed by MoIAT that seeks to enhance the industrial sector’s role in stimulating the economy, driving industrial innovation, and accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies.
Speakers and panelists said the bilateral relationship between Spain and the UAE, especially in the fields of science and technology, would play an important role in accelerating this process and, ultimately, helping the UAE increase the industrial sector’s contribution to national GDP to AED300 billion by 2031.
Across two days, a series of panels and discussions explored the ways in which the UAE is deploying advanced technologies and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) solutions and applications in the life sciences sector, including the UAE’s genomics program, and the research opportunities presented by the UAE’s science and technology ecosystem.
Amna Al Saleh, Head of the Technology Development section at MoIAT, outlined the importance of forging strategic international partnerships to enable a knowledge and innovation-based economy powered by science and technology.
“Global partnerships are key to utilizing science and technology to address pressing global challenges. We hope to shed light on the UAE’s science and technology ecosystem and showcase what it offers to our international partners,” Al Saleh said.