In a comprehensive interview with Lebanese newspaper An Nahar published yesterday, Shaikh Khalifa also said that the alerts issued by certain foreign diplomatic missions in the country, warning their people living in the UAE, are nothing more than the conventional practices those missions usually adopt to handle rumours or information, regardless of their validity. The UAE respects the right of all countries to adopt measures they deem fit to protect their people, Shaikh Khalifa added.
In the interview with Sameer Attalla, the President hailed the agreement reached by all Lebanese factions in Doha, and lauded the role played by Amir of Qatar in bringing about the pact. At the same time, Shaikh Khalifa expressed concern over the delay in implementing the remaining articles of the agreement.
“Any solution for the political crisis in Lebanon should be based on the principle of equality and co-existence, and no party should attempt to reap political gains at the cost of the others,” he reminded.
Shaikh Khalifa extended an invitation to Lebanese President Michel Suleiman to visit the UAE, leaving the time of the visit to the latter’s choice. He also said that he will soon pay a visit to Lebanon and meet the new president to congratulate him for the trust he has earned from the people and the political institutions of Lebanon.
Answering a question about whether the UAE will encourage private sector to invest in Lebanon, Shaikh Khalifa said that UAE will not interfere with the choices of the private sector, as the country has full confidence in the maturity of this sector. This is in addition to the open market policy UAE adopts to encourage investments.
At the same time, security and stability are the prime factors which attract investors, Shaikh Khalifa reminded.
“There is willingness from Arab and foreign countries to invest in Lebanon and to help it to overcome the economic and financial hardships, as soon as an environment of security and political stability returns into that country,” Shaikh Khalifa said.
Shaikh Khalifa referred to a number of Arab issues, citing the Arab success in Doha in regard to Lebanese issue as a ‘victory of Arab solidarity’.
Over Iran’s resorting to the UAE’s banking channels in case of tightening global sanctions on it, Shaikh Khalifa said “this is a presumptive question. The UAE will comply with international legitimacy in such cases”.
On the UAE investments abroad, he said they were exaggerated, indicating that the investments operate as per economic and not political basis. The UAE clearly stated to its partners abroad that these long term investments are obligations of the UAE towards the coming generation.
Shaikh Khalifa reiterated that there was no need to set up new funding bodies to support the Arab countries, adding that there are a number of national and regional funds in this respect. He added that the private sector executes multi-billion dollar projects in many Arab countries. “Whenever there is a proper political, legislative and administrative atmosphere, the private sector initiatives would increase.”
He denied existence of a policy to alienate Arab labour and preference of foreign labour, indicating that the ‘market at a certain developmental point preferred the foreign labour due to less cost compared to other alternatives. The UAE is currently reviewing the equation through regulation of living conditions in line with international specifications when it comes to dealing with the foreign workforce. The foreign labour will not be the same cheap labour the market is accustomed to.
Shaikh Khalifa underlined that the UAE viewed the military cooperation agreements as it does with other cooperation agreements in other fields. It does not give the military cooperation agreements any political interpretations, adding that the UAE’s military cooperation agreement with a number of countries avails it an opportunity to diversify sources of military equipment.
He noted that the civil nuclear cooperation agreement with France is in line with a series of agreements signed with other countries, which possess nuclear technology. The UAE may sign in future other agreements in this respect.
On restoration of the UAE diplomatic representation in Iraq, Shaikh Khalifa said that the UAE-Iraq relations continued unabated despite absence of diplomats due to security conditions, but reiterated that the UAE was keen to see Iraq regain its role and boost its contacts with the Arab world.
