Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba has called for robust collaboration between Nigeria and its relevant counterparts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards strengthening existing bilateral relations between the two countries.

A statement by the Director, Information, Victoria Agba-Attah said Prince Agba made the call in Abuja when he received in audience the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Fahad AITaffag who was in his office to extend invitation to participate in his country’s trade and promotional campaign 2021 aimed at improving trade and bilateral relations with other countries.

The minister appreciated previous enormous work the UAE had been doing with ministries and states in Nigeria.

The minister said though much has been done by the UAE, their activities remained unreported due to lack of collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning saddled with coordinating bilateral relations and agreements.

Agba also noted that there was no report of UAE’s activities on the Development Assistance Database (DAD) platform.

He said: “When we have the data we can properly brief the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on your activities in the country.”

He added that he was optimistic the visit would be a starting point for robust bilateral relations between the Ministry and the Embassy.

On the Dubai Expo 2021, the Minister of State said he would liaise with his colleague, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment to work out modalities on how Nigeria could come in. 

The UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Fahad AITaffag, said the Expo, which is scheduled for later in November, 2021, would be part of the activities to mark their Independence Day celebrations.