UAE’s trade with Chad has grown significantly over the past few years, rising from US$177 million in 2015 to $245 million last year, according to Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy.

The minister made the statements during a meeting with Mohamed Hamed Kawa, Chad's Minister of Commerce and Industry, and his team at the premises of the General Civil Aviation Authority in Dubai.

The two sides discussed the importance of cooperation in the field of civil aviation, the potential to increase trade, and the exploration of investment opportunities in priority sectors. They also touched on strategies for introducing the UAE’s business community to major economic and investment opportunities in Chad.

Prospects for advancing bilateral relations at the economic level were thoroughly discussed as well as ways of boosting the exchange of trade between the nations.

Minister Al Mansouri expressed the UAE's keenness to expand cooperation to different sectors, including infrastructure and agriculture to efficiently contribute to the economic development drive in both countries, noting that the civil aviation sector is among the key areas of cooperation between the two sides.

For his part, the Chadian minister hailed the economic model adopted by the UAE, including the economic diversification programme and its contribution to helping the country survive economic pressures.

He highlighted the efforts being made at present to organise an economic forum in Abu Dhabi in September on prospects of trade and investments in Chad, which, he said, will pave the way for intensifying investment relations between the two countries