UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber has stated that the Emirates and China have set the standard for a model of cross-border collaborative innovation and the two countries are determined to deepen economic, technological, and cultural ties.
Dr. Al Jaber said during the Pujiang Innovation Forum in China that “the event is indeed a testament to our close and enduring bonds between our two countries. A bond that will only strengthen in the years ahead, as we deepen our economic, technological, and cultural ties.”
He continued that both of our countries recognize that innovation is one of the most important drivers of progress. Countries need to compete, succeed, and fulfill their economic potential as the world continues to change at an unprecedented pace, as new technologies continue to disrupt the way we live and work, building an ecosystem that stimulates innovation is no longer optional, Dr. Al Jaber noted.
Dr. Sultan Al Jaber UAE Minister of Industry & Advanced Technology
“In the UAE, we have learned that innovation does not happen in a vacuum, but comes to life when the best minds work together on a single problem. This is why our leadership has always fostered a culture of inclusion that welcomes everyone to make it in The Emirates. And it is why we encourage cooperation beyond our borders, because, together, we are smarter, more agile, and more resilient. We saw this principle in action when our countries collaborated in a combined response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Vaccines developed in record time in China were deployed at scale across the UAE to achieve the highest vaccination rate in the world. This same spirit of collaborative innovation can help us solve other global challenges, like climate change.”
The UAE and China have collaborated to develop Noor Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest single-site solar power facility. Noor Abu Dhabi will generate 1.2 gigawatts of renewable electricity with 3.2 million solar panels spread across 8 square kilometers.
He further noted that the two countries will soon set a new standard in the renewable energy sector with the Al Dhafra solar park, which will be nearly twice the size of Noor and will have a record low price of $ 0.0135 (1.35 cents) per kWh.
Dr. Al Jaber remarked, “In short, together, we are proving that when countries collaborate to innovate, costs come down, economic opportunities go up and society benefits. Pushing the boundaries of innovation requires you to be brave, to be bold, and dare I say it to be ready to fail on the road to success. This is the spirit that turned a hydrocarbon economy into a center of excellence for renewable and new forms of energy. It is the reason we were able to transform our fishing and pearling villages into world-class logistical hubs that today transport millions of Chinese goods to Africa, Europe, and the Americas.”
Further, he added that we should study the possibilities of zero-carbon hydrogen in the energy industry, aligning our know-how and infrastructure with China’s growing demand for more energy with less carbon.
