Mohammed bin Rashid winds up his German visit

BERLIN - His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, wound up a two-day state visit to Germany opening vast horizons of cooperation and partnership between the two countries.

By (Wam)

Published: Fri 8 Feb 2008, 3:48 PM

Last updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 5:36 PM

On his first state-level visit to Germany that came in response to an invitation from Chancellor Angela Merkel, Shaikh Mohammed led a high-ranking delegation and held talks with German Chancellor and other senior government officials in the country. The economic team accompanying Shaikh Mohammed also held several meetings with their counterparts in Germany, thus opening doors for stronger cooperation and partnership in the fields of trade and economy.

On a joint Press conference held in Berlin on Thursday along with Angela Merkel, Shaikh Mohammed spelt out his views on a number of regional and global issues of prime importance, and called for peaceful solution for the Iranian nuclear impasse. Shaikh Mohammed also reiterated UAE's stance on establishing a Palestinian state and urged the international community to extend support for achieving peace and development in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the second day of his visit, Shaikh Mohammed toured several places of historical importance in Germany. During his tour of the world famous Berlin Museum of Islamic Art, Shaikh Mohammed marveled at several artifacts which speak about the glorious past of Islam and its contribution to science and culture.

At the museum, Shaikh Mohammed also participated in a cultural dialogue which was attended by an elite group of intellectuals and literary persons. The session also included recital of German and Arabic poems accompanied by Arabian music.

The German speakers at the event lauded Shaikh Mohammed's love for poetry and his vision for dialogue between civilisations, as well as his great support for knowledge and cross-cultural interaction. His patronage for translation of works written in world languages into Arabic and vice versa was specially appreciated by the German intellectuals, who predicted an enhanced interaction between German and Arab Cultures in future.

Shaikh Mohammed said that the meeting with thinkers and literary personalities was more important for him than the meeting with politicians. He hoped that that the cross-cultural cooperation will naturally eliminate the geographical demarcations.