H.E. Sultan Alwan, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Water Resources and Nature Conservation, Ministry of Environment and Water, recently met with H.E. Sten Anders Berge, Norwegian Ambassador to the UAE, at the Ministry’s Dubai headquarters to discuss ways to strengthen their common interests and reinforce their cooperation in aquaculture. The meeting comes at a time when preparations for the Ministry-led first Aqua Middle East Forum and Exhibition are at full blast. The event will take place from March 16 to 18, 2015 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

At the start of their meeting, H.E. Alwan expressed the UAE’s keenness to expand its collaboration with various countries in different environmental segments such as fish farming, one of the world’s fastest growing industries. H.E. Alwan emphasized that the Ministry of Environment and Water strives to strengthen its cooperation with the Kingdom of Norway as one of the leading countries in fish farming.

 Both parties also discussed areas of cooperation and issues of common interest, including investment opportunities in aquaculture as well as exchange of experiences, best practices, and innovations in marine research.

 H.E. Berge echoed the importance of strengthening relations between Norway and the UAE, especially in the field of aquaculture.  He added how he looks forward to the two countries exchanging knowledge and expertise in this area as he expressed his readiness to organize a workshop to look into the practices and modern techniques in aquaculture. The workshop, in cooperation with the Ministry, will be conducted on the sidelines of the 2015 Aqua Middle East Forum and Exhibition.  He also invited the Ministry to attend the ‘Aqua Nor 2015’ exhibition in August in Norway.

 At the end of the meeting, H.E. Berge expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Ministry for opening up new prospects of cooperation between both parties.

 The meeting was attended by Dr. Ibrahim Al Jamali, Main Expert in Marine and Coastal Sustainability Management; Salah Al Raisi, Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Environment and Water; and Engineer Mariam Saeed Hareb, Director of Environmental Education and Awareness, Ministry of Environment and Water.