The Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed at the Al Alam Palace a total of 16 memoranda of understanding (MoU)s. Below is a list of all new agreements signed between the two brotherly nations.

All agreements were signed within the framework of the official visit of the President of the  UAE – His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan – to Oman.

The agreements signed include an MoU in the field of energy between the Ministry of Energy and Minerals in Oman and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in the UAE.

H.E. Eng. Salem bin Nasser Al-Aufi, the Minister of Energy and Minerals signed the agreement on behalf of the Sultanate, while the UAE was represented by H.E. Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.

The two Ministers also signed agreements on behalf of ministries in the fields of:

• Transport and logistics
• Maritime transport
• Industry (commerce and investments)
• Culture and youth
• Agriculture, livestock, fisheries, food safety
• Higher education, scientific research, innovation, and vocational training

The Ministry of Information, represented by the Oman News Agency (ONA), and the Emirates News Agency (WAM) from the UAE also signed an MoU in the field of news and information exchange.

The MoU was signed by Ibrahim bin Saif Al-Azri, the Director-General and Editor-in-Chief of ONA on behalf of Oman, while H.E. Mohammed Jalal Al Raisi, the Director-General of WAM represented the UAE.

An MoU was signed in the field of data transfer, particularly in exchanging information related to money laundering and related crimes, and the financing of terrorism. The agreement pertains to the National Center for Financial Information in the Sultanate and the Financial Intelligence Unit in the UAE.

The signing was undertaken by Col. Abdulrahman Amir Al Kiyomi, CEO of Oman’s National Centre for Financial Information and Ali Faisal Ba’Alawi, Head of the UAE’s Financial Intelligence Unit.

Another breakthrough signing was the cooperation agreement between Oman Rail and Etihad Rail. It was signed by Eng. Abdulrahman bin Salem Al Hatmi, the CEO of Asyad Group on behalf of Oman, and Shadi Malak, the CEO of Etihad Rail on behalf of the UAE.

The agreement spawned a plan to introduce a rail network connecting the two nations from Sohar to Abu Dhabi. The high-speed rail network is expected to ferry passengers between the Wilayat and Emirate in 100 minutes and at speeds of up to 200kph. A freight system will also be added to the network.

The fields of technology were also in focus by way of an MoU signed between ITHCA Group (formerly ICT Group) – the group overseeing communications and IT in Oman – and Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company.

It was signed by Atif bin Saeed Al Siyabi, the Vice Chairman of Communications and IT at ITHCA Group on behalf of the Sultanate, and Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi, the CEO and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company.

An MoU was also signed between the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).

This was signed by Haitham Salim Al Salmi, CEO of MSX and Said Hamad Al Dhaheri, the CEO of ADX. The two CEOs also signed agreements for facilitating the following:

• Remote trading of brokerage companies through electronic trading – Tadawul
• Dual-listing of securities

They also signed MoUs on behalf of Muscat Clearing and Depository (MCD) and ADX.