Russia, UAE consider expanding cooperation in aircraft industry

DUBAI. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Russia and the United Arab Emirates plan to expand bilateral cooperation in the aircraft industry, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, who co-chairs the Russia-Emirates intergovernmental commission, said.

"As for areas [of cooperation], there are quite of a few of them. We're cooperating in the aircraft industry. Today we talked about possibilities for expanding cooperation in this regard, which will promote high-tech development," Manturov said, commenting on a meeting of the commission that was held on Tuesday.

Russia presented the new fifth generation Checkmate jet fighter, the Mi-28NE attack helicopter, the modernized Ka-226T Climber, the MC-21 airliner with Russian PD-14 engines, the Aurus model of the updated Superjet airliner, and the Vityaz and Abakan air defense systems at the Dubai Airshow 2021 in November.

Russia expects an increase in investment from the UAE in various sectors of industry, which is something the Russia-Emirates business council is working on.

"We see that this year the scope of our trade turnover is also growing, and figures are already 80 plus percent higher than last year. Last year, despite the fact that it was accompanied by Covid restrictions, [the trade turnover] was almost $3 billion," Manturov said.