UAE, US explore investment opportunities with focus on clean tech startups

A delegation of senior officials and business leaders from the UAE, headed by Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, visited the US state of Texas, to identify new bilateral investment and collaboration opportunities for private-sector companies.

While in Texas, Al Zeyoudi held a meeting with Austin Mayor, Kirk Watson where he promoted the UAE’s streamlined business registration process, skilled workforce, and infrastructure, to invite further inbound investment and trade from the state.

Dr Al Zeyoudi also held a number of one-on-one meetings with leading Austin-based startups, which are deploying technologies such as AI, blockchain, and quantum computing to advance real estate, emergency response, logistics, utilities and media sectors.

Al Zeyoudi emphasised the UAE’s unique innovation ecosystem during the meets and highlighted the market-access incentives provided by the NextGenFDI initiative such as rapid incorporation and licencing, bulk visa issuance, and ready access to banking facilities and real estate.

The Texas tour concluded with a site visit to Stealth Power, a provider of fleet electrification and off-grid solutions that lower carbon emissions across utility, emergency, and military fleet vehicles.

Commenting on the visit, Al Zeyoudi said that the UAE is prioritising investment into sectors such as renewable energy and clean tech as they represent not only high-growth potential but provide world-changing solutions to the critical issue of climate change.

“The United States is a long-standing trade and investment partner for the UAE – and an important ally in the battle to develop alternative sources of energy,” said Al Zeyoudi.

Today, I met #Austin Mayor @KirkPWatson to discuss the importance of strategic #FDI to the development of innovation clusters, before visiting @IdleReduction – whose cutting-edge technology could accelerate our transition away from the internal combustion engine. pic.twitter.com/ij97BxhgjK

— د. ثاني الزيودي (@ThaniAlZeyoudi) May 4, 2023

“In November 2022, we signed the Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy, which is mobilising $100bn to develop 100 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035, and we remain committed to finding new avenues of cooperation to uphold our Net Zero pledge.

“It has been highly encouraging to see the innovation on display here in the US in a wide number of areas, from low-carbon transport and hospitality to smart cities, and we are keen to pursue partnerships that will further their development,” he added.

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