The President of the United Arab Emirates met the leaders of Israel, India and the United States in a virtual summit held on Thursday, July 14.
The UAE President said during the online summit that economic cooperation is integral to achieving peace, security, and progress.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the President, tweeted on his official handle, “By strengthening our partnerships, we can make new opportunities and operate together to address shared challenges.”
I was pleased to take part in the I2U2 summit with the leaders of India, Israel & the US. Economic cooperation is integral to achieving peace, security & progress, and by strengthening our partnerships we can create new opportunities & work together to address shared challenges. pic.twitter.com/1tIUxwBSHk
— Ù…Øمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) July 14, 2022
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid participated in the first digital meeting of the ‘I2U2’ Group.
‘I2U2′ denotes the first letters of the names of four countries.
As per a joint statement issued by all these leaders at the end of the summit, the UAE will invest $2 billion to form a series of integrated food parks around India. The project will include “state-of-the-art climate-smart technologies” to lessen food wastage and spoilage, preserve fresh water and engage renewable energy sources.
India will give suitable land for the food parks project and ease farmers’ integration into them, said the joint statement.
US and Israeli private sectors will be asked to lend their expertise and propose innovative solutions that contribute towards the project’s overall sustainability. These investments will help boost crop yields and, in turn, will help tackle food insecurity in the Middle East and South Asia.
Another project will witness the I2U2 Group advance a hybrid renewable energy project in the Gujarat state of India, comprising of 300 megawatts (MW) of wind as well as solar capacity complemented by a battery energy storage system.
The US Trade and Development Agency financed a feasibility study for a project of $330 million.
UAE-based firms are looking for new opportunities to serve as ‘critical knowledge and investment partners’.
The leaders showed their determination to leverage well-established markets to construct more innovative, inclusive as well as science-based solutions to boost food security and sustainable food systems. The leaders also welcomed India’s interest in being a part of the US, UAE and Israel in the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate initiative (AIM for Climate).