Belarus to scale up academic partnerships with UAE

MINSK, 1 August – Belarusian scientists intend to expand academic partnerships with the UAE, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Vladimir Gusakov said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Arab Emirates to Belarus Ibrahim Salim Mohamed Almusharrekh on 1 August, learned from the press service of the National Academy of Sciences.

“The Academy of Sciences would like to collaborate with the United Arab Emirates. We have common areas of interest. And we could bring together our competencies and achieve meaningful results that will benefit the economies of the two countries,” said Vladimir Gusakov.

Ibrahim Salim Mohamed Almusharrekh doubled down on that saying that researchers of the two countries need to intensify their cooperation, in particular, in such priority areas for the UAE as artificial intelligence, green technology, renewable energy, smart cities, food security, medical and space technology, and climate change. Vladimir Gusakov said that these areas are also high on the agenda at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. There are research teams and institutes that are actively working on these issues, and some progress has already been made.

The head of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus spoke in detail about new developments and invited UAE scientists to visit research facilities of the National Academy of Sciences. In turn, the UAE ambassador to Belarus invited Belarusian scientists to take part in international events dedicated to climate change to be held in the UAE in 2023.

Speaking about cooperation prospects between the two countries, Ibrahim Salim Mohamed Almusharrekh noted that Belarus' pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai was one of the most impressive and technology-driven. The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus presented 81 sci-tech solutions from 15 affiliated organizations, including two full-scale samples: the Busel M40 unmanned aerial vehicle and a 4D bioprinter.