Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Meets US Treasury Secretary Alongside the Spring Meetings of the IMF and WBG

In a bid to strengthen international relations and discuss regional and global economic developments, HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial affairs, held a meeting with the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The meeting was held in the presence of HE Mubarak Rashed Al Mansouri, Governor of the UAE Central Bank, HE Omar Al Shamsi, Deputy Chief of Mission at the UAE Embassy in Washington and Alia Al Suwaidi, also from the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC.

The meeting was held alongside the 2018 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington, DC, taking place from 20 to 22 April. HE Al Tayer headed the UAE delegation during the spring meetings, which included HE Mubarak Rashed Al Mansouri, Governor of the UAE Central Bank, and a number of experts and officials from the Ministry of Finance (MoF), and UAE Central Bank.

The two countries discussed prospects for strengthening mutual cooperation in countering money laundering and combatting terrorist financing, and also discussed customs tariff issues, as well as meeting the requirements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The two sides agreed to continue the exchange of information and coordination between the relevant parties, to serve the interest of both countries.

HE Obaid Al Tayer praised the strong, positive relationship the two countries share and stressed the need to continue coordinating and exchanging expertise and experiences in public finance management. This, in turn, reflects positively on the growth rates and developments in the country, as well as contributes to supporting global economic development and facing the financial and economic challenges posed by the rapid changes in the international arena.

Steven Mnuchin welcomed the efforts made by the UAE in combating money laundering and financing terrorism. He highlighted the great success already achieved by the UAE and praised the rapid growth and development driven by the UAE Government across all fields.

HE Mubarak Rashed Al Mansouri stressed the keenness of the UAE Central Bank to work with all concerned parties at an international level to ensure the safety of the UAE’s financial system. HE stressed the importance of strengthening international cooperation to achieve more effective results when dealing with financial crimes.

At the end of the meeting, His Excellency the Minister of State for Financial affairs and HE the Governor of the UAE Central Bank invited the US Treasury Secretary to visit the UAE towards the end of 2018.

Economic and trade relations between the UAE and the USA are taking a strategic direction through the growing volume of trade exchange and relations in various economic fields, including aviation, energy, infrastructure, advanced science, artificial intelligence and space science; where more than 1,500 US companies have a presence in the UAE, and last year, the US-UAE Business Council was established, to support and expand the scope of the trade relationship between the UAE and the USA.