The joint ministerial commission of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirate Tuesday concluded by signing several agreements and Memorandums of Understanding for cooperation in various fields, a joint statement said.

They included the MoU on bilateral political consultations between the two foreign ministries, the agreement on cooperation in terrorism and organized crime, the MoU on the establishment of a joint business council, the protocol on the cooperation in the field of culture and the protocol on the cooperation in the field of media.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived Monday. During his visit, the UAE foreign minister called on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and exchanged views on bilateral, regional and international issues.

The joint ministerial commission met here Tuesday to discuss ways to promote political and economic relations.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri represented Pakistan in the joint ministerial commission meeting.

The last meeting was held in Abu Dhabi in 1997. The Pakistan- UAE joint ministerial commission was set up in 1974 and has so far held eight meetings.

The UAE emerged as one of the largest investors in Pakistan. The investment of the UAE during the last nine months (July 2006 to March 2007) amounted to 343.2 million U.S. dollars, representing 8.9 percent of the total FDI of 3.859 billion dollars.

The UAE last year ranked the first among investors with a total investment of 1.424 billion dollars.

The UAE investments are in the fields of airlines, financial business, housing, telecommunication and oil and gas.

Volume of Trade between the two countries is set to reach 5.1 billion dollars by the end of current financial year, an increase by 20 percent over 4.1 billion dollars in 2005-06 with the balance in favor of the UAE due to Pakistan's import of oil and oil products.

Over the years, the UAE has made generous contributions in various social welfare projects in various parts of the country and has set up about 610 welfare projects during the last three decades.

Source: Xinhua