L-R: Maggy Nagel, Commissioner General of the Luxembourg Pavilion and President of Luxembourg @ Expo 2020; Grand Duke Henri; Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs;
Credit: © SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen
His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, are currently undertaking a working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The visit, which is taking place from 21 to 23 March 2022, includes stops in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah and is aimed at raising awareness of Luxembourg in the region. On the agenda are exchanges on bilateral relations in the fields of politics, the economy and cooperation.
On the first day of their visit, on Monday 21 March 2022, Grand Duke Henri and Minister Jean Asselborn attended Expo 2020 Dubai. They visited the Luxembourg Pavilion, where they met with Maggy Nagel, Commissioner General of the Luxembourg Pavilion and President of the economic interest group Luxembourg @ Expo 2020, and Daniel Sahr, Director of the Luxembourg Pavilion.
The Grand Duke and Minister Asselborn then met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, for an exchange and a guided tour of the Luxembourg Pavilion. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE's Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Commissioner General of Expo 2020 Dubai, was also present.
In the afternoon, Luxembourg's Grand Duke and Foreign Minister visited the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, where political meetings as well as cultural visits were on the programme.
Grand Duke Henri and Minister Jean Asselborn had the opportunity to have an exchange over lunch with Dr Dena Assaf, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator for the UAE and Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN at Expo 2020, and Andrea Matteo Fontana, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to the UAE and Commissioner General for the EU at Expo 2020.
Lunch was followed by a visit to Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island, where the Grand Duke met with its director, Manuel Rabaté. The Luxembourg delegation had the opportunity to discover the vast collection of the art museum.
The first day ended with the Grand Duke's guided visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. With its total area of 22,412 m2 and its capacity to accommodate up to 40,000 visitors, this is the largest mosque in the UAE and the ninth largest in the world.
