UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri recently received Francisca Elizabeth Mendez Escobar, Mexico's new Ambassador to the UAE, with whom he discussed ways to enhance cooperation in a number of priority areas for both countries. The meeting held at the ministry's Dubai headquarters touched on the results of the recent visit of a UAE delegation to Mexico headed by the minister, which identified various priority sectors of mutual interest for cooperation between the two countries.

The Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation, the highest level of bilateral cooperation between China and Singapore starts today, February 27. Singapore Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a three day visit at the invitation of China's Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Both leaders are co-chairs of the platform, which is for promoting dialogue between China and Singapore.

"Africa will become Indonesias priority in 2017. We will enhance our relations with Africa," Director of African Affairs of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Daniel Tumpal Simanjuntak stated recently. [...] The two ministers co-chaired a meeting of Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation focusing on intensifying economic cooperation between both nations.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will propose new Cabinet-level US-Japan talks on trade, security and macroeconomic issues, including currencies, when he meets US President Donald Trump today, a Japanese government official involved in planning the summit said. 

On the final day of President Tsai Ing-wen’s second international trip to South America as part of a strategy to consolidate Taiwan’s diplomatic ties with its allies in the region, she hinted that mutual co-operation could become an integral component of its future official relationships. [...] In some respects, bilateral trade has been the bread and butter of Taiwan’s foreign diplomacy for several decades.

Germany's Marshall Plan with Africa received a lot of praise but also criticism [...] The so-called "Marshall Plan” - drawing a direct parallel to the huge United States program that kick-started the ravaged German economy after World War Two - talks about a new level of development cooperation. The plan foresees a complete restructuring of the German economic cooperation with Africa.

During his recent campaign, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump revealed little fondness for free trade agreements. But in the Middle East, there is at least one that deserves a second look: the Qualifying Industrial Zones protocol between Egypt and Israel, which, guided by U.S. commercial diplomacy, enhanced cooperation between the two countries beyond traditional security matters and into economic ties.

Nepal and Japan are geographically distant but close in terms of culture, religion, way of life and sentiments. [...] Though diplomatic relations were established between Nepal and Japan only in 1956, a spiritual bond has existed since the introduction of Buddhism in Japan in the sixth century. This year, we are celebrating the diamond jubilee of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan.