Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_Monitoring, "The United Arab Emirates' relations with Afghanistan have been tied to economic issues since the relatively distant past," said Haji Obaidullah Sader Khail, head of the Afghan business council in the UAE, in an exclusive interview with TOLOnews.
"They've been involved in several infrastructural projects in Afghanistan and made several hospitals, universities, schools, and residential buildings across Afghanistan in the Past. They carried on with their projects inside Afghanistan since the new establishment took over," he added.
After the republic government's collapse and the Islamic Emirate's establishment in Afghanistan, Turkey and Qatar entered a competition to take over the management of Kabul International Airport. Although Qatar is known to influence the new Afghan authorities and tried hard to take over the country's market, according to Obaidullah Sader Khail, it was the United Arab Emirates that finally signed the contract to rebuild and run the international Kabul airport and "they delivered 80 per cent of what they've promised".
According to Mr Sader Khail, the UAE has never tried to take a side in empowering a specific ethnic group based on cultural or linguistic similarity. "They don't have any border with us like Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan do to base their relations on supporting specific agendas," Mr Sader Khail added, "the interests of the United Arab Emirates in Afghanistan are mostly based on common economic interests."
Some economic experts believe if the caretaker government of Afghanistan pave the way to establish a solid financial relationship at the macro level with the United Arab Emirates, it will gain sustainable economic benefits.
"The UAE is working with different sectors of the acting government of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan to build 200 hospitals across the country, make roads, publish schools' books, build water channels, improve our saffron production to replace the harvest of opium poppies and carpet industry but they are happy to do more," Mr Sader Khail said in his interview with TOlOnews.
"The UAE could even help us extract Afghanistan's rich mines," said Mr Sader Khail pointing to the rich natural wealth of Afghanistan.
The UAE is a vital ally of the west and is known for its extensive diplomatic and commercial relations with most countries worldwide. This country plays an essential role in OPEC and is one of the founding members of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council. According to Mr Sader Khail, "they represent the international community in Afghanistan.
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