The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Spain have explored prospects for growing their defense relations and beefing up partnerships between their defense companies.

This came as Major General Pilot Isaac Saleh Mohammed Al Baloushi, Assistant Undersecretary for Defense Industries and Development at the Ministry of Defense, met with Spanish Secretary of State for Defense, Angel Olivares, at the HQ of the Spanish Ministry of Defense in Madrid in the presence of high-ranking officials from both sides and members of the UAE Embassy in Madrid.

Bilateral cooperation ties along with a number of issues of common concern were reviewed during the meeting, Emirates news agency (WAM) reported.

Al Baloushi also met with the Spanish Director General of Armament and Material, Admiral Santiago Ramon Gonzalez Gomez, and discussed aspects of cooperation in the defense industries in light of their significant contributions to the economic diversifications efforts in both countries.

A delegation from the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces’ General Command participated in the meetings with their Spanish counterparts, including representatives from the Tawazun Economic Council and Emirati and Spanish companies where ways of enhancing the participation of both countries’ companies in the defense exhibition and conferences held in the UAE and Spain were deliberated.

The meetings fit within the Ministry’s plans to underpin the national defense industries and promote the UAE military capabilities as part of the country’s economic diversification efforts.