Cerar visited the site of the future world exposition in the outskirts of Dubai, where countries are busy setting up their national pavilions, with the host country providing the necessary infrastructure.

Meeting Al Hashimi, who is also the minister of state for international cooperation of the UEA, he presented the concept of Slovenia's participation in the Expo, whose wooden pavilion will be themed with sustainable development.

Slovenia and the UAE are partners in the Green Group of six small countries, established by the former in 2009. The group points to issues related to sustainable development and the importance of the preservation of waters and clean environment.

Cear and Al Hashimi also discussed how to better connect the two countries and the possibility to establish a scheduled airline link from the UAE to Slovenia, the ministry said.

"Slovenia has a rich tradition in spa tourism and pristine nature, which attracts guests from all parts of the world," said Cerar, adding that a scheduled airline link would certainly provide tourism between the countries with a boost.

According to the ministry, they also talked about the possibility to connect experts in artificial intelligence from the two countries. The UAE is the only country in the world which has minister for artificial intelligence.

Cerar told Al Hashimi that UNESCO's International Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) would soon open in Slovenia, and that the country would be very inclined to possible link-ups of research centres.

Al Hashimi said that the UAE very much appreciated Slovenia opening an embassy in Abu Dhabi, which she believes will be an important link between the countries. The first Slovenian embassy in a Gulf country has been operating since 2018, and will be officially inaugurated by Cerar on Tuesday.

Tomorrow, the Slovenian foreign minister will also meet Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash. He is also to co-chair the first meeting of a joint commission for Slovenia-UAE economic cooperation on Wednesday.