UAE defense firm signs deal with Brazilian Navy, UAE moves closer to BRICS

The UAE defense technology company EDGE announced on June 20 that it has established a partnership with the Brazilian Navy to jointly invest in the development of long-range anti-ship missiles and provide anti-jamming technology to Brasilia.

Saleh Ahmed Al Suwardi, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation, joined other Emirati and Brazilian officials at the signing ceremony in Brasilia on Tuesday.

The deal comes two months after Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva visited He met UAE Foreign Minister Mohamed bin Zayed (MbZ) in Abu Dhabi and signed deals worth $2.53 billion in education, environment, energy and more.

Brazil is the UAE’s largest trading partner in Latin America. According to UAE media reports, the total bilateral trade between the two countries will exceed US$4 billion in 2022, an increase of 32% over the previous year.

The new defense agreement also marks another step forward for the UAE in strengthening its ties with the BRICS.

Over the past year, Abu Dhabi has strengthened its relationship with the other four members of the BRICS – Russia, India, ChinaSouth Africa-In 2021, the country will join the BRICS New Development Bank.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, who attended the BRICS ministerial meeting in South Africa earlier this month, met with BRICS officials ahead of their key summit in August, UAE Hope to join the BRICS group along with several other West Asian countries.

The BRICS countries account for 40 percent of the world’s population and nearly one-third of the world’s economic output. In recent months, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the BRICS countries has surpassed that of the U.S.-led Group of Seven in terms of purchasing power parity.

BRICS chairmen will discuss BRICS expansion at the upcoming summit and they are also expected to launch a new currency against dollar hegemony.

On June 17, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Said that the expansion of the BRICS countries “will benefit the multipolar basis of the natural and objective development of the group.”