Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Department of Government Relations (DGR) in Sharjah, met members of the Central American Integration System (SICA) — the economic and political organization of Central American states since 1993 —to improve cultural, economic, and diplomatic relations with Central American cities and seek out new collaboration opportunities.

Sheikh Fahim received ambassadors from four major Central American countries, including Francisco J. Chac n Hernndez, Ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica in the UAE; Ricardo Laverie, Ambassador of the Republic of Panama in the UAE; Julio Simon Casta?os Zouain, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic in the UAE; and Lars Henrik Pira Perez, Ambassador of the Republic of Guatemala in the UAE, for the discussions.

Sheikh Fahim stated that the entity's core priorities are to have a significant influence on both local and foreign communities by fostering education and cultural exchange as primary enablers of economic growth and that the aims reflect the vision of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

Another main focus area for DGR was fostering greater interaction with cities around the world by promoting inter-institutional collaboration and training between Sharjah's institutions and their global equivalents. The chairman emphasized the importance of Sharjah and SICA representatives looking at innovations, especially in the publishing and translation sectors, and indicated a keen interest in exploring the possibilities of hosting cultural activities to highlight Central America's rich history and culture to the UAE's community.

The attending ambassadors provided Sheikh Fahim with a concise analysis of recent developments in their respective countries' environmental, educational, and tourism sectors. They all shared a strong desire to explore possible collaborations with Sharjah, especially in academics and research with Sharjah universities, and in environmental protection owing to the emirate's leadership in these fields.

Sheikh Fahim then used the occasion to highlight a slew of highly profitable investment and business prospects in clean energy, logistics, smart city innovations, and eco-friendly technology, both of which are already helping to broaden the emirate's non-oil industry and allowing global companies to expand their local and regional presence across Sharjah.

The Central American officials appreciated Sharjah's ongoing attempts to create cultural bridges with cities around the world, and their plan to showcase the emirate's ample opportunities to their respective business communities to prepare the ground for a new age of economic and cultural closeness between Sharjah and Central America. SICA is made up of eight member countries: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, with a total population of 58 million people.