Prospects of cooperation in promoting investment and trade exchanges between the UAE and Australia were reviewed recently at a meeting of top officials of both countries in Dubai, UAE, a media report said.

The meeting was held between Undersecretary of UAE’ s Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade, Abdullah Al Saleh, and Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Simon Birmingham, reported Emirates news agency Wam.

At the meeting, the two sides addressed e-commerce challenges, exchanging views on the WTO's initiative to drive a public-private dialogue on e-commerce, and the proposals provided by a number of WTO members to develop fundamental rules and regulations conducive to reaching an international agreement on e-commerce in the future.

The Australian minister said his country is looking forward to ensuring significant participation in Expo 2020, a global venue, which, he said, will help Australia tap new markets for investments in the region.

"Expo 2020 will help us spotlight the significant developments taking place in key sectors, like agriculture, education and services, as part of the country's efforts to fulfil the indispensable requirements for sustainable development," he said.

The minister affirmed that the UAE is a key partner of Australia in the region, and spelled out his country's determination to propel trade and economic cooperation at all levels.

Al Saleh underscored the importance of further advancing current trade exchanges between the two countries, saying that the non-oil trade between UAE and Australia amounted to $3.3 billion in 2017, a 16 per cent increase over the previous year.

He doubled on the UAE's determination to strengthen all efforts made to ensure liberalisation and free movement of trade and providing better access to global markets.

The meeting was attended by the Australian Ambassador to UAE, Arthur Spyrou, Australian Consul-General, Ian Halliday, and a number of officials from both sides.