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White House: UAE to invest $1.4 trillion in US, UAE says

After meeting with President Donald Trump in this week, top UAE officials committed to an investment plan of $1.4 trillion over a period of 10 years. The White House announced on Friday that the United Arab Emirates had made the commitment.

In a press release, the White House stated that the framework would "substantially" increase UAE investments in U.S. manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure and energy.

White House has not explained how UAE investments will reach $1.4 trillion. Some of the deals announced as part of this framework have already been revealed.

The White House stated that the only deal to be completely new was an investment from Emirates Global Aluminium into what would be the United States' first new aluminum smelter for 35 years. It added that the plant "would almost double U.S. aluminum production".

EGA has had ambitions to build a primary aluminum smelter for many years, according to a company spokesperson.

The UAE is a long-time partner in security and an oil producer. It is now looking to strengthen investment ties and become a leader in AI. This is one of its sectors that it is betting on as part of diversified economy.

In September, UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the White House for the first time. The two leaders discussed ways to deepen their cooperation in fields such as AI and investments, as well as space exploration.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are major U.S. investors. This includes Abu Dhabi's Mubadala fund, which has a $330 billion value. Trump and his family also have ties with the region.

OVAL OFFICE DAY MEETING

Trump asked Saudi Arabia in January to spend up to $1 trillion on the U.S. Economy over the next four years. This included military equipment purchases. He said that he would likely make his first overseas trip to the Gulf Country this month to seal an agreement.

The deal could be reached this month or next. It would occur at a moment when Saudi Arabia has taken a greater role in U.S. Foreign Policy. Next week, the Gulf country will host diplomatic talks between Russia and the United States on Ukraine.

The White House announced on Friday that the UAE agreement was the result of a meeting Trump had on Tuesday in the Oval Office with Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, national security adviser. Also involved were Vice President JDVance and several Cabinet members who hosted a dinner with the UAE delegation. This included the heads and major corporations and sovereign wealth funds from the UAE.

One of the partnerships highlighted on Friday involved a partnership between Sheikh Tahnoon's ADQ sovereign wealth fund and Energy Capital Partners U.S., for a 25 billion dollar U.S. initiative to invest energy infrastructure and data centres. This had already been announced two days earlier.

ADNOC had made public, last year, that XRG, an international investment arm of UAE oil company ADNOC which was launched in November, would support U.S. gas production and exports by investing in the NextDecade liquefied gas export facility located in Texas.

(source: Reuters)