MassRobotics hosted the first delegation from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Boston to boost bilateral ties between the two cities. H.E. Sheikh Fahim AlQasimi, a member of the UAE royal family, and Chairman of Sharjah Department of Government Relations, headed a delegation that included leaders and senior executives from Sharjah Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Office (Invest in Sharjah), the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa), the University of Sharjah, the American University of Sharjah and Bee’ah, a leading environmental management company. The tour at MassRobotics aimed to explore opportunities for international collaboration.

The delegates discussed exchanges in sectors like education, entrepreneurship and robotics innovation focusing on boosting STEM and innovation in Sharjah.

“MassRobotics would be delighted to have Sheraa and other organizations in UAE to become strategic partners in the near future”, noted Fady Saad, MassRobotics Co-founder and Director of Partnerships; during the tour in the labs. During his presentation on MassRobotics expansion plan, Tom Ryden, MassRobotics Executive Director, noted, “MassRobotics’ expansion space will offer world-class, state-of-the-art private offices, open shared labs, prototyping and test facilities.”

Sheikh Fahim commented “There is a noticeable similarity between Boston and Sharjah when it comes to supporting start-ups and R&D.” He added, “We look forward to collaborating with MassRobotics in order to strengthening Sharjah’s interest in robotics and AI.”

Sharjah recently unveiled its 22-billion dirham ($6 Billion) budget for 2017, the highest in the emirate’s history and another sign of the commitment towards a truly global strategy. Of that 22 billion, economic development has been allocated 41 percent, reflecting the emirate’s growing interest in enhancing its economic competitiveness, while infrastructure enjoys 31 percent of the budget allocation.