BUCHAREST, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Boosting commercial exchanges and investments remain a priority of Romania in its relation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Romanian President Klaus Iohannis told visiting UAE Minister of State Sultan Bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber on Tuesday.

Iohannis welcomed the carrying out of the first meeting of Joint Cooperation Committee, considering the move a concrete step towards the deepening of bilateral cooperation on all common interest levels, with an emphasis on the economic one, according to a press release of the Presidential Administration.

Sultan Al Jaber underscored that his visit was extremely fruitful and concrete projects of potential investments have been identified, with a focus on energy, transport, infrastructure, logistics, agriculture, tourism and real estate.

The UAE official also said the UAE authorities expected to open a new chapter for bilateral relations, that he deems of strategic importance.

Sultan Al Jaber came to Romania for the first meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee hosted between the two governments on Monday and Tuesday, when five agreements were signed in the field of agriculture, culture, sports, mass media and foreign affairs. He also met with Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea and Prime Minister Viorica Dancila.

The UAE is Romania's first economic partner in the Gulf region and the third in the Arab world, with bilateral trade of 366 million U.S. dollars in 2017.