Energy Minister George Papanastasiou said on Thursday that Abu Dhabi’s National Energy Company (Taqa) is interested in investing in and supporting the delivery of an electricity connection project that Cyprus is involved in.

The project is the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), a subsea cable which will link the transmission networks of Europe to Cyprus in a project costing €1.9 billion, later stretching to Israel.

Taqa’s main focus of investments is in power generation, water desalination, and production and storage of oil and gas. In addition, it has invested in the mining, metal, and service sector.

Speaking at the Investopia conference in Abu Dhabi, Papanastasiou also told Reuters that the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has expressed interest in Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and is seeking assets that are “ready to go”.

Papanastasiou said that the possibility of entering a new licensing round with Adnoc for exploration purposes was not ruled out.

Adnoc previously expressed interest in Cyprus’s emerging natural gas sector, the minister had confirmed to Reuters in November.

On the sidelines of the Investopia conference, Papanastasiou on Thursday met with Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the economy minister of the United Arab Emirates.

Taking part in the meeting were officials of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to a statement released by the energy ministry, the main topic of discussion was a proposal for Cyprus to host the next iteration of Investopia this coming summer. Possible themes for the upcoming conference were discussed, including shipping, energy, water resource management and desalination projects.

Papanastasiou and the UAE minister agreed to continue talks aimed at “creating a steady and productive framework of cooperation”.