The President Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil will leave on a nine-day visit to UAE and Syria on Sunday. Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry Vijaya Latha Reddy said in New Delhi that in the first leg of her visit from the President will go to Abu Dhabi in UAE.This is her first State visit to the Gulf region at the invitation of her counterpart in UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. During second leg of her tour from 26 to 29, President Patil will visit Syria at the invitation of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. This will be first Presidential visit to Syria from India.The visit to UAE and Syria will provide opportunity to strengthen economic relations and identify areas of mutually beneficial cooperation in both the countries and vice versa.