UAE government officials could not immediately be reached for comment - but UAE has committed to invest hundreds of million dollars in recent years in the territory on a strategically important stretch of coastline on the Gulf of Aden.

UAE began construction last year of a base on a site at the airport of port city Berbera and will be allowed to maintain a presence for 30 years. Berbera is less than 300 km south of war-torn Yemen, where UAE troops are fighting rebels as part of a Saudi-backed coalition.

President Muse Bihi Abdi said UAE would train police and military in Somaliland, which wants independence from war-torn Somalia but is not recognised internationally. 

He said he expected the agreement to be finalised within two months.

"They have the resources and the knowledge,” Abdi told Reuters in an interview in Abu Dhabi

UAE has become more assertive in its foreign policy in recent years. 

UAE Armed Forces have been fighting in the Yemen conflict since 2015 and in the past deployed in international operations in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Abdi said the military base, which he expects will be completed this year, will guarantee economic development and security for Somaliland and act as a deterrent to extremist groups in the region.