UAE, France: Strategic Partnership and Consensus in Facing Challenges
The UAE-French relations are characterized by many characteristics that have earned them special importance and continuously pushed them towards growth and progress until they reached the level of the strategic partnership that was enhanced by the convergence of views between the two countries on current regional and global issues and the agreement to strengthen international security and stability, in addition to the growing cooperation between them in all fields.
The UAE-French relations are strengthened by the support, follow-up and directives of the leadership of the two countries, which have contributed to raising these relations to unprecedented levels of cooperation and coordination in all fields.
Over the past years, the privileged relations between the two countries have been a major pillar in facing various types of regional and international challenges, have played a prominent role in countering extremism and intolerance, and have contributed to the spread of the concepts of tolerance and coexistence among religions and societies.
UAE President Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to France highlights the friendship and strategic partnership between the UAE and France, which has become a model for international relations.
The relationship between the two countries dates back to before the establishment of the UAE Union, as some French oil companies, such as Total, were involved in oil exploration in the UAE. When the UAE Union was established in 1971, bilateral relations between the two countries began. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing laid strong foundations for strong friendly relations between the two countries. These relations were strengthened after Sheikh Zayed’s first visit to France in 1976.
The permanent dialog between the two sides, the meetings at the highest levels between the two countries, the frequent ministerial and governmental meetings, and the visits of parliamentary delegations reflect the importance that France and the UAE attach to the development of bilateral relations.
To enhance bilateral cooperation and raise the level of strategic partnership, the two countries established the UAE-France Strategic Dialog Committee, which began its work in 2008 for the first time. The dialog aims to identify existing and future opportunities and partnerships and to ensure continued cooperation in existing projects and initiatives such as the economy, trade, investment, culture, oil and gas, nuclear energy, renewable energy, education and culture, health, space and security, in addition to other sectors of shared priority.
The meetings of the Dialog Committee have been organized since then and in the framework of which the two parties adopted on June 3, 2020 a new roadmap for their strategic partnership in the next ten years, that is, for the period 2020-2030. At the fourteenth meeting of the Committee, which was held last June in Abu Dhabi, the two sides discussed ways to strengthen the key sectors of bilateral cooperation such as the economy, trade and investment, oil and gas, carbon-free hydrogen, nuclear and renewable energy, climate change, education, culture, health, artificial intelligence, food security, financial technology, intellectual property rights, countering money laundering and terrorism financing, space, in addition to cyber security, according to the UAE news agency “WAM”.
Over the past few years, the two countries have signed dozens of agreements and memorandums of understanding in various economic, cultural, military and environmental fields, the latest of which were 13 agreements signed during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the UAE last December.
Data on non-oil foreign trade between the UAE and France reflect the strength and strength of economic relations between the two countries over the decades. The total volume of non-oil foreign trade between the two countries reached more than 25.2 billion dirhams by the end of 2021, according to data from the Federal Center for Competition and Statistics.
France is one of the main foreign investors in the UAE. French direct investments in the UAE amounted to €2.5 billion at the end of 2020, while the UAE ranks 35th in the list of foreign investors in France.
The two countries pay special attention to their cultural partnership, out of a belief in its importance in extending bridges of communication between the peoples of the two countries. During the past years, this partnership witnessed many achievements, represented in the opening of the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, which is considered the first world museum in the Arab world, and the largest cultural project promoted by France abroad, as well as the Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi, which was established in 2006. The University represents a historic agreement that achieves the common vision between the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the French government to achieve the best standards in the field of French education in the Middle East.
The two countries played a key role in the creation of the International Coalition for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones, and the UAE contributed €5 million to support the Arab World Institute in Paris in 2017, and the same year the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Hall was inaugurated at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Furthermore, the UAE contributed €10 million to the restoration of the Imperial Theater of the Fontainebleau Palace near Paris, which was then named after Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
In October 2018, the Year of Emirati-French Cultural Cooperation was announced in Paris. As a result, a French-language radio station was launched in the UAE, broadcasting three times a week, and in December 2018, the UAE became an associate member of the International Organization of la Francophonie.
In the field of education, the seven French secondary schools accredited in the United Arab Emirates constitute the sixth largest network of French schools in the world in terms of enrollment, comprising more than 10,000 students. In 2018, a pilot program was implemented to introduce the French language in all public schools in the United Arab Emirates. More than 60,000 students are now learning French in public and private schools in the country.
The number of the French community residing in the UAE is about 25,000 people, which is the largest in the Arab Gulf region. France is keen to participate in the various international activities and exhibitions that are held in the UAE, and in this context came its distinguished participation in the activities of “Expo 2020 Dubai”.
