Bilateral Relationship

• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was established as a sovereign state on December 2nd, 1971. Finland recognized the UAE in 1972 and in 1975 the UAE and Finland established formal diplomatic relations.  
• The bilateral relations are underpinned by a number of bilateral agreements and Memoranda of Understanding:  

- Agreement on Economic, Industrial and Technical Cooperation (1982) 

- Agreement between the Republic of Finland and the United Arab Emirates for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income (1996) 

- Agreement Between the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of Finland on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments (1996) 

- Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Defense (2007) 

- Official memo to exempt holders of diplomatic and private passports from the requirement to obtain an entry visa (2009)  

- Memorandum of Understanding between the Money Laundering Counter Unit and suspicious cases in the Central Bank (2010) 

- Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of the environment between the State Ministry of Environment and Water and the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland (2013) 

- Air services agreement (2013) 

- Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of the United Arab Emirates for the exchange of information relating to tax matters (2016) 

- Smart Learning Memorandum of Understanding (2016) 

- Memorandum of Understanding in the field of training, cooperation and meetings related to air accidents (2017) 

- Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation in the field of higher education (2021) 

- Memorandum of Understanding to establish Political Consultations (2021) 

- Memorandum of Understanding in the field of energy (2022) 

- Memorandum of Understanding between the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy and the CMI-Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation to foster collaboration in diplomacy, peacebuilding, and knowledge sharing (2023) 

- Memorandum of Understanding between the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy (AGDA) and Finn Church Aid (FCA) to establish the basis for mutual collaboration (2023)  

• The first bilateral Political Consultation Meeting between the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland took place on 17 November 2022.   
• The first Joint Committee Meeting between the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland took place on 27 January 2021.  
• For recent high-level visits, see here