Before taking up my duties as the 14th French ambassador to the UAE last year, I was aware of the friendship and the strength of the relations forged between our two countries for half a century.
I had in mind the memorable projects built in partnership with our Emirati friends, including – but not limited to – the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a jewel that visitors admire, and the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, which has no other equivalent in the world, and which is currently hosting an exhibition celebrating 50 years of exceptional friendship between France and the UAE.
I knew about the close co-operation in the field of defence between our two countries, as well as the growing economic partnerships in a number of areas.
However, it was only once I became the French representative in this country – and I want to stress my gratitude to the Emirati authorities and the Emirati people for their warm welcome to me and my wife – that I was able to fully appreciate the depth, diversity and uniqueness of the Franco-Emirati relationship, a relationship that in fact has no real equivalent.
First, it is because this relationship is marked by the decades-long trust forged between us. We owe it in particular to the leadership and ambition of the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who visited Paris in 1951 at a time when he was the governor of Al Ain and wanted to quickly develop his country. Since then, and in particular since the creation of the UAE, which Paris was one of the first capitals to recognise, relations between France and the Emirates have continued to grow and cover increasing fields of co-operation, bringing mutual benefits.
The strong personal relationship established between our leaders is one of the keys to this success. From Sheikh Zayed’s first official visit to France in 1975, where he was received by then president Valery Giscard d’Estaing, to the first state visit by President Sheikh Mohamed, which took place in France in 2022 and was an honour for our country, the bond between our leaders has always been exceptional. It is all the more essential today in an unstable, fractured and unpredictable world where our two countries work together to support co-operation and multilateralism, striving to bring balance, moderation, dialogue, security and peace.
Our economic relationship is also flourishing. French companies, numbering more than 1,000 (if we include firms established in the Emirates), are present in all sectors of the UAE’s economy. Our trade volume is constantly expanding, with an increase of eight per cent last year and continuing to rise this year.
And because we have a strategic partnership with the UAE, we are preparing the future together in the most crucial areas. From culture to space, from education to artificial intelligence and quantum technology, from defence to clean energies and smart cities, our strategic partnership is multifaceted and future-oriented.
The French community itself is experiencing spectacular momentum, with more than 50,000 people living here, making it the largest French expatriate community in the Indo-Pacific region. Every day, our consulate general in Dubai celebrates one wedding and registers more than two births. As a result, French-speaking high schools continue to expand, moulding the future of nearly 14,000 students. The teaching of French is also progressing very rapidly in Emirati schools, which I am deeply pleased with.
The enduring combination of tradition and modernity forms the bedrock of the French-Emirati relationship. The UAE itself combines the most beautiful traditions of the desert with the greatest modernity. It is this mix of history and strategic preparation of the future that contributes to a nation’s profound strength. Drawing from history to project oneself into the future – that is the secret.
Long live the UAE, long live France, and long live Franco-Emirati friendship.
