BILATERAL RELATIONS

BILATERAL RELATIONS

The United Arab Emirates has recognized the independence of Azerbaijan Republic on December 26, 1991 as one the first states. Diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and UAE were established on September 01, 1992.

In June 1994, the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of United Arab Emirates in Turkey Republic was accredited at the same time in Azerbaijan.

On April 11, 1997, the decision of Milli Mejlis “on establishment of embassy of Azerbaijan Republic in United Arab Emirates” was confirmed by Heydar Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic.

By the decrees of the President of Azerbaijan Republic No: 444 of February 22, 2001 and November 19, 2009 firstly Mr. Eldar Nadir oglu Salimov and then Mr. Elkhan Jahangir oglu Gahramanov were appointed ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan Republic in United Arab Emirates.

From June 06, 2001, the embassy of Azerbaijan Republic carries out its activity in Abu-Dhabi, the capital city of UAE and the Consulate of Azerbaijan - in Dubai Emirate as from 2006.

Azerbaijan and UAE are cooperating within the bounds of the United Nations Organization, Islamic Conference Organization and other influential regional and international organizations. UAE is supporting the Azerbaijani fair position with regard to the Armenia – Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

The actual relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and United Arab Emirates have begun to develop generally since 2001, when our embassy was established in this country. Within the period from 2001 to 2006, series of duty calls, business and informal visits were carried out between these two countries at top levels. During these visits, there were made intercommunications concerning the ways of development of bilateral relations and other matters embodying the focus of interests of the both countries. And it is to be noted that the delegations of the both countries have participated in international conferences, exhibitions and festivals organized in these countries. Within the frameworks of aforementioned visits, there were signed appropriate treaties, Protocols and Memorandums of understanding between these countries aiming at development of intercommunication in the fields of special importance.

During the aforementioned years, the relations of the both countries in the field of culture were considerably developed and on Mach 29, 2003 the Azerbaijani well-known art figures – Farhad Badalbayli, Fidan and Khuraman Gasimova have firstly appeared in Abu-Dhabi city with various concert programs.

The works aiming at development of cultural relations were extended and on January 25-31, 2004, Mr. A.Valiyev the deputy minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Republic was in UAE with a business visit on invitation of the Ministry of Information and Culture of UAE.

During the visit, the deputy minister of Culture of Azerbaijan has conducted meetings with several public officials. During these meetings, there were conducted all-inclusive negotiations about the current situation and perspectives of relations between Azerbaijan and UAE in the field of culture and proposals forwarded by the both sides concerning the development of their relations in the field of culture were reviewed. As a consequence of these visits, on March 02-10 of the same year there was conducted a personal exhibition of Mr. Huseyn Aliyev, the famous Azerbaijani painter in UAE. There were demonstrated 68 works from the art collection of the Ministry of Culture and the personal collection of the painter. Including, on April 22-29 of the same year, Mr. Polad Bulbuloglu, the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan was in official visit in UAE. This period coincides with days of culture of Azerbaijan in UAE. In connection with the days of Azerbaijani culture, the delegation consisting of 62 persons has arrived to Abu-Dhabi.

Within the framework of the visit, the governments of Azerbaijan Republic and United Arab Emirates have signed a treaty in Abu-Dhabi on April 25  “on cooperation in the field of culture” in the person of the minister of Culture of AR and the minister of Information and Culture of UAE.

The days of culture of United Arab Emirates were also conducted in Azerbaijan in 2005.

The crucial period of development of relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and United Arab Emirates was initiated from November 20-21, 2006 after the official visit of Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic to UAE. Within the framework of the visit, Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic has met in private with  Sheikh Khalifa ibn Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid Al Maktum, the vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai Emirate, Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, a member of Abu-Dhabi Executive Board and the head of the law-court of heir to the throne of Abu-Dhabi Emirate, Seyid Ahmad Gobash, the head of the companies “Consolidated Energy Resources LLC” and “Ghobash Trading and Investments Group”, the former Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, the former chairman of Arab Currency Fund and Lubna Al-Gasimi, the former minister of economy and planning of the United Arab Emirates. During these meetings there were conducted discussions concerning the bilateral relations between two countries, ways of development of the joint cooperative relations in several fields. At the same time they have touched upon other problems being in the centre of focus of these countries while these meetings and perspective of development of relations were considered in the international and regional context.

Within the framework of the visit of Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic to the United Arab Emirates there were conducted a signing ceremony of documents embracing various fields of activity between the Republic of Azerbaijan and United Arab Emirates. There was conducted a business forum concerning the relations between Azerbaijan and United Arab Emirates.

On November 20-21, 2006, the meeting of Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic with Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of United Arab Emirates within the bounds of his official visit to UAE has taken on special significance for strengthening of relations and development of new perspective of cooperation between Azerbaijan and United Arab Emirates. While the visit of Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic to UAE there were signed treaties between two countries concerning the political, cultural, tourism and other fields; it is to be noted that the majority of matters implied in these treaties’ provisions was already accomplished. After the visit of Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan Republic to UAE, the mutual relations between two countries were developed and are developing both in the political, economic and cultural fields and in the framework of international organizations with ascending line.

In 2006, after the official visit of the President of Azerbaijan Republic to UAE, the number of bilateral trips between two countries in the level of high-ranking officials has been increased. From this point of view, on March 17-19, 2008 Elmar Mammadyarov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic has made an official visit to UAE and during this visit he has conducted meetings with Sheikh Muhammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the successor to the throne of the country and deputy Commander in Chief of Armed Forces, Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the minister of Foreign Affairs, Lubna Al-Gasimi, the minister of Foreign Trade and Sultan bin Said Al-Mansuri, the minister of Economy.

The delegations headed by E.Guliyev, the head of State Frontier Service of AR, the lieutenant general on December 12-14, 2006, Ziya Mammadov, the minister of transport of AR on may 2-3, 2007 with the invitation of Mr. Sultan Saeed Al-Mansuri, the minister of development of the public sector of UAE, Mr. Safar Abiyev, the Minister of defense of AR on November 11-15, Ramil Usubov, the Minister of Interior of AR on December 9-11 with the invitation of Sheikh Seyf Zayed Al-Nahya, the minister of Interior of UAE and  Elmar Mammadyarov, the minister of Foreign Affairs of AR on March 17-19, 2008 were in official visit in UAE. Within the framework of these visits there were conducted several officials meetings, in the course of which there were signed numerous inter-governmental treaties.

Besides the aforementioned facts, on May 26, 2008, the delegation of UAE headed by Sheika Lubna Al-Gasimi, the Minister of Foreign Trade of UAE has paid an official visit in Azerbaijan; while this visit there was held a meeting of the joint inter-governmental commission on the economic, trade and technical cooperation. There was signed a Protocol concerning the results of the meeting. As per this document, the countries, conducting representations as regards the investment and the factual business environment will develop the cooperation in the fields of oil and gas, agriculture, production of foodstuff, transport, tourism, education, health, customs, ecology and so on. Besides, there were envisaged to conduct of information exchange as regards international exhibitions, forums and trade events, development of bilateral trade, implanting of joint projects and extending of events in line with cooperation between the businessmen.

In 2009 there were implemented several mutual visits and bilateral meetings between AR and UAE. On May 26, 2009, the delegations headed by Muhammad Dhaen Al-Hamili, the Minister of Power Engineering,  Sultan bin Saed Al-Mansuri, the minister of economy of UAE, the head of Federal Transport and Federal Aviation Institutions of UAE (on April 20-21), Sheikh Abdullah bin Zaid Al-Nahyan, the minister of foreign affairs of UAE (on July 8-9) were in official visit in our country. 
The head of delegations have expressed their contentment as regards the successful development of relations between our countries and they accentuated the business activity of the extending cooperation. They have noted that bilateral relations between UAE and Azerbaijan Republic were strengthened in all fields. While these meetings there were held discussions between two countries about the development perspectives of relations implemented in the fields of power engineering, tourism, economy, trade and private sector, including the cooperation opportunities of two countries within the framework of the joint regional projects. The matter of the joint investment to the field of economy, especially the tourism by the businessmen as per the effective legislation of two countries was an object of widen discussion.

On January 16, 2009, Natig Aliyev, the Minister of Power Engineering of Azerbaijan Republic paid an official visit to UAE to take part in the third assembly of the International Agency for Restored Energy Resources to be held in Abu-Dhabi on January 17.  N.Aliyev has participated in the meeting of the “World Future Energy Summit” held on January 18 in Abu-Dhabi. Within the bounds of the visit, N.Aliyev has met with Mr. Anvar Muhammad Gargash, the State Minister on Foreign Affairs. During the meeting they have accentuated the ascending line of development of cooperation between two countries. A.M.Gargash said that the main goal of the meeting was to discuss the perspectives of the cooperation both bilateral and on the international level between our countries in the field of power engineering. He has noted a solid potential in the field of power engineering for future cooperation of UAE with Azerbaijan, which has a considerable successes in oil extracting and oil industry.

Besides these visits, in 2009 the delegations of our country has made several official and business visits to UAE. From this point of view, on December 21-22, a delegation consisting of deputies ministers and headed by Sh. Mustafayev, the Minister of Economic Development of AR were in official visit in UAE. During the visit, there was held the second meeting of the joint inter-governmental commission for the economic, trade and technical cooperation between AR and UAE. The minister Shahin Mustafayev met with Sultan Said Al-Mansuri, the minister of Economy and other officials. They have expressed their contentment from the development level of the economic and trade relations between two countries.

On June 9-10, 2010, there was held the first meeting of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Republic and UAE in Baku. During the meeting, various issues related to mutual relations between our countries were touched upon and the gradual development of these relations was paid special attention. There were conducted wide exchanges of opinion in relation to the development of bilateral relations, political consultations and all aspects of bilateral cooperation, as well as regional and international mattes of mutual interest.

The “Memorandum of Understanding” on release of diplomatic passport holders from visa was signed as a consequence of the meeting. The parties voiced a hope for the fact that the treaty on release of diplomatic passport holders from visa will contribute to a better atmosphere for development of bilateral relations.
Presently the works in direction of development of bilateral cooperation between two countries are extending.

On 1-2 April 2015 HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai paid an official visit to Azerbaijan.

On 1-2 February 2016 President of the Republic of Azerbaijan H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. President Ilham Aliyev met His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and discussed friendship and cooperation between the two countries, along with regional and international issues of mutual concern. President Ilham Aliyev also met Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The issues such as peace, stability and economic development were included into the talks. The two leaders focused on ways to further enhance co-operation between the two friendly countries to include wider domains in the investment partnership, trade, tourist and cultural exchange as well as an increase in the number of flights between UAE airports and Baku to contribute positively in developing mutual tourism and bridge the distance between the two friendly peoples especially in terms of mutual visits between business persons and investors of both sides.

On May 21-22 2017 Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates HH Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed al Nahyan paid an official visit to Azerbaijan. Minister was received by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan HE Mr. Ilham Aliyev, First Vice President Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, met his counterpart Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as participated at the closing ceremony of the Islamic Solidarity Games held in Baku.

Aprel 22, 2018 one of the world’s main travel and tourism exhibition “Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018” was held in Dubai, UAE. At Around 2,500 companies from all over the world participated at the exhibition. The stand “Azerbaijan” was presented at the exhibition where more than 50 Azerbaijani companies took part with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Abu Dhabi, Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Dubai and Azerbaijan Trade office in Dubai attended the event.

From the first day of the exhibition, the stand of “Azerbaijan” attracted the attention of numerous visitors, including tourism market specialists.

 July 26, 2018 residents of UAE are able to obtain visa on arrival in the İnternational airports of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This is one of the important steps taken to increase the flow of tourists to Azerbaijan.

February 10, 2019, Dubai hosted the seventh World Government Summit (WGS 2019) under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

Azerbaijan was represented by a delegation led by the chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr.Ulvi Mehdiyev.

More than 4,000 high-level officials from 140 countries, heads of state and government, 30 international organizations and entrepreneurs, heads of diplomatic missions came together to shape the future of the world with the emerging needs of the global citizen at the heart.

 April 17, 2019 International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX-2019) and Naval Defence and Maritime Security Exhibition (NAVDEX-2019) were held in United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Azerbaijan was represented by a delegation led by Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan general lieutenant Zakir Hasanov and Deputy Head of State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan general lieutenant Ilham Mehdiyev.

November 12, 2019 An Official visit of Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Azerbaijan. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation. On the sideline of the visit, the minister held several meetings and attended UAE-Azerbaijani Trade Forum.

Last update: 13.11.2019