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Australia–United Arab Emirates relations

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Australia– United Arab Emirates relations
Map indicating locations of Australia and United Arab Emirates

Australia
United Arab Emirates

Bilateral ties exist between Australia and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE maintains an embassy in Canberra whilst Australia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate-general in Dubai.

Diplomatic visits

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Visits by United Arab Emirates

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In February 2010, UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan made a historic first official visit to Australia. During the tour, a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a Joint Committee on Consular Affairs was signed by Nahyan and Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith.[1]

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Emirates Airlines offers direct services from Dubai to Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Etihad Airways offers direct services from Abu Dhabi to Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne.[citation needed]

Military relations

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Australia openly supports the United Arab Emirates during the Yemeni Civil War, shipping weapons and ammunitions to provide for Yemeni government's forces and the Saudi-led coalition, which led to criticism among public about Australia's involvement, given high civilian casualties.[2] An Australian retired general, Mike Hindmarsh, is also hired to command the Emirati troops during the war.[3]

Trade

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Monthly value of Australian merchandise exports to the United Arab Emirates (A$ millions) since 1988
Monthly value of UAE merchandise exports to Australia (A$ millions) since 1988

The UAE is identified by Australia as its largest market in the Persian Gulf region. [citation needed] As of 2008–09, trade between the UAE and Australia was valued to A$5.5 billion. Of this, Australian exports to the UAE were A$3.6 billion, while UAE exports to Australia were A$1.9 billion (including crude petroleum imports worth A$1.7 billion).

On 17 September 2024, Australia announced that it had reached a deal with the UAE to remove tariffs for approximately 99% of Australian exports in a bid to improve trade ties. [4]

Education

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The majority of Emiratis residing in Australia are students pursuing education in various Australian universities. Australia is a popular destination to which Emirati students have turned for higher education,[5] with enrolments increasing over the years.[6][7] As of 2013, there were up to 1,700 Emirati students in Australia.[8][9][10] In that same year, there were over 900 Emirati student enrolments for Australia.[11] Many of them are on UAE government scholarships and pursuing postgraduate or PhD degrees. They are concentrated in large cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.[9] In addition, around 14,000 Emiratis also visit Australia each year for tourism. Migration is made easier by relaxed visa requirements and the extensive aviation links between both countries.[12][8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "UAE Foreign Minister visit to Australia - Australian Government (DFAT)".
  2. ^ Doherty, Ben; Knaus, Christopher; Davidson, Helen (4 September 2019). "Australia may be complicit in war crimes if it supports Saudi-led coalition in Yemen – UN | Arms trade | The Guardian". The Guardian.
  3. ^ "Retired Australian Major General Mike Hindmarsh faces questions about knowledge of civilian attacks in Yemen - ABC News". ABC News. 8 February 2016.
  4. ^ "UAE, Australia reach trade deal set to boost agriculture exports, investments". Al Arabiya English.
  5. ^ Mustafa, Awad (20 May 2013). "Australian visa rules eased for Emirati students". The National. Retrieved 22 November 2014. The Australian ambassador, Pablo Kang, said 1,040 Emiratis were studying in Australia last year. "The year before that, 20 per cent of all Emirati overseas students studied in Australia," he said.
  6. ^ Malek, Caline (17 April 2014). "Australia hopes to lure Emirati students to its institutions while selling uranium to the UAE". The National. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  7. ^ "UAE students in Australia exchange programme". Trade Arabia. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Australia is keen to promote Islamic finance". Khaleej Times. 18 June 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Austrade Education Seminar Address Downtown, Dubai" (PDF). UAE Embassy, Canberra. 14 April 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Bilateral relationship". Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Canberra. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015. We have sent almost 2000 Emirati students to study in Australia and many thousands of Emirati and Australian tourists visit each other's countries every year.
  11. ^ "United Arab Emirates country brief". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia). Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  12. ^ "UAE in talks to ease visa requirements to Australia". Arabian Business. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
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