UAE celebrate 45th anniversary of Union Day

Baku. 1 December. REPORT.AZ/ On December, 2, United Arab Emirates celebrate the 45-th anniversary of the Union day. Ambassador of United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Ahmed Alqubaisi wrote an article about the path, that UAE had during these 45 years.

Report informs, the article reads as below:

"UAE has an old history. The recent studies show that these lands were inhabited nearly 7500 years ago. But 45 years ago by the end of 1971, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who was chosen as Ruler of Abu Dhabi on 6 August 1966 initiated establishing a union. Along with Sheikh Rashid, who was to become Vice President and Prime Minister of the newly formed state, Sheikh Zayed took the lead in calling for a federation that would include not only the seven emirates, but also Qatar and Bahrain. Following a period of negotiation however, agreement was reached between the rulers of six of the emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Qaiwain, Fujairah and Ajman) and the federation to be known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was formally established on 2 December 1971. The seventh emirate, Ra’s al-Khaimah, formally acceded to the new federation on 10 February 1972.

The prosperity, harmony and modern development are the characteristics of the United Arab Emirates. But at the time that Sheikh Zayed was born, Abu Dhabi was poor and undeveloped and life, even for members of the ruling family, was simple.Throughout the late 1920s and 1930s, as Sheikh Zayed grew to manhood, he displayed an early thirst for knowledge that took him out into the desert with the bedu tribesmen and into the sea with the fishermen and pearl divers, to learn about the people and the environment in which they lived. He later recalled with pleasure his experience of desert life and his initiation into the sport of falconry, which became a lifelong passion. These travels provided Sheikh Zayed with a deep understanding both of the country and of its people. In the early 1930s, when the first oil company teams arrived to carry out preliminary surface geological surveys, he obtained his first exposure to the industry.

In 1946, Sheikh Zayed was chosen to fill a vacancy as Ruler’s Representative in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi, centered on the oasis of Al Ain, approximately 160 kilometres east of the island of Abu Dhabi itself. Sheikh Zayed swiftly established himself not only as someone who had a clear vision of what he wished to achieve for the people of Al Ain, but also as someone who led by example. On 6 August 1966, Sheikh Zayed succeeded his elder brother as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with a mandate from his family to press ahead as fast as possible with the development of Abu Dhabi. E. Sheikh Zayed was elected by his fellow rulers as the first President of the UAE, a post to which he was successively re-elected at five-year intervals. One foundation of his philosophy as a leader and statesman was that the resources of the country should be fully used to the benefit of the people. Within this framework, Sheikh Zayed believed that all of the country’s citizens have a role to play in its development. Both men and women, he believed, should play their part. Sheikh Zayed also believed in encouragement of initiatives designed to conserve the traditional culture of the people, in order to familiarise the younger generation with the ways of their ancestors. In his view, it was of crucial importance that the lessons and heritage of the past were remembered.

Today the UAE has one of the most open economies in the world.The UAE continues to be a strategic hub, with business-friendly free zones and a quickly growing economy.

Azerbaijan being a main partner of United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Caucasus region, aims to follow the same path as UAE. Heydar Aliyev’s outlook laid a path towards today’s prosperity of Azerbaijan, and transformed Baku into Dubai at the Caspian Sea coast.

UAE have always supported Azerbaijan, since independence in 1991; launched various projects and enabled to create new working places in this country. Azerbaijan is one of the main destinations for UAE tourists. After introduction of simplified visa regime for UAE citizens, thousands of tourists from UAE traveled to Azerbaijan and gained an opportunity to get acquainted with beauties of the country. All these show how interesting are UAE and Azerbaijan for each other.

Currently both countries enter post-oil age, after collapse of oil prices. Both countries need each other also in this stage; because only joint efforts can lead to desired results. That’s why, we can surely say that, UAE that entered 45th year of its independence, and Azerbaijan, which recently celebrated 25th anniversary of its independence, will realize many successful joint projects in the future".