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]
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]
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]
Monthly value of Australian merchandise exports to the United Arab Emirates (A$ millions) since 1988Monthly 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).
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,[4] with enrolments increasing over the years.[5][6] As of 2013, there were up to 1,700 Emirati students in Australia.[7][8][9] In that same year, there were over 900 Emirati student enrolments for Australia.[10] 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.[8] 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.[11][7]
^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.
^"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.
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