The season of National Days is again at hand: The UAE celebrated its 51st National Day on December 2 and Finland is celebrating its 105th Independence Day today on December 6. The two nations are looking into the future with the same confidence and pride of what they have achieved so far.
Most importantly, Finland and the UAE share the vision that investment in education, knowledge and skills – in people – is the main building block for a bright future. It is also a key enabler for achieving equality.
Sustainable development and circular economy are gaining further momentum, when the UAE is preparing to host the next UN Global Climate Summit COP28 in November 2023. The UAE and Finland have a common interest in developing a sustainable future. Finland stands ready to share its know-how and best practices.
Finland was again ranked the world’s happiest nation, for the fifth time in a row. Happiness is not something we Finns want to keep to ourselves. We are still in the business of sharing it.
When asked about our secret receipe for happiness, I always stress that it is not about some short-term projects to increase happiness. Instead, the whole society needs to be built on an infrastructure of happiness — a mixture of mutual trust, stability, quality education and equality among others.
Finland and the UAE might be geographically apart but there is a lot of scope for learning from each other and working together on key themes for the global development and development of our two nations such as sustainability or education.
Marianne Nissilä | Ambassador of Finland to the UAE
