The UAE holds a strategic financial dialogue with the Russian Federation

DUBAI, 31st October / WAM / The United Arab Emirates, represented by the Ministry of Finance, held the Second Strategic Financial Dialogue with the Russian Federation in Dubai, headed by His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and His Excellency Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation, with the aim of enhancing cooperation in employing artificial intelligence in the areas of government financial management and exchanging experiences on best practices in the fields of digital transformation, financial governance, and technical risk management.
According to a press release issued today, the meeting was attended on the Emirati side by His Excellency Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, His Excellency Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Undersecretary for the Budget and Government Revenues Sector, Ali Abdullah Sharafi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for International Financial Relations Affairs, Shabana Aman Khan Begum, Executive Director of the Tax Policy Sector, Saqr bin Ghalib, Executive Director of the Office of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, and a number of officials in the Ministry of Finance.
Also present on the Russian side were His Excellency Irina Okladnikova, First Deputy Minister of Finance, His Excellency Alexei Sazanov, Deputy Minister of Finance, Andrei Makarov, Chairman of the Budget and Taxation Committee in the State Duma, His Excellency Timur Zabirov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Arab Emirates, and a number of officials and experts in the Ministry of Finance.
At the beginning of the meeting, His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini welcomed His Excellency Anton Siluanov and his accompanying delegation, stressing that the meeting reflects the UAE’s keenness to expand the horizons of cooperation with the Russian Federation, in the fields of financial innovation and digital transformation, as employing artificial intelligence in preparing budgets, managing salaries, and estimating revenues constitutes a qualitative opportunity to contribute to the development of government performance.
His Excellency pointed out that Emirati-Russian relations represent a pioneering model for strategic partnerships in the financial field, at a time when the UAE continues to consolidate its position as a global financial center, by investing in advanced technology and building institutional systems based on innovation and knowledge, pointing to the importance of dialogue as a platform for exchanging visions and experiences about the future of digital financial management.
His Excellency stressed that financial sustainability and smart governance require strengthening technical cooperation and launching joint initiatives that contribute to developing financial forecasting tools and enhancing the efficiency of distributing public resources. Concluding his speech, he stressed that the Ministry of Finance is committed to continuing this cooperation through periodic technical meetings aimed at activating the results of the dialogue and following up on the implementation of priority initiatives, in a way that supports sustainable development in both countries.
For his part, His Excellency Anton Siluanov said: “The first meeting of the Russian-Emirati financial dialogue was held successfully last February, where we discussed a wide range of issues and laid the foundation for continuing work in this framework. One of the most prominent results of the meeting was the signing of the updated agreement to avoid double taxation, and the teams of the Ministry of Finance in our two countries continue to work on the priorities that were previously identified. Through joint efforts, favorable conditions were created for the development of overall Russian-Emirati relations, especially in the areas of economics.” Investment and financing.
His Excellency stressed that the volume of trade exchange between the Russian Federation and the UAE witnessed remarkable growth during the first half of this year, reaching about 24.4 billion dirhams, equivalent to 6.6 billion dollars, indicating that this growth embodies the fruit of close bilateral cooperation between the two countries, stressing at the same time that the UAE continues to consolidate its position as a major partner of the Russian Federation in enhancing financial and investment cooperation and facilitating cross-border transactions.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to enhance financial and technical cooperation between the UAE and the Russian Federation, with a focus on employing artificial intelligence techniques in developing government financial management systems.
The main topics of the dialogue included the issues of preparing public budgets, improving the efficiency of salary management, and supporting digital economy paths, in line with the strategic directions of the two countries towards building smart financial systems that depend on innovation and comprehensive digital transformation.
The meeting witnessed the holding of three specialized technical sessions, during which the first session, entitled “Government Budget,” reviewed the applications of artificial intelligence in budget preparation processes, and ways to employ this technology in order to enhance the efficiency of government revenue collection and raise the efficiency of public spending, in addition to using it in forecasting government revenues and evaluating their overall economic impact.
The second session was titled “Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Payroll Management,” and included a presentation on the “Smart Payroll Administrator,” while the third session was titled “Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Economy,” and included a presentation on the digital economy driven by artificial intelligence.
At the conclusion of the meeting, His Excellency Mohammed bin Hadi Al Husseini and His Excellency Anton Siluanov stressed the importance of continuing cooperation in exchanging technical expertise and organizing periodic meetings to follow up on the implementation of joint initiatives, which contributes to supporting sustainable development and financial innovation in both countries.
The UAE and the Russian Federation held the first Strategic Financial Dialogue Forum in Abu Dhabi last February, where it addressed issues of budget preparation, tax cooperation, and partnership between the public and private sectors, and witnessed the signing of an agreement to avoid double taxation between the two countries, within the framework of deepening financial and technical cooperation between the two sides in subsequent sessions.

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