The UAE National Archives and the Russian Government Archives discuss strengthening cooperation and exchange of experiences.

The National Archives held a virtual meeting with its counterpart the Russian Government Archives, via Zoom, discussing ways of cooperation and the role and tasks of each side, ways to strengthen future relations, and a visit by a delegation from the Russian archives to the UAE soon.
H.E. Abdullah Majid Al Ali, Acting Director General of the National Archives, opened the meeting with a word in which he pointed out his interest in sharing experiences and knowledge in document management and archiving, and to exchange visits to learn about  the practices and mechanisms used in organizing and managing archival holdings and methods of long-term historical record-keeping as well as the techniques used to maintain and make them available.
His Excellency pointed out that the UAE National Archives is currently witnessing various developments, the most important of which is the National Archives and the National Library merger. He thanked His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE Ambassador to the Russian Federation, and His Deputy, His Excellency Hamad Al-Habsi, for coordinating this fruitful meeting, stressing the importance of signing a memorandum of understanding between the two archives.
Then, Mr. Hamad Al-Mutairi, Director of the Archives Department of the National Archives, gave a presentation in which he introduced the National Archives, its mission, vision and objectives, and its role in organizing archives in government agencies considering the articles of Federal Law No. 7 of 2008 and its executive regulations, and the role played by the Centre for Preservation and Restoration in preserving and restoring documents. He also pointed out the importance of the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive and its contents, and the cooperation between the National Archives and the Sorbonne University in qualifying archivists, and in academic studies specialized in documents and archiving.
Ms. Larissa Alexandrov, Deputy Head of the Government Archives of the Russian Federation, thanked the Director General of   the National Archives for inviting the Russian Archive to visit the UAE, and indicated her interest in learning more about the UAE National Archives. She also stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation and discussion of archiving issues.
  Ms. Larissa Alexandrov said that the Russian Government Archives seeks to preserve archival documents for future generations and make them accessible to the public. In her presentation, she shed light on the Russian Archives, noting that it contains seven million historical records, and historical government documents dating back to the 19th century. She pointed out that Law No. 125 issued by the Ministry of Justice regulates the Work of the Russian Archives, which continues its efforts to digitize its contents of which more than 90% have been completed.
She noted that the Russian Archives’ publications are issued in collaboration with federal archives and with scientific and academic institutions, and that it is now working on a project to establish a platform for World War II documents. She also indicated that the large building of the Russian Government Archive contains a reading room and an exhibition hall, and that its repositories are crammed with collections adding that they are in the process of building a new government archive building.
The meeting was attended by H.E. Hamad Al-Habsi, UAE Deputy Ambassador   to the Russian Federation, and a large number of officials from the UAE National Archives, the Russian Government Archives and the UAE Embassy in the Russian Federation.