Delegation I · Ajman, UAE
A Finnish delegation to the Emirate of Ajman
Five days of majlis, museums, industry and desert. Participants are selected from cultural, sporting and business backgrounds, and hosted by the Emirate itself.
Annually · Winter
Finland — United Arab Emirates · Established Helsinki, 2026
Understanding beginswith a simple act:bringing people together.
Pohja & Pearl is an independent foundation building a lasting human bridge between the North and the Gulf.
The founding gathering — Helsinki archipelago
01
An evening majlis — Emirati and Finnish delegates, United Arab Emirates
02
Purpose
The name draws from two wellsprings. Pohja — from the Finnish for north, and for foundation; the mythical realm of Pohjola in the Kalevala. Pearl — for the ancient pearl-diving heritage of the Arabian Gulf, the lifeblood of an ancestral culture and a symbol of beauty born from adversity.
The Finnish idea of sisu — quiet endurance, inner strength — finds its reflection in the Arabic virtue of sabr: steadfast patience and resolve. Both peoples know the wisdom of silence, the value of nature, and the depth of hospitality. The Foundation is established in the name of that friendship.
Pohja
The North — endurance, forest, water, and the long silence of winter.
Pearl
The Gulf — patience of the diver, coral stone, and the hospitality of the majlis.
Under the patronage
A friendship received in person.
In Ajman, the founding members were welcomed by His Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman, and H.H. Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi. What began as a courtesy visit became the foundation's first commitment: that nations are drawn closer by the people who take the time to meet.
Ajman, United Arab Emirates — 2026
Areas of focus
- 01Cultural ExchangeAnnual delegations of young Finns and Emiratis, hosted in one another's homes, institutions and cities.
- 02Heritage PreservationReading each culture through its objects, architecture and archives — from pearl diving to the Kalevala.
- 03People-to-People DiplomacyRelationships between nations begin as relationships between individuals who have shared a table.
- 04Youth & AlumniA growing community of participants who carry the friendship forward across decades and disciplines.
Programmes
Delegation II · Helsinki, Finland
An Emirati delegation to the Finnish North
Archipelago and forest, sauna and silence, design and industry. Hosted and planned in Finland, arranged entirely according to joint preference.
Annually · Late summer
Alumni Community · 2026 —
A network that outlives its founders
Each participant joins a permanent alumni body: an informal institution of friendships, correspondence and future collaboration between the two nations.
At founding
2
Delegations exchanged each year
2
Nations, one continuous bridge
4
Founding members, Helsinki 2026
∞
Alumni, once begun
Journal
Feature · Ajman · August 2026
Two families, one afternoon, and the beginning of an institution
How a private friendship between a Finnish student and an Emirati sheikh became a foundation with a hundred-year horizon.
Field note · Ajman
Learning the grammar of hospitality
August 2026
Heritage
What the pearl divers knew about patience
July 2026
Conversation
Sisu and sabr: two words for one virtue
June 2026
Friendship, culture, heritage.
An independent, non-profit association for friendship between Finland and the United Arab Emirates — established in Helsinki, 2026.