Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum asserted that for the Arab civilization to regain its past glories, the Arab world should begin by comprehending the indicators for the future. Sheikh Mohammed made the remarks today while addressing a panel of the World Government Summit. Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan attended the session.
During his address, Sheikh Mohammed referred to a message he made to the Arab governments 12 years ago that "you must change, or you will be changed."
Also in attendance were His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman, Dr Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, FNC Speaker, His Highness Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, His Highness Lt.
General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chief Executive of Emirates Group, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future and a number of Sheikhs, ministers and senior officials.
Sheikh Mohammed said: "As we talk about resuming civilization, we need hope. I am optimistic because I believe people make civilization, develop economy and drive prosperity. If the Arabs and Muslims succeeded in building a civilization in the past, they are capable of resuming it”. Sheikh Mohammed said the Arab world possesses all potentials, including human resources, education, fertile lands and will power.
"The only thing missing is the management. The management of governments, economy, resources, infrastructure and even management of sports. We are 300 million, almost equal to the population of the United States, but look how many Olympic medals they won. We have failures in certain areas that need to be addressed”.
In respond for a question about his greatest personal achievement, Sheikh Mohammed said: "The UAE has many achievements that we are very proud of. I believe the biggest achievement is the building of the UAE citizens, the citizens who are capable of everything, including running the economy and resources”.
He recalled that when the federation was founded by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, "we were just 40 university graduates. Now, we have 77 universities, teeming with thousands of students. We have a programme to reach Mars, fully run by young Emiratis."
Answering a question how the UAE managed to balance economic and tourism openness with security, Sheikh Mohammed said: "The world's problems are open-ended and we have to grow for the interest of our people and our country. If we said 40 years ago let us stop until it is safe, we wouldn’t achieve anything. We have people who carry out their duty of keeping us secure, while we are engaged in developing our country."
"We do not boast perfection. We still learn every day and we waste no time because for us, time is like a running river. The experiment of the UAE speaks for itself for whoever wants to emulate it. All I can say is that we have advanced qualities in leadership and management," he said.
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