Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has declared that the future is key in order to revive Arab civilization. Sheikh Mohammed made the remarks at his address to leaders at the World Government Summit.
Sheikh Mohammed pointed to a clear message he delivered to the Arab government twelve years ago, in which he outlined to them that ‘they must change, or you will be changed'. He spoke of his optimism regarding the resumption of the Arab and Muslim man succeeding in building a civilization, like they did in the past, in the future.
Sheikh Mohammed said: "As we talk about resuming civilization, we need hope. I am optimistic because it is the man who makes civilization, economy and prosperity. If the Arab and Muslim man succeeded in building civilization in the past they are capable of resuming it."
Sheikh Mohammed stressed his view that he feels the Arab world possesses all the potentials to regain former glories, including human resources, education and fertile lands. However, he feels the only thing missing is management. He offered the field of sport as an example, pointing to the difference in success the US enjoys at the Olympics compared to the Arab nations which has almost the same population.
Sheikh Mohamed said: "The only thing missing is the management. The management of governments, economy resources, infrastructure and even management of sports, we have a population of almost 300 million, almost equal to the population of the United States, but look how many medals they win in the Olympic Games. We have failures in certain areas that need to be addressed."
When quizzed on how the UAE manages to balance economic and tourism openness with security - Sheikh Mohammed said the growth of his people and his nation was very important. 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 forty 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."
When questioned on what he felt was his greatest personal achievement, Sheikh Mohammed said he was immensely proud of the UAE citizens, he attributed that as his biggest achievement. Sheikh Mohammed said: "The UAE has many achievements that my brother - His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, my other brothers, and I, 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."
Sheikh Mohammed also spoke of his pride at advances they've made in education, pointing out the fact that they now have 77 universities with thousands of students, and spoke about an innovative project to reach Mars which is fully run by a group of young Emiratis.
Sheikh Mohammed said: "The next Emirati goal is to reach Mars, the driving force behind the Mars project are young Emirati's in their 20's and we are very proud of them."
Sheikh Mohammed was adamant that the UAE had no recipe for success, but reiterated that they possess a passion to endeavor, learn and gain expertise every single day. Sheikh Mohammed said: "We do not boast perfection. We still learn every single 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."
