Dubai: Bloomberg Television has broadcasted an interview it made recently with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, during his latest visit to the US.
The interview focused on Shaikh Mohammad's way of running Dubai and the steps undertaken by the emirate to overcome the consequences of the international financial crisis which left it impacts on all major global economies, including Dubai. Shaikh Mohammad also spoke about his passion for equestrian sports, a passion that he shares with his sons.
The Vice-President stressed the strong relations between the people of the UAE and their leadership and government. He described the pride of the people of the UAE in the wise leadership of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the UAE Government, and underscored the keenness of the UAE leadership to communicate positively and effectively with the people of UAE through various means.
The interview also shed light on how Shaikh Mohammad shares the responsibility of governing with his son, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and how Shaikh Hamdan learned from his father the importance of sharing the love and engaging with people.
Here are excerpts from the interview:
Margaret Brennan: We had a very unique opportunity this weekend to sit down with Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, and alongside his son Shaikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, where the two competed side by side in the Endurance competition as part of the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky. We spoke one day before the event, and discussed their leadership on the field of play, and how it carries over into the governing… We asked, what is the health of the emirate now?
Shaikh Mohammad: Of course, you know this is challenging. We didn't create it [the financial crisis], it happened in the world, it happened in America and in Europe, as you know. But we take it as a challenge. Life will be boring if there is no challenge you know, it's a challenge. We are back, of course we are back.
Margaret: Dubai is back you said?
Shaikh Mohammad: Yes.
Margaret: Has your vision changed at all for how you want to rule Dubai?
Shaikh Mohammad: Nothing has changed you know, nothing has changed. Meydan, finished in time; Burj Khalifa, finished in time, all the projects that were there, they're going ahead. The ones that are for the future, these might be delayed for 6 months or a year or something like that. But things [are going on]. Life goes on.
Margaret: What has it been like for you, Shaikh Hamdan, to watch this? I mean you are getting ready, you're talking about taking a leadership role now with this race, when you look at ruling and watching your father in the past year, what have you learned?
Shaikh Hamdan: I think it's a great opportunity to sit with my father, to see the decisions that he takes in this difficult time it helps me a lot for the future, and I think it's important for me.
Shaikh Mohammad: We work together you know, in these things we work together and he knew what I was going to do and I take his ideas because he is the Crown Prince, he has to be hands on.
Margaret: So when you rule together and make those decisions, is your vision for Dubai to still be a financial capital of the Middle East, to be a financial transit point between East and West?
Shaikh Mohammad: You talk about Dubai but we talk about the whole UAE. The whole UAE is a country you know, if we think about it, we do things in Abu Dhabi, we do things in Dubai, we do things in Sharjah. We complete each other.
Margaret: Has it changed for you at all in this past year?
Shaikh Hamdan: Well, no I just keep learning and learning from my father, and this is, as I told you before is a great opportunity to come and live this event together with my father.
Margaret: You have a Twitter account and you have a Facebook account; you are very communicative with the public, is that a decision you made or have you hung on watching your father and decided you want to communicate more?
Shaikh Hamdan: I think communication between us and the people is the most important thing. Because there is a big gap these days between people and rulers. My father loves to be in contact with people, and loves to spend every possible time with his people and listens to them. This is really great for me to watch this. It brings hope for me and it shows that our leaders are not far from our people.
Margaret: During the last year, Dubai has been facing some difficulties, investors were demanding more information and transparency as well as details of what was happening, have you decided to share these details with the investors?
Shaikh Mohammad: I think that some media and newspapers have misunderstood us as we did not say anything; nevertheless, they wrote what they wanted; we have come back and answered them through examples on the ground.
Margaret: Do you think that the media began to better understand the market today?
Shaikh Mohammad: I think they now understand the situation better; they need information and we provide them with what they want; the situation is good.
Margaret: What is that you want to communicate right now to the investment community to the public? How do you characterize Dubai?
Shaikh Mohammad: As Hamdan said, you should think positive, life is happy. Happiness is within yourself, it is not somewhere else to try to find it. There is no defined way for happiness, what you are doing is happiness and Dubai and the UAE is happy with our President and with our people and our government. And we love our people and our people love us.
