Mohammad forthcoming in e-session

The UAE is ready to accept objective criticism, and will work to right things that have gone wrong, said His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in a blunt and open statement in his first e-session with the media as prime minister. "We do not mind receiving objective criticism that helps us improve our services and methods. If there are negative aspects, then we will address them and work towards revamping them," he said on his official prime minister's website (uaepm.ae).

However, he rightly spoke out against the almost "daily attacks by some Western media, as if they were in a race against time to harm the UAE". He described this as a "media bombardment that targeted the UAE as a model for a federal state, and a successful and prosperous Arab country; and targeted Dubai, the city that has set up a successful economic model at a global level". He said that an Arab success like that of the UAE was unacceptable to some, who were stuck with the old stereotypes.

Inevitably the prime minister's e-session with the media focused on the impact that the economic crisis is having on the UAE and Dubai, and how the country is reacting, but Shaikh Mohammad answered questions over a wide range of topics.

This initiative by Shaikh Mohammad is very important. It is part of a much wider strategy to build a strong relationship between the government and the people, which is based on full transparency between the two. The government needs to understand the aspirations of the people, and the people need to know what the government is doing. The two are an integral part of the same nation, and neither can exist without the other.