Mohammad: Education is vital

Dalian, China: The UAE's literacy rate has been increasing steadily since the 1970s and the country is focusing its attention on optimising education to provide its citizens with skills that are essential in the knowledge age, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, told a gathering of global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China on Thursday.

He underlined the critical and essential role of learning, which he said was closely connected with the prosperity of nations.

He highlighted the role of the knowledge economy as a decisive factor in promoting the economic prosperity and survival of nations.

Shaikh Mohammad made his remarks in a speech before more than 2,000 high-profile governmental and business leaders and figures from more than 80 countries on the opening day of the World Economic Forum, which kicked off in Dalian city, China, yesterday.

Among the prominent members of the audience were Queen Rania of Jordan, Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Young Arab leaders

Shaikh Mohammad also stressed the role of Arab young leaderships in effecting reform, change and sustainable development through interacting with other cultures and experiences.

He said one of the reasons that prompted him to respond to invitations to speak for the fourth time at the forum was the venue. China, the giant that has regained its might and leverage, has achieved global political and economic prominence and implemented its unique method of development, change and reform, he said.

"China is cherished by us Arabs and Muslims, and our great grandfathers urged us to seek education and learning even if it meant travelling to China, considered the farthest destination at the time. This shows their awareness and appreciation of China's achievements, inventions and great contributions to science," the UAE Vice-President said.

Silk Road

"The Silk Road connected China with West Asia and the Arab world therefore was a main trade route after the Abbasid caliphate had assigned an ambassador to Chang'an, the capital of Chinese empire. It continued to serve as the cultural and commercial link between Asia and Europe and was a truly metropolitan globalised city where all nationalities and faiths coexisted and more than 100,000 Arab, Indian, Persian, Turkish and other merchants lived and worked," Shaikh Mohammad said.

He said the strong presence of China and other Asian countries in the international arena enriched the world and nourished is variety, expanded its economy, its markets and increased security and stability throughout its different locations.

"When you strive through this forum to create strong stages for interaction between conventional players and new ones in the international arena, or between East and West, you are touching upon a sensitive and important chord currently, in the area of cooperation between big international players. This is a tense issue that is marked with uncertainty and has not been adjusted to the desired level of interaction and mutual impact between the different major economies.

"We witnessed another example for the weakness of this adjustment when joint international efforts were absent and did not take care of the market disturbance in August. And if it were not for the intervention of several governments, there would have been a huge crisis with unpredictable results in terms of its negative affects on the whole international economy," Shaikh Mohammad said.

"Two weeks ago I noticed an announcement by an Australian real estate financing group that said it was unable to refinance $5 billion in debts as a result of restrictions on US real estate loans. The crisis in the US and its direct effect on Australia, which is thousands of kilometres away: is there a better example to the extent of inter-connections between international economies?" asked the Vice-President.

Great expectations

Recalling the post-cold war years of the 1990s and the great expectations at the birth of a new world order, he wondered whether the optimism was misplaced.

"Where are we today after this optimism? What has been achieved in the development area, the environment, combating diseases, and poverty? No doubt there has been a degree of progress, and that a number of economies have achieved growth, but the big picture is filled with dark corners, which lay upon our world grave challenges.

"The first of these challenges is the one related to building the knowledge, which in reality decides the advancement achieved in countries, its continuity or otherwise. Learning here plays a pivotal and basic role, hence the flourishing of any country is related to the educational level of its people, which explains the international concern and interest in this field, as well as the educational jump witnessed in China and India. In these two countries alone, 950,000 engineers graduated this year," he said.