Dubai: The UAE is equally committed to building a sustainable environment while supporting economic growth, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai said in a recent interview.
“The future always surprises us. We cannot predict it, but we do have a responsibility to look ahead and trace its outlines, as well as the opportunities and challenges it will present,” Shaikh Mohammad said in an interview published in The Business Year: Dubai 2012 edition produced by Dubai FDI, the foreign investment promotion office in the Department of Economic Development (DED), in partnership with the international business consultancy The Business Year (TBY).
Shaikh Mohammad also emphasised that the UAE will continue to invest not only in hard infrastructure but also in soft infrastructure, with a sharp focus on education, health care and a culture that promotes research and development.
Shaikh Mohammad pointed out that Dubai is shaping and catalysing the new wave of global trade, being the most strategic link to the Middle East and Asia for countries in Latin America, Africa and beyond. He added: “Trade is important, of course, but we also recognise the importance and resilience of a knowledge-based economy as a key driver of sustainable growth and opportunities.
Energy sources
“Our Green Economy Initiative announced earlier this year reaffirms our commitment to diversify energy sources and preserve the environment whilst strengthening our competitive position. Through this initiative, we aim to become a world leading centre for the export and re-export of green products and technologies.”
Shaikh Mohammad said that between now and 2050, emerging markets will be the main engine of global economic growth with trade flows infinitely more connected and goods, services and people more mobile than ever before in the new world order.
“In 2050, our young nation, the United Arab Emirates, will be almost exactly twice as old as it is today. Forty years of foresight and strenuous hard work by our people and our country have led to our achievements and laid the foundations for our global position today and a prosperous future. Dubai and the UAE sit at the intersection of one of the most transformative moments in geo-economic history in more than a century: the gradual but inevitable shift of the economic centre of gravity from the West to emerging markets and the rise of new trade markets,” Shaikh Mohammad said.
“Here in Dubai and the UAE, we see these trends as positive. While we recognise the profound importance of safeguarding our identity and traditions — keeping sight of who we are and where we come from — we embrace the possibilities the future presents for our people, our city and our country. While there are many routes to success, here in Dubai, we are seizing the economic, cultural and scientific opportunities represented by the future, forging new connections and positioning Dubai for growth across this decade and the ones that follow,” he added.
