Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, met on Tuesday night at the Jumeirah Ramadan Majlis a group of leaders, representatives and correspondents of local, Arab and international news agencies, TV channels and the press.
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, attended the event, which was organised by the Dubai Government Media Office.
Shaikh Mohammad welcomed the Arab, Emirati and foreign media persons and exchanged Ramadan greetings with them. After hosting an iftar banquet in their honour, Shaikh Mohammad engaged with the media leaders and professionals in an open interactive dialogue dealing with a wide range of political, economic and developmental topics, and the role of media in highlighting developmental plans and projects in the UAE.
Shaikh Mohammad emphasised the vital and growing role of the media in the nation-building process and its objectives to stimulate national economy and bring happiness to the UAE people.
Shaikh Mohammad urged media persons and journalists to highlight positive and constructive aspects on any issue they tackle, whether political, social, economic or cultural, and to avoid points of differences.
Shaikh Mohammad reiterated the message of the media and its positive role in exploring and explaining positive potential opportunities, finding and recommending proposals and effective solutions rather than aggravating problems in any sector of work.
Shaikh Mohammad expressed his appreciation for the local media and its ability to keep abreast with social and developmental events and its role in presenting the true image to the public without exaggeration. He added that he was pleased with the effective patriotic and humanitarian role of the media and media persons. Shaikh Mohammad demanded high competency and professionalism that hone the skills of the youth and gives them the opportunity to innovate and achieve self-development, as well as the development of the media and press institutions in the UAE.
Shaikh Mohammad said the media is a strategic partner in the drive towards delivering development and sustainability to the UAE people and highlighting the national assets represented by the youth, who he described as the nation’s treasure.
The session also discussed a number of significant development projects and breakthrough humanitarian initiatives launched by Shaikh Mohammad, the most recent being the UAE Water Aid project which seeks to provide clean drinking water for five million people around the world.
The media fraternity hailed the initiative as “unparalleled and unprecedented” and marvelled at the ‘Mall of the World’ mega project which was launched by Shaikh Mohammad as an architectural icon and the latest addition to Dubai’s retail, hospitality, residential and leisure offering.
Also present during the event were Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of State, and Mona Ganem Al Merri, Director-General of the Dubai Government Media Office.
