Shaikh Mohammad lays out plan

Dubai: Dubai announced a nine-year economic plan yesterday that will fuel an 11 per cent annual growth in GDP to Dh396.36 billion ($108 billion) by 2015 from the current Dh137.25 billion ($37.4 billion).

The Dubai Strategic Plan (DSP) 2015, outlined by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, would translate into a 41 per cent growth in per capita GDP to $44,000 (Dh1.6 million) by 2015 from $31,140 now by creating 882,000 new jobs and bring the total employment to 1.73 million.

"The Dubai Strategic Plan will open a new page in our history after a successful execution of the first one," Shaikh Mohammad said.

The plan will take Dubai to a stage of development where government services, transport infrastrure and traffic management, law and regulatory framework, cultural facilities, environment and sustainable development features more prominently than creating clusters of residential towers.

The plan, divided into five sections - economic development; social development; infrastructure; land and environment; safety, security and justice and public sector excellence - also addresses major public concerns such as traffic, rent, inflation as well as labour issues that have had an impact on the lives of the UAE residents over the past two years.

"I want each and everyone living here to be safe and secure," Shaikh Mohammad said. The plan is a second in six years, after Shaikh Mohammad had laid out his Vision 2010. "In 2000-01, we had laid out some strategic objectives, which we have already achieved by 2005," he told a crowd of nearly 2,000 government officials, businessmen and academicians.

"The Dubai Strategic Plan, despite having its own specific goals, is fully integrated with the Federal strategic plan, being prepared by the Cabinet," Shaikh Mohammad said.