Expo 2020 will bring world to Dubai to learn and share ideas: Mohammed
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, today received at Zabeel Palace, Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of Macedonia, and his accompanying delegation.
At the beginning of the meeting, which was attended by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed welcomed the Macedonian Prime Minister, wishing him a successful visit to the UAE.
Gruevski hailed the development witnessed by the UAE at various levels, especially in the fields of information technology, smart government transformation, infrastructure, tourism and education.
He expressed his country’s hope to attract UAE investments and the establishment of viable investment partnership between the two countries both at the levels of public and private sector.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Gruevski attended the signing of a Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between the Governments of the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Macedonia.
The agreement was signed by Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs and Head of the Honorary Mission accompanying the guest, and Nikola Poposki, the Macedonian Foreign Minister.
The meeting and the signing ceremony were attended by Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State, Mohammed Ibrahim AI Shaibani, Director-General of His Highness the Ruler’s Court, Government of Dubai, Lt. General Misbah bin Rashid AI Fattan, Director of the Office of the Vice-President, and Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, Director-General of the Department of Protocol and Hospitality in Dubai, in addition to a number of senior officials from both sides.
‘UAE set to consolidate position as beacon of stability’
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said the UAE is set to consolidate its position as a regional leader and a beacon of stability within the Middle East.
His Highness added that in 2015 the UAE is focusing on the goals and ambitions that will culminate in Dubai’s hosting of the World Expo 2020, which will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the UAE’s founding and in the realisation of the UAE’s collective Vision 2021, a year later.
“Realising this Vision, and the efforts that are going into making Expo 2020 an event of international significance, depends entirely on the energy, creativity, and collaboration of our people.
“The theme of Expo 2020—Connecting Minds, Creating the Future — brings together the country’s objectives and our goals both internationally and at home,” His Highness said in his foreword to The Business Year: Dubai, a comprehensive publication on the business and investment landscape brought out under a partnership by the Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED).
His Highness added that the Expo 2020 will bring the world to Dubai to learn, experience, and share ideas in just the same spirit of sharing and learning that inspired the very first such exhibition, in London’s Hyde Park in 1851.
“Our aims are many and varied, yet all seek the same level of international excellence. In the realm of economy, we work to establish Dubai as the world’s centre for Islamic economy by 2018.
“Last year, we created the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) to encourage the realisation of this goal within just three years. Dubai already plays host to a thriving Islamic finance sector, which has been growing at nearly double the pace of the conventional financial sector over the last few years,” said His Highness.
Referring to Dubai’s strategy to emerge into an unrivalled destination for the 21st century and the emirate’s Tourism Vision 2020 to attract 20 million tourists a year, Sheikh Mohammed said there are strong and stable foundations for such growth.
“The UAE is eighth in the world, and first in the Middle East, in the IMF’s global competitive rankings.
“Coming to Dubai has never been easier — Al Maktoum International Airport, sitting at the heart of Dubai World Central, is fast becoming one of the world’s most premier air hubs, and will be able to handle up to 160 million passengers per year and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually,” His Highness stated.
Sheikh Mohammed also underlined the importance accorded to equipping all residents of Dubai, whether Emirati or expatriate, with the knowledge and skills that will make the UAE still greater.
“Having established a system of universal education, we are now moving to make this system an example of world excellence.
“It is through education that we as a nation can excel and maintain our position at the forefront of global excellence across all sectors. It is this level of expertise that led us to set up the UAE Space Agency—a pioneering Emirati project to launch an unmanned probe to Mars in 2021, an event which will mark the affirmative arrival of the Arab world to the age of space exploration.”
His Highness also stressed that Dubai’s ambition to be the best city in the world rests upon the simple values of hard work, enterprise, and openness.
“The people and their stories in these pages of The Business Year: Dubai 2015 are testimony to the fact that Dubai’s story is that of its people, their energy and ideas. Together, we are weaving these stories, ensuring that Dubai’s future will be even more successful to further complement the extraordinary achievements of our past. Yet this marks just the beginning of our journey.”
The Business Year: Dubai 2015 will be the most comprehensive English language update on the investment potential and business competitiveness of Dubai available internationally. The report features a first-hand account of the latest infrastructure initiatives and policy reforms in the emirate as well as the opportunities presented by them to businesses and investors worldwide.
