10 years of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
A look at 15 major achievements during the rule of the Vice-President and
Prime Minister of the UAE
Video source: Dubai Media Office
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of
Dubai, officially completes ten years of ruling today (December 4, 2016).
Marking the ten-year accession day anniversary, according to state news
agency WAM, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan says:
“My brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has completed
ten years of ruling and leading a rational and sophisticated government, one
of the most advanced and efficient governments in managing its services,
with the testimony of prestigious international organisations.”
To learn more about HH Sheikh Mohammed’s life story and the history
of Dubai, take a look at the video below.
"In ten years of governance, my brother Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid managed
to raise the standard of the government’s competitiveness internationally by
establishing institutions and work teams that focus on satisfying citizens
and making them happy,” Sheikh Khalifa continues. “We watched with
appreciation over the ten years, [as] Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s
government, which is characterised [by] its ability to establish
coordination between federal and local governments, form national teams and
formulate strategic plans to achieve the vision of the leadership and
continue developing the construction laid down by the founders alongside his
fellow members of the Supreme Council and Rulers of the Emirates."
To celebrate this day, here are just a few of the achievements that have
been attained during His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s
time as Dubai’s ruler:
1. 2006: Publishing of My Vision, a book authored by him, which describes
his philosophy and his political and economic vision. Through the book, he
offers a detailed account of how Dubai and the UAE have been guided to their
present-day status as international centres.
2. 2007: Announcement of Dubai Strategic Plan 2015, which aims to retain
Dubai’s leading position in the region and boost its role as an
international economic financial hub.
3. 2007: Announcement of UAE Government Strategy Plan, to achieve
sustainable development throughout the country, investing federal resources
more efficiently and ensuring due diligence, accountability and transparency
across federal bodies.
4. 2007: Launch of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation at the World
Economic Forum in Jordan, on May 19, with an endowment of $10 billion,
according to HH Sheikh Mohammed’s website. The foundation’s aim is to
promote human development by investing in education and the development of
knowledge in the region.
5. 2007: Launch of Dubai Cares. The campaign, launched on September 20,
raised an extraordinary $1bn in its first two months, according to HH Sheikh
Mohammed’s website. The campaign has become one of the biggest international
humanitarian movements focusing on fighting poverty, spreading knowledge and
providing education for children in the world’s poorest countries.
6. 2008: The opening of The Palm Jumeirah. Developed by Nakheel Properties,
Palm Jumeirah – the world’s largest man-made island – was completed and
developed. The island comprises of a two-kilometre-long trunk, a crown made
up of 17 fronds and a surrounding crescent.
7. 2008: Launch of the Noor Dubai initiative, which aims to deliver
preventative eye care to more than one million people in developing
countries, aiming to create a world free from curable forms of blindness.
8. 2009: Inauguration of Dubai Metro, the emirate’s driverless, fully
automated metro rail network. Dubai Metro now boasts 47 stations, 87 trains
and 75 kilometres of track.
9. 2010: Inauguration of Burj Khalifa: On 4 January 2010, Sheikh Mohammed
launched Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The edifice forms the
centre of the $20bn Downtown Dubai development of mixed-use towers,
buildings and retail outlets. According to the Sheikh Mohammed website, he
said that the tower is “a national accomplishment, a historic milestone and
a key economic turning point. It is a symbol of pride, not only to the
Emirati people but to all Arabs.”
10. 2011/12: Spirit of the Union The book documents an important era in the
history of the UAE as narrated by HH Sheikh Mohammed in a unique lecture he
delivered in December 2011 on the occasion of UAE’s 40th National Day.
11. 2012: Planting of the Union Tree. HH Sheikh Mohammed launched the “Union
Tree initiative”, aimed at consolidating the spirit of unionism and love for
the country. According to WAM, during a visit to Dar Al Ittihad, where HH
Sheikh Mohammed planted the Union Tree along with a group of UAE National
children, he said: “God Almighty has blessed us with plenty of gifts thanks
to the ‘Union Tree’, which has united all parts of the homeland under its
umbrella and which became a vivid witness for all generations of all of the
achievements in the country in every field. I hope that this event of
planting a tree with the name ‘The Union Tree’ will prompt you to take care
of and preserve it and will also educate our generation to keep our union
intact.”
12. 2013: Launch of Dubai Smart Government Department. Dubai Smart
Government Establishment (DSGE) was an initiative to provide innovative
Smart government services to all sections of society. DSGC had many
purposes, such as overseeing the strategy of the Smart government; Smart
transformation processes; reviewing government entities’ plans and budgets
related to Smart transformation, IT, Smart services and infrastructure; and
proposing the legislation necessary for easing the Smart transformation
process. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed changed the DGSE’s name to Dubai Smart
Government Department in June 2013 in line with his initiative to transform
to an era of Smart government, according to the Government of Dubai website.
13. 2013: UAE wins Expo 2020. In November 2013, the United Arab Emirates won
the right to host the World Expo in Dubai in 2020. This will be the first
time that the World Expo will be staged in the Middle East, North Africa and
South Asia. Dubai’s World Expo will be held under the theme of “Connecting
Minds, Creating the Future”, echoing the powerful spirit of partnership and
co-operation that has driven the UAE’s success in pioneering new paths of
development and innovation.
14. 2014: Launch of the “Happiness Meter”. In October, the Happiness Meter
was launched, making Dubai the first city in the world to measure its
visitors and residents’ happiness interactively. According to a post by HH
Sheikh Mohammed on his official Facebook page, “The Happiness Meter delivers
an instant measure of people’s satisfaction with Dubai’s services and
facilities through S smart network and system. Our target is to get people’s
opinion on services on a daily basis, which will have a real impact on
people’s happiness and comfort levels.”
15. 2015: Announcement of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. HH Sheikh
Mohammed issued a law establishing the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre,
which will work to support the UAE’s efforts in the space field and the
launch of Al Amal (or ‘Hope’), the Arab world’s first Mars probe, to
establish an integrated infrastructure to manufacture the satellite in the
UAE as well as take advantage of its applications in all areas of
development.
To show appreciation for all of his successes during his rule, there is
currently a #ThankUShkMohd hashtag trending on social media in the UAE.
