Tomorrow is a goal that is restlessly pursued in the UAE. The dream here starts from reality, relies upon it and soars in the imagination, using the capacities, capabilities and resources available as wings that take it into a global competitive space that only knows the language of work and seriousness.
And the UAE during the reign of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, God save him, is moving at a steady pace on the path of progress and development as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai -may Allah protect him-, has summed up in his last remarks “the secret of the renaissance” when he said that “in spite of the progress of the State in many important sectors, the planning for the future and the preparing for it are a shared responsibility between the government and the people. The Emirates’ government job consists of drawing the agenda and roadmap for the future Emirates.” That was said when His Highness declared the extended ministerial retreat, which will discuss the post-oil economy of the UAE.
These words mean two important things; first, the idea of real national partnership between the people and the government, and second, the consecration of the real function of the government, which is drawing the agenda and map of the future for its people. Many around us and universally believe that the boom in the UAE is linked to oil exclusively, but His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum declared explicitly for all “we will celebrate the last barrel of oil we export, as my brother Mohammed bin Zayed said, and we will start a comprehensive national program to achieve this vision till we attain a sustainable economy for generations to come.”
When about 70% of the UAE’s economy depends at the moment on the non-oil sectors, the progress and development that happens on our land is already an economic miracle by all norms and standards, and the secret to this is simply “belonging”. Belonging is the key to oil extraction and to the discovery of the new “wells” and new treasures that followed oil, which have become a real lever to the march of our national economy, such as knowledge, information technology and the culture of creativity and innovation.
Belonging is a tremendous engine for generating ideas and unleashing potential at the service of this country. Belonging is a word that is expressed by millions, even tens and hundreds of millions in the east and west, but few translate it into a behavior governing their practices and actions. Among these few are the citizens of this country, who have imbibed authentic values instilled by the founding fathers, who carried the task of founding and constructing with great honesty, led by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
One of the manifestations of this belonging is that the leadership in the UAE does not work in a traditional manner, so when we say that there is an “idiosyncrasy” about the UAE model, we mean that the idiosyncrasy is not confined to one field without the other, it includes values of work, planning and leadership in all areas, and it also includes the relationship between citizens and their leadership and vice versa, which is a unique and coherent relationship that can be fully perceived only by those who have closely witnessed the strong ties that bind the citizens to their state and leadership.
This type of exceptional leadership is found first in the relationship of respect and strong friendship between Their Highnesses the Rulers of the Emirates, and is found in the unforgettable positions of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, builder of the renaissance of modern Abu Dhabi, and holder of the keys to its entry to the Twenty First Century with this avalanche of factors and elements of strength, confidence and consistency.
This exceptional leadership style is what explains many attitudes and positions. Leadership in the UAE does not boast its inimitable capabilities nor its unmatched creativity, but says as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said, “We raise our heads high due to the honorable positions of our people, the precious sacrifices of our martyrs, and the giving of our citizens in all fields”. It is a leadership that is proud of the giving of the people, and which takes the positions of its citizens as a beacon, so this deeply-rooted national cohesion is a natural outgrowth of that.
Dreams and aspirations in the UAE, then, do not stop, nor do they fly without wings, but soon land on the ground for implementation, and are replaced by new dreams and ambitions. During decades, no expert could believe that the UAE is able to give up its enormous reliability on oil revenues, but this ambition has become a reality, and the economic diversification policy has succeeded so much so that oil now represents only 30% of GDP to the local economy. And it is not difficult for those who have succeeded in solving this equation to bring it to completion.
We have in the UAE –thank God- wells of renewable wealth able to supplement the arteries of the economy with new growth elements. The wise leadership has taught us not to wait for opportunities, but to seek them, and this national emboldened spirit can easily be noticed in the speech of every promising Emirati youth whose eyes radiate with the glitter of hope, and who is racing against time to engage with his fellow citizens, men and women, to carry the responsibility for building this country. And the race to join the national service from the sons of the nation, and so on, is one of the manifestations of the idea of nationalism that has gained a special taste in the UAE, and turned into a real and concrete value.
There is no hypocrisy in saying that the wise leadership in the UAE is the one that pumped all this avalanche of nationalism in our good land. The fruits of development and harvests of wealth the citizens are reaping bring about a deep sense of connection to the land, the nation and the leadership, which watches over the interests of its people, puts the people in the forefront of its attention, and considers it an absolute priority.
Planning in the UAE does not consist in hollow slogans expressed in an empty space, but it rather consists of numbers and statistics everyone works to translate on the ground. There is a clear future vision for the UAE in 2021, and it is a very ambitious development vision, aiming at putting the United Arab Emirates among the best ten countries in the world in per capita gross national income, the top ten countries in the world on the global competitiveness index, the best ten countries in the world in the global innovation index, that up to 40% of total employment ratio in the state be «knowledge workers», and that spending on R & D ratio rises to 1.5% of the total GDP.
These and other indicators translate ambition and transform it into statistics and numbers that can be measured, monitored, and followed-up, and this is one of the secrets of true leadership. Seeking science and progress is what makes the difference between the UAE and others.
