CNN interview with Sheikh Mohammed

The Government of Dubai Media Office YouTube channel has just posted this interview of Sheikh Mohammed with CNN:

Sheikh Mohammed speaks out

It's a very rare thing indeed to hear the man speak. And when he does, it's worth a listen. An Embiz24/7 special covers the entire online interview with the press held on Saturday, as well as report on the current crisis:

"I believe that no preventive measures, neither in the UAE nor any other country in the world, would have provided the desired immunity from the ramifications of the global financial meltdown...Our position is far better than other countries, and encouraging economic indicators have just started to emerge."

I personally think this a step in the right direction, considering the recent barrage of articles on the 'dark side' of Dubai.

Oh, as a side note, he also says there's no income taxes anytime soon. Yeay.

Shifting Sand to Marrakesh and Floating Islands off Dubai

Question: What common ground could the two subjects in this post title have?

Answer: Sheikh Mohammed's poetry.

The Marrakesh connection
Filmed in Syria, Morocco and the U.A.E., an epic TV serial has been made using Sheikh Mohammed's poems.

Called Siraa Ala Al Rimal (Struggle on the Sands), the $6million production is due to be shown during Ramadan this year.

It's touted to be the biggest-ever Arabic drama and the classic Arabic in which the poetry was written was translated into Arabic Bedouin dialect for the series.

More on the Khaleej Times website.


The Floating Islands
Dutch Docklands has just been commissioned to construct the string of floating islands off Dubai, each of which will each be shaped as an Arabic character or word to quote lines of a Sheikh Mohammed verse.


Announced a few years back, this project is part of the Jebel Ali Palm development, and the verse will read:

Take wisdom from the wise, It takes a man of vision to write on water. Not everyone who rides a horse is a jockey. Great men rise to greater challenges.

According to their website, Dutch Docklands also has plans for floating hotels, cruise ship terminals and beaches - as well as a rotating tower.

Dutch Docklands' article here - watch the embedded video for more on the Dubai plans - including possible floating mosques!

At the gallop

Sheikh Mohammed is making waves Down Under after spending half a billion dollars on Australia's biggest horse breeding stud:

AUSTRALIAN horseracing's most lavish supporter, Bob Ingham, has sold the vast Woodlands Stud to the ruler of Dubai for more than $460 million.

Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the world's biggest owner of thoroughbreds, and the deal means he will dominate the breeding and racing of thoroughbreds in Australia through his Darley Stud.

Darley will take Woodlands' 1000 horses, two studs, a pre-training farm and racing stables in Sydney and Melbourne.

The deal is subject to approval by the Australian government which will take another month.

"Our Ambitions for the Middle East"

"Our Ambitions for the Middle East
By MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL MAKTOUM
January 12, 2008; Page A9
During President Bush's visit to Dubai on Monday, he will find a big city like no other that has risen from the Arabian desert. The joke making the rounds here is that the crane should be designated as Dubai's national bird, so extensive is the engineering activity. We also plan to keep on investing in markets and businesses abroad, including in our own neighborhood, where economic development has long been uneven.

Our plans do not flow from mere ambition; they are a necessity. Consider that only 3% of our revenue is from exports of diminishing crude-oil reserves; 30% is from tourism, and there's increasing revenue from manufacturing and other sectors such as hospitality, technology and transportation.

But to term our emirate "Dubai Inc.," as some do, suggests that commerce, more than anything else, is our leitmotif. It is true, of course, that Dubai has been a trading port and a commercial hub for several centuries. But the ethos of Dubai was, and is, all about building bridges to the outside world; it was, and is, about creating connections with different cultures.
[...]
There are more initiatives underway, many of which are aimed at ensuring prompt payment of salaries, and improvements in working conditions for unskilled foreign workers. While capitalism doesn't always create egalitarian societies, I like to think that in Dubai we are making the effort to cast the net wide when it comes to sharing prosperity.

I also like to think that we in Dubai also learn from our mistakes. We have had some object lessons. The Dubai Ports episode in the U.S. last year was one.

We analyzed our experiences, and we now approach our international investments in a much more holistic manner. We take the time to analyze the social, political and economic landscape, identify the stakeholders, and then carefully prepare the way by ensuring that the concerns of all parties are properly addressed. When disputes occur, we generally find a way to work through them."

More here

Gulfnews: Shaikh Mohammad and Princess Haya blessed with a baby girl

According to Gulf News...

"Dubai: Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and his wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain have been blessed with a baby girl.

The new baby was born on Sunday morning.

Her birth coincides with the auspicious National Day anniversary."

The prince at the paupers'

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)." - Alice in Wonderland

[The source of these pictures is unknown. nonetheless, I'm pleasantly surprised.]