HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum – Inspiring leadership…into the third year
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s New Book: My Vision – Challenges In The Race For Excellence.
The book is dedicated to UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented Sheikh Khalifa with the first copy of his new book.
Inspiring leadership…into the third year
Inspiring leadership…into the third year
Team KT 4 January 2008
THINGS are changing… changing for the better, and with ever-greater speed. There’s the perceptible ‘Shaikh Mohammed touch’ to the administration everywhere. For the past two years across the UAE, and more emphatically in Dubai.
New instructions to tone up the governmental machinery, new emphasis on education and health sectors, new laws regulating the real estate sector, new legislation on rent cap, new rules to curb rash driving on the roads, new order to build more bridges to ease traffic congestion… new laws to promote labour welfare….new initiative to co-ordinate and streamline the functioning of federal and local establishments. UAE is changing…and Dubai is changing. In amazing ways.
There’s no looking back for the leader who became the Dubai Ruler on January 4, 2006, and was named Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE the next day by the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Now, on to the third year of his inspiring leadership.
These are the times when the nation is witnessing a dramatic economic boom, helped also by the increasing revenues from oil. As per latest assessments, UAE’s GDP touched Dh 697 billion by now. Non-oil sectors are developing fast, giving an added push to the economy. The federal cabinet, led by Shaikh Mohammed, has its hands full. There already were good comments coming its way. For instance, the Transparency International went on record to state that, in matters of administration, the UAE has the highest level of transparency in the whole of the Arab region-–meaning, an excellent climate for foreign investments.
The strength of modern-day Dubai, of which Shaikh Mohammed is the architect, is not just that it has grown in amazing ways, but also that it did so in a systematic and modern manner, backed by a visionary approach, and with the aid of sophisticated technology. Dubai aimed high; and Dubai touched the top in many respects with a precision and ease that left the rest of the world gasping for breath. UAE too is making waves.
There have been surprises and surprises….
Dubai, for the visionary leader, “is where future begins”. The present targets are: a continuing double digit economic growth; a GDP of $108 billion, and raising the GDP per capita to $44,000 by year 2015. It would mean, among other things, an increase in productivity by four per cent per annum.
Eight years ago, at the turn of the century, Dubai had set its targets for year 2010. And, such was the pace with which the emirate progressed that those targets were realised in half the allotted time-by 2005. A feat that has few parallels in history.
There might be a few problems like the high cost of living, traffic snarls etc for us to cope with, but the days here are impressive, indeed. We are part of great growth process. Here are some highlights of the good tidings. Emirates airline created global aviation history by ordering nearly 150 aircraft, at a cost of Dh127 billion, at the Dubai Airshow. Dubai’s aviation aspirations have many more faces. Phased investments in the sector are set to go up to 82 billion over the next decade, of which an estimated 10 billion would go into the making of the world’s largest airport, the Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC). That the total infrastructure cost for the new airport is estimated at $33 billion, speaks highly of the ambitious nature of the project.
The Metro Rail project, a dream that is coming true, is progressing at a fast pace. The 75-km project is set to revolutionise public transport sector in Dubai at a cost of Dh15 billion, or more. The first phase of the project is set for completion by September next year. Once operational, the capacity of the main Al Ittihad station would touch 35,000 passengers per hour. Here now starts the era of rail services in the Gulf region.
There have been great strides in the maritime sector as well. Dubai has entered a new phase of economic and industrial development with the building and commissioning of giant ships and oil tankers in the Dubai Dry Docks. A new dock has been added, the fifth dry dock, where works like maintenance of giant ships and conversion of such ships from oil tankers to commercial ships take place. The dock is stated to be the first in the world to build ships (of up to one million tonnes) on land before shifting them to the sea.
And, in times of growth and prosperity, Dubai and Shaikh Mohammed care for others…. There have been many a regional, global, humanitarian endeavour launched by His Highness in recent times.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Human Development, launched in May, 2007 with an endowment of Dh 37 billion, aims to open doors to generations of future leaders in the region in ways as to shape their futures by equipping them with world-class knowledge and education. The foundation, as His Highness visualises, would act as a showcase for the benefits of long-term educational initiatives for the “humanity in general and for our region in particular”.
Dubai Cares
Shaikh Mohammed put his best foot forward in recent times to help the world overcome poverty. Said he famously at the World Economic Forum meet in Dalian, China, last September: “If we want to be heroes of progress, we cannot ignore poverty, which prevents people from joining the wide current of human development”. Added he: “Any soil infested with poverty, ignorance and neglect is always a good breeding ground for fundamentalism and produces fundamentalists”.
Dubai Cares, launched by him in September, 2007, is based on the belief that education is the best way, and long-term solution, to tackle poverty. It targets uplift of one million children in poor countries around the world, through proper education, and in a way as to “break the cycle of poverty”.
The unveiling of a Knowledge Initiative by His Highness in October, 2007, styling it as an Arab House of Wisdom, was another landmark. It aims at re-drafting the knowledge roadmap for the region, educating the youth, and helping them get employment.
The past two years saw Shaikh Mohammed growing in stature as a world leader, visiting countries, meeting and interacting with world leaders, and sharing his ideas about development. That saw him holding forth at the World Economic Forum Summit, and flying down to nations as distant as India, Jordan, South Korea, Tunisia, China, Vietnam and Uzbekistan on state visits.
No wonder, accolades came His Highness’s way…Prince of the Arab Youth…a Role Model Trophy by the Arab Youth Council for Integrated Development… Global Leadership Award by Arab-American Anti-discrimination Committee in the US, a New York Times title, the Entrepreneur of the Year… so on and so forth.
Times are changing…. and more pleasant surprises are in store…for Dubai and UAE in its forward march. Happy times may never have an end. That’s the spirit.
So spoke the Shaikh
“We are very realistic despite our big dreams, and we work hard to be the best, relying on God and our citizens.”
“We have succeeded because we have always believed that tomorrow is a new day, that yesterday’s achievements are in the past and that history will record what we achieve in the future, not what we have achieved in the past”.
“We are aiming at being in the ranks of more advanced countries in all fields. This will only happen with increased public participation”.
On the youth of the UAE: “You are the homeland and development. You are the future hope. Become experts in your fields today through education, training and acquiring of skills. This will make you tomorrow’s leaders in this knowledge-based economy. Our goals and aspirations for this country will not materialize without your efforts and your ability to be examples in your loyalty and allegiance to the UAE.
“Man’s competence is to be measured not by his capability to skillfully cope with the status quo, but by his ability to change it for the better”.
“The challenges we face in the Arab and Islamic worlds are challenges of survival, not only of reform and development. Our knowledge level will determine to a large extent our ability to surmount these challenges”.
“I change the way of government to make it like a big company”.
“Education holds out hope for the future, enrichment for the present, and dignity for the mankind. It helps us to communicate with each other. It helps nations to cross the barriers to understanding. It provides a solid basis from which societies can grow and flourish”.
“A network of Arab leaderships, in business in particular, would serve as a leverage to boost the capabilities of the coming Arab generations and set the stage for them to successfully continue the march with confidence and based on solid foundations”.
“I am optimistic about the social and economic future of Arab societies, and have no worries about failure” (at the World Economic Forum meet at Dalian, China, in September, 2007).
“I am personally committed to building a new generation of young leaders who are open to new ideas and to the change and diversity.”
The UAE could not have achieved progress without turning theory into practice, and without learning from other successful examples, including the Chinese example”.
Profile
Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was born in 1949 as the third child of Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
In the sixties, he studied in the UK, including at the Bell School of Languages in Cambridge and the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot.
In 1968, he took over as head of the Dubai Police and Public Security Department.
In 1971, he became the youngest Minister of Defence. In 1995, he became the Crown Prince of Dubai.
In 2006, he took over as the Ruler of Dubai and also as Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE.
Indians advised to look for jobs on mission visa
Indians advised to look for jobs on mission visaBy Anwar Ahmad (Our staff reporter) KHALEEJ TIMES 4 January 2008
ABU DHABI — Job-seekers who wish to come to the UAE to look for employment opportunities can opt for a ‘Mission Visa’, instead of a visit visa, Talmiz Ahmad, the Indian ambassador to the UAE, said at a Press conference held on the embassy premises here yesterday.
The Mission Visa, he said, will be valid for three months, during which the job-seekers can scout for jobs, Ahmad said.
The new concept of Mission Visa (MV) is aimed at rooting out the menace of illegals, who come on visit visas, start working and stay back illegally.
The MV gives the visitor a chance to decide whether he/she wants to work here or not. It gives them a three-month legal residence status, and in this period, a person has the full freedom to look for employment of his/her choice.
The MV will cost Dh500 for three months, and can be renewed for another three months by paying a fee of Dh1,000. After the expiry of this extended three months, one has to pay Dh500 for every extra day of stay.
The MV has become available from the current month, the Indian envoy said. The UAE’s Minister of Labour, Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi, had earlier asked ambassadors and charge d’affaires of different missions to spread the message of Mission Visa among their community members.
His tryst with God
His tryst with God
Bassi Pendu||INNER VOICE||, January 4, 2008
It is the perspective of a person that keeps him going in his doings, don’t you think?
The great writer of the Ramayana, Maharishi Valmiki, was justifying his doings as robber because it was to maintain his family, until he realised that it was a sin.
After that he was a converted person from the core of the heart and a great personality, revered as the first poet and writer of the first kavya and the first sloka in our literature.
It makes me think of a related story of conversion. Nand Lal and Sham Lal lived on the bank of a river. The two friends were regular in visiting a temple on the other bank, but with different motives as they were at two opposite ends of the spectrum in matters of faith.
Nand Lal used to worship God by offering flowers and money but Sham Lal had no faith at all and so he would throw his slippers at the idol.
One day the river was flooded and Nand Lal decided not to worship at the temple. But Sham Lal crossed the river, endangering his life, and cheerfully threw his slippers as usual at the silent idol.
But when Sham Lal turned back, lo, God appeared and helped him across the flooded river, holding his hand. After they crossed over, God asked Sham Lal to demand anything of Him.
Spotting this, Nand Lal found it very strange since he had always worshiped God with flowers and money while Sham Lal had always insulted Him. So what had transpired that God was so happy with Sham Lal?
That’s when God let Nand Lal know that, “A blessed person is clear and determined in his doings and even a flooded river cannot deter him from keeping his tryst with Me.
I enjoyed Sham Lal’s determination and feel he has all the qualities of a good devotee.” God’s generosity completely changed Sham Lal’s heart and after that he was a perfect devotee, focused in doing good for God’s sake.
Eyes, the doorway to our mind
Eyes, the doorway to our mind
3 Jan, 2008, 0500 hrs IST,PARAMAHAMSA SRI NITHYANANDA, TNN
Let us scan a day in our life. From the moment we are out of bed to the time we return to it, it’s filled with unreality. Almost everything we do is a sham. Even our smile is phony. In fact, we use our smiles as masks. We sport broad smiles even when our hearts are boiling. When we smile, we don’t want the other person to know what is on our minds. We avoid looking into each other’s eyes. Why?
Eyes are the doorways to our mind. We can see a person’s nature mirrored in their eyes. Eyes hide nothing. When we want to hide something from another person, we don’t look into their eyes. We cannot. Our eyes reveal everything. We think that we need to prepare, to hide, even from our experiences. We live with a constant inner chatter. We are always thinking while preparing to talk.
We are scared to show the world that our inner chattering is our thinking. Without preparation, we are worried that our inner chattering will spill out. We aren’t open to experiencing whatever comes our way. If we have experienced, then there is no need to prepare. Do you prepare to answer if someone asks your name? Do you need to carry hints?
What we have experienced we don’t need to prepare. If something hasn’t become a part of our experience, then we need to prepare. If we need to prepare to deliver a lecture, or we are afraid of public speaking, then it doesn’t come from our inner experience. It simply means that we are not truthful to ourselves. Our life then becomes untruthful as well.
Why are we afraid of public speaking? We are afraid that we might speak our thoughts. We fear that we might spell out whatever is happening inside. We know that there is so much negativity inside us. We are scared that something might erupt out or something unpleasant might tumble out.
That is why we must prepare whatever we need to speak about. If we don’t, we are afraid that we might start saying something that is really in our mind. We prepare to make sure that we don’t speak anything else. We prepare to hide the truth of our inner chattering.
Learn to be spontaneous. Let what happens inside be what is seen outside. That will be the first step to bliss.
Quieten your mind to listen
Quieten your mind to listen
4 Jan, 2008, 0000 hrs IST,N Kalyani, TNN
As children we played Chinese Whispers, where, a phrase that originated with one of us went around the entire group with each one whispering it in the ear of the other. And the last one to hear it in the group would announce it. This was followed by the original phrase being spelt out.
It was always amusing and amazing to see the distortion: what the original phrase was, and what was heard ultimately. Sometimes it was spoonerism at work, sometimes it got diametrically opposite in meaning, at other times it turned into a humorous concoction and at still others it ended up as gibberish.
Today our human intercourse and communication is carried on like a game of Chinese Whispers. Effective communication, which holds the key to understanding and harmony, is as much about good listening skills as it is about effective speaking skills. Listening. Do we listen? Apparently not.
And what hinders us from listening? In one of his discourses Osho explains thus: “The mind goes on spinning a thousand and one thoughts, and the mind goes on moving — in the past, in the future. How can you listen? And whatever you listen to, it will not be right listening at all .You will listen to something else which has not been said at all, you will go on missing that which is said — because you will not be in tune.”
Our perceptions, prejudices, apprehensions, in short, our distinct, particular mindset interferes in our listening with clarity. Clarity is really a certain transparency of the mind. With such a mind it is possible to listen disinterestedly, with genuine interest, true concern, and absolute honesty. “To listen means to be here, now,…without any thought, alert and aware, to listen in a deep receptivity,” says Osho.
Hermann Hesse, writes in his novel, Siddhartha (1922), about the protagonist, a spiritual seeker, of the same name, who learns from a river, a universal preceptor. “….he learned from it how to listen, to listen with a still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgement, without opinions.”
And through Siddhartha’s mentor, Vasudeva, a ferryman, Hesse alludes to a good listener, worthy of emulation: “… (he) took in every word, quietly, expectantly,…he missed nothing. He did not await anything with impatience and gave neither praise nor blame — he only listened.”
Reliance seeks 3.6 mmscmd gas from PMT fields
Reliance seeks 3.6 mmscmd gas from PMT fields
January 04, 2008 15:08 IST
Reliance Industries Ltd [Get Quote] has sought a minimum supply of 3.6 million standard cubic meters per day of gas for its petrochemical plants from the Panna/Mukta and Tapti fields, from which gas has been diverted by the government to state-run GAIL India [Get Quote].
Reliance along with state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and BG Group of UK are the operators of the PMT fields lying in Mumbai offshore and till last month marketed gas from the fields in proportion to their shareholding.
The Mukesh Ambani-run firm’s petrochemical plants got 5.2 mmscmd of gas from the PMT fields, RIL President and CEO — Petroleum P M S Prasad wrote to petroleum secretary.
“PMT joint venture currently has commitment to supply around 2 mmscmd to RIL petrochemical plant at Hazira and about 1.9 mmscmd to (its subsidiary) IPCL [Get Quote] plants at Gandhar and Vadodara. IPCL have contract for additional supply of 1.3 mmscmd from PMT gas,” Prasad wrote on December 24.
Oil ministry last month cancelled almost all contracts for sale of gas from PMT fields and diverted it to GAIL India Ltd for re-sale at higher price.
GAIL is to finalise sale contracts in line with the gas utilisation policy that priorities allocation to fertiliser, petrochemical, existing power plants and city gas distribution units in that order.
Reliance, he said, was in favour of gas being given to priority sectors and was willing to use a mix of alternate fuels and gas at its petrochemical plants.
Investment bloopers: How not to lose money in 2008
Investment bloopers: How not to lose money in 2008
You were pretty confident about the investments you made at the beginning of 2007. But when the year closed you made nothing much from them.
Be it stocks, mutual funds, real estate or insurance. All or many of your bets fell through.
You bought stocks but at a higher price. The price went up still higher but the uncle next door bought another stock and made stupendous returns on his investments. Or you bought a share on some tip passed on to you by your cousin’s uncle’s friend’s neighbour who got the same piece of information from a shady stock market operator. But the share price plummeted after you bought it.
Or are you the one who bought mutual funds just because your financial advisor promised you the moon? He told you about the past performance of a mutual fund scheme and you bought his logic that mutual fund unit prices move only one way: up, up, up.
Or maybe your insurance agent pushed one policy after another, of companies and various products like ULIPs, money back and endowment plans but forgot to mention the term insurance plan.
Here’s the story of our reader Ashish Nagpal, 27, a Delhi-based software consultant, who bought a ULIP policy instead of buying a term insurance as he later realised.
I got married in the summer of 2005. By January 2007 we were blessed with a baby girl and were also able to purchase a 2 bed room flat on the outskirts of Delhi. Since I had taken a loan and had dependants now I wanted to buy an insurance policy that would take care of my family in case of any unfortunate event.
I called up my insurance agent and asked him to come out with the best option that would take care of my requirement. He visited my house two days later and advised me to buy a unit linked insurance programme, ULIP. He told me how ULIPs will help me invest as well as take care of my insurance needs.
He explained all the benefits of investing in ULIPs — the option of not paying annual premiums after three years without any impact on my sum assured, my premiums getting invested into the share market and buying units for me etc. I gave in to his persistent pitch without thinking too much about the pros and cons of such a policy.
Though the stock market has gained stratospheric heights my units are still not fetching me enough returns. This is because the premiums in the first three years that you pay towards your ULIP policy goes towards a bevy of charges like administration costs, mortality charges and lot other things, my insurance agent said like a sage.
He told me that as time goes by these charges will decrease and more of ULIP premiums will go towards investments in the share market thereby increasing my returns. Also, the sum assured on my ULIP policy is Rs 25,00,000 for which I am paying an annual premium of Rs 30,000.
A friend of mine told me that a term insurance plan would have got me the same sum assured at a much lower annual premium. He told me that I could get a sum assured of Rs 25,00,000 by buying a term insurance at an annual premium of not more than Rs 10,000. He told me I could myself invest the remaining amount — Rs 15,000 I will save if I switched from the ULIP plan to term insurance — in diversified equity mutual funds and get better returns than ULIPs over a time horizon of 15 years.
When I hired a professional financial consultant he too agreed with my friend and has asked me to stop paying ULIP premiums after three years and buy a term insurance policy immediately.
Now that I have realised my investment/insurance blooper I bought a term insurance plan and feel much happy that I could insure myself at a fraction of a cost and invest the rest of my money into mutual funds.
Moral of the story:
~ Don’t take your insurance agent at face value; cross-check whatever s/he says with a couple of professionals before you make a decision.
~ Always seek professional help for making important financial/investment decisions in your life.
~ Study all the advice — even if it comes from your professional financial advisor — before you put your hard earned money.
~ Never make any investment be it in stocks, mutual funds, real estate or insurance unless you are pretty certain about what you are doing.
~ And once you board the ship expect the best and be prepared for the worst.
Money Matters – End of Day Review – Friday, 4th January 2008
4:14 PM – The Indian market outperformed its global peers this week and today closed with new life highs. It was good gains and the weekly figures are: Sensex up 2.1%, Nifty 3%, CNX Midcaps 5.6% and BSE Smallcaps 7.6%, BSE Realty Index and BSE FMCG Index both up 5.9%, BSE Oil & Gas Index 5.4%, BSE Bankex 4.2%, BSE Capital Goods Index almost 2%, BSE Metal Index 1.8%, BSE Auto Index 1.7% and BSE Healthcare Index 1.3%. BSE IT index was down 5%.
4:06 PM – The market saw an excellent close with new all time highs for the Sensex at 20,762 and Nifty at 6300 in trade today. Sensex closed at 20686, up 341 points and Nifty at 6274, up 95 points from the previous close. The CNX Midcaps Index was up 0.3%, BSE Smallcaps Index was down 0.3%, BSE Oil&Gas Index was up 2%. The market breadth was negative with advances at 542 against declines of 690 on the NSE. Top Nifty gainers included Reliance Industries, Sterlite, L&T and RPL while losers included NTPC, Satyam, Cipla, Maruti and Tata Motors.
39 PM – The market is likely to continue to see volatility next week and aggressive profit booking simply because of the sheer volume of profits made on many stocks in the last 2 months, says Sajiv Dhavan of JV Capital Securities, on CNBC TV18.
TOP 5 GAINERS
Symbol Curr.Price % Change
PUNJABTRAC 351.50 29.49
HINDUJA TM 844.10 13.51
PARSVNATH 529.10 9.15
EIH 235.00 8.70
BOMBAYDYEI 980.05 6.24
TOP 5 LOSERS
Symbol Curr.Price % Change
FDC 47.30 -4.54
D-LINKINDI 121.00 -4.12
APOLLO TYR 57.10 -4.11
RAMCOSYSTE 229.85 -3.85
IVR PRIME 434.75 -3.66
TOP 5 VOLUME STOCK
Symbol Curr.Price Volume
RPL 244.65 17780257
ISPATINDUS 77.10 14405399
ASHOKLEYLA 54.00 11110608
POWER GRID 150.90 6336527
SPICE TELE 63.65 5679160
TOP 5 VALUE STOCK
Symbol Curr.Price Value (‘000)
RPL 244.65 4349939.88
RIL 2,985.85 2725970.57
REL 2,510.35 2468663.13
PARSVNATH 529.10 1991645.10
RCOM 760.05 1568939.29
Top 5 Performers from high-risk, high-returns category
Company,Scheme,Class,Plan,Type,Returns (%)
Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd.,+,Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund,Equity – Sector Fund,Growth,Open Ended,127.13
Reliance Capital Asset Management Ltd.,+,Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund,Equity – Sector Fund,Bonus,Open Ended,127.13
JM Financial Asset Management Pvt. Ltd.,+,JM Basic Fund,Equity – Sector Fund,Growth
Open Ended,115.83
Taurus Asset Management Co. Ltd.,+,Taurus Libra Taxshield,Equity – ELSS,Growth,Open Ended,114.56
Standard Chartered Asset Management Co. Pvt. Ltd.,+,Standard Chartered Premier,Equity Fund,Equity – Diversified,Growth,Open Ended,109.55
World Indices today
SENSEX 20686.89 341.69
NIFTY 6274.30 95.75
DJIA 13056.72 12.76
NASDAQ 2602.68 -6.95
RS/$ 39.45 0.02
World’s tallest gets taller
World’s tallest gets taller
By a staff reporter KHALEEJT TIMES 4 January 2008
DUBAI — Burj Dubai continues to soar above Dubai and higher than any building in the world with its 158 levels now reaching a height of 598.5 metres, according to a statement released yesterday by the iconic tower’s developers Emaar Properties.
Cladding work of the tower is now taking place at an accelerated pace with 58 storeys already wearing the shimmering sheen of the high-performance cladding system.
The primary materials used —reflective glazing, aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrels and vertical stainless tubular fins — accentuate the tower’s height and slenderness to the eye.
Burj Dubai is now taller than Taipei 101 (508 metres; 1667 ft) in Taiwan and CN Tower (553.33 metres; 1815.5 ft) in Toronto, Canada. When completed, the tower will have used 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, 39,000 metric tons of steel rebar and 142,000 sq m of glass— and 22 million man hours. More than 5,000 consultants and skilled professional workers are employed on-site at the tower.
Burj Dubai is the centrepiece of Emaar’s flagship project, the Dh73 billion (US$20 billion) Downtown Burj Dubai, a new downtown with residential, commercial, leisure, retail and hospitality components, set on 500 acres of land in the heart of Dubai. Burj Dubai will feature residences, commercial space and retail space and hospitality elements including the world’s first Armani Hotel and Armani Residences.
Mohammed’s second anniversary as Ruler to be celebrated today
Mohammed’s second anniversary as Ruler to be celebrated today
By a staff reporter KHALEEJ TIME 4 January 2008
DUBAI — The Global Village, a member of Tatweer, will celebrate the second anniversary of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s assumption of office as Ruler of Dubai today.
Visitors will enjoy free entry to the Global Village where celebrations will mark the historic occasion with traditional shows and folk dances such as ‘Al Harbia’, ‘Al Lewa’, ‘Al Habban’, ‘Al Ayala’ and ‘Al Dan’.
Saeed Al Muntafiq, Executive Chairman, Tatweer, said, “On this special day, Tatweer will bear the cost of all Global Village entry tickets. We invite visitors to come in large numbers and experience diverse cultures in this outstanding destination.”
Young girls in traditional UAE costume will welcome visitors with incense and scented rose water, offering special gifts such as sweets, nuts, UAE national flags as well as Global Village memorabilia.
Abdul Redha Ali Bin Redha, CEO, Global Village, said, “We are grateful to have a leader who has wholeheartedly supported the overall growth of Dubai and the future of our beloved country. Over the years, the Global Village has grown into a premium attraction among the UAE nationals, residents as well as visitors from across the world, thanks to the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed.
“While fun, entertainment and cultural activities for the family are key components of the Global Village, safety has been given top priority to make the visit a memorable experience to all,” he said.
ClicksandWrites 
You must be logged in to post a comment.