Faisal Al Bannai, CEO and managing executive of Edge, at the Idex 2021 in Abu Dhabi. UAE companies showcased their latest products at this year's defence exhibition. Reuters.
Faisal Al Bannai, CEO and managing executive of Edge, at the Idex 2021 in Abu Dhabi. UAE companies showcased their latest products at this year's defence exhibition. Reuters.
Faisal Al Bannai, CEO and managing executive of Edge, at the Idex 2021 in Abu Dhabi. UAE companies showcased their latest products at this year's defence exhibition. Reuters.
Contracts worth well over $4 billionhave been announced at this week's Idex and Navdex events in Abu Dhabi, the first major international non-sporting event in the capital for a year. Despite the need to maintain rules on social distancing, it's possible now to look forward to a time when business, once again, can thrive.
Throughout the shows, there was one clear message that will not have been lost on attending foreign salesmen, buyers and their governments. Through education, investment and innovation, driven by the focus on long-term objectives of the country’s leadership, the UAE is determined – in the field of defence as well as other areas – to ensure that it is treated by others as a leading international player.
As the UAE marks its 50th year, the days of the 'new kid on the block' have gone
This shouldn’t need to be said. The time has long since passed when the UAE, as an emerging nation, was simply a hungry market into which other countries could sell their goods and knowledge. We have developed our own home-grown skills, often in close collaboration with others. In an increasing number of areas, our products and services, as well as our expertise, are now sought internationally.
Some of the achievements that have been made en route to our current position are, by now, well understood, and not just in the country’s military production industry. Project Hope, our mission to Mars, is, by any standards, a remarkable achievement.
Some other successes, however, have received less attention. In the sphere of biology, for example, some of our young scientists, working quietly away in laboratories both here and overseas, are engaged in ground-breaking work of both local and global importance on subjects such as, among others, genomes.
In terms of artificial intelligence, we appear to be making significant strides, the full benefits of which are yet to become apparent.
The UAE's arms sector is growing year by year. WAM
We may not yet fully understand the future implications of these discoveries, but we’re certainly at the forefront of research. That’s a huge change from a few decades ago.
There’s more to be done, of course, and it’s good to hear that our own local academic institutions are devoting more attention to the promotion of research in a wide variety of fields.
If scientific research is one area in which we’ve made significant progress, another is business. We’re able now, in a way that wouldn’t have been possible half a century ago, to identify and evaluate opportunities that involve both incoming and outgoing commerce. The visiting salesmen would find very few doors open to them if they were to arrive today.
As a leading diplomat with extensive experience in business put it to me earlier this week, it’s no good presenting senior UAE officials with a short one or two page document to try to attract attention. A full explanation is necessary to present not just the outline of the concept but, from the outset, a detailed summary of the underlying benefits. That’s not just at an international level, but also in terms of real in-country value for the UAE of any project.
That’s something we can readily understand. From the earliest days of the UAE’s development, the country’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed, was always keen to ensure that major projects that included foreign partners carried within them an element of transferring technology and knowledge. Those building blocks that he helped to lay provided the firm foundations upon which the UAE now stands.
Decades later, we are in a position where we too have something to transfer, beyond financial resources, or the export of crude oil and gas. Diversification of our economy has opened up new opportunities overseas, as well as at home.
I wonder, though, whether that’s fully recognised by all of our foreign partners.
As the UAE marks its 50th year, the days of the "new kid on the block" have gone. We have our own scientists to contribute to research at a global level. We have decision-makers, both in the private sector and in government, whose skills and experience match anything found elsewhere.
Learning has not ended, neither for us nor anyone else. Further progress is yet to be made, both in terms of innovation and fine-tuning our knowledge in areas where we are already directly engaged.
In that process, we will naturally gravitate towards those who recognise who we are, how far we have come and who seek to develop with us. They will be our preferred partners for future engagement.
The foreign government officials and companies who thronged the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre this week will go home well aware of what the UAE has become in their own particular area of interest: a valued partner as well as an important market. Others with a different focus would do well to observe, and to learn.
Peter Hellyer is a UAE cultural historian and columnist for The National
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
All matches in Bulawayo Friday, Sept 26 – First ODI Sunday, Sept 28 – Second ODI Tuesday, Sept 30 – Third ODI Thursday, Oct 2 – Fourth ODI Sunday, Oct 5 – First T20I Monday, Oct 6 – Second T20I
