Sheikh Khalifa’s ongoing legacy

Building the UAE was begun by the founding President, Sheikh Zayed. In the 10 years since his passing, his son, Sheikh Khalifa, has assumed the mantle with aplomb to guide the nation's continuing extraordinary development.

Under the rules of the constitution, the Supreme Council, comprising the Rulers of all seven Emirates, had 30 days to appoint a successor as President following the passing of Sheikh Zayed. In fact, they needed barely one.

Within 10 minutes, the Rulers gathered on the day of Sheikh Zayed’s funeral and, in a unanimous vote, elected Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, now Ruler of Abu Dhabi, as the second President of the United Arab Emirates. It was November 3, 2004, although the formal announcement was not made until November 8.

The certainty shown by the Rulers is confirmed today on the anniversary of Sheikh Khalifa’s rule. A visitor returning here after 10 years’ absence would find a country utterly transformed by the march of progress.

It can be measured with the passing of each year. In 2005, the first full year of Sheikh Khalifa’s Presidency, the Emirates Palace opened, one of the world’s most luxurious hotels that would become a fitting backdrop for everything from a state visit by president Bush to the new Abu Dhabi Film Festival and a 2008 concert by Christina Aguilera.

In 2006, the Sorbonne opened its Abu Dhabi campus, the prestigious Paris university that would shortly be followed by New York University Abu Dhabi. The following year, the world got its first glimpse of the splendour of the Grand Mosque, opened to worshippers from Eid 2007 and soon to become a landmark attraction for visitors from around the world.

Equally talked about was the world’s first purpose-built city designed around sustainable principles. Work started on Masdar City in 2008, with the Masdar Institute today training hundreds of students in clean energy and related projects, while visitors still enjoy a ride on Masdar’s famous driverless cars.

Cars of a very different kind arrived in the capital in November 2009, for the first F1 Grand Prix at the new Yas Marina Circuit. Race fans will soon be arriving from around the world for this year’s race, now the sixth to be held in Abu Dhabi.

In 2010, Sheikh Khalifa welcomed Queen Elizabeth for her second state visit to the UAE, with the queen visiting the Grand Mosque and unveiling plans for the new Zayed National Museum on Saadiyat Island. Two days later, Sheikh Khalifa opened the new Sheikh Zayed Bridge, a key link in the city’s transport infrastructure.

Equally significant was the opening of the Khalifa Highway in 2011, a motorway that connected the main route to Dubai directly to downtown Abu Dhabi, halving the driving time.

The following year was the opening of Khalifa Port and the Kizad industrial park that in time will become one of the world’s biggest trading areas and a major contributor to the prosperity of the country. Sheikh Khalifa’s role as a world statesman was underlined last year, with a return state visit to the United Kingdom, with all the pomp and circumstance such occasions require.

These, of course, are only a very few of the highlights from the past 10 years. Much more is still to come. This month will feature the opening of the massive new Yas Mall, the second largest in the UAE after the Dubai Mall. Next year brings the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first of the museums in Abu Dhabi’s new cultural district. The legacy of Sheikh Khalifa is not just in the past, but is also in the future.

plangton@thenational.ae