UAE awaits the first Cabinet of Sheikh Mohammed

Dubai is now the fastest growing city in the world, and its GDP expanded by 16% last year, twice that of China. Now the man at the helm in Dubai for the past decade has also taken on the role of Prime Minister of the UAE federation, after his election by the Supreme Council last week.

It is hard to believe that this hard-driven, architect of modern Dubai, is going to be a laidback Prime Minister. Who can forget his early morning visits to key Dubai departments and dismissal of officials he found not up to the job? This is a man who innovates and promotes reformers, and who notably remarked that often not taking a risk is the biggest risk in life.

But trying to second guess General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is also a foolish game. Like any military man he keeps his own counsel and has his own winning strategy.

Promoting talent

However, a brief review of his career to date may give some pointers to the future which now awaits the UAE. He was the youngest minister in the world at age 22, when appointed the first UAE Defense Minister. Thus he is not afraid to promote youth, and indeed his systematic elevation of young Emiratis to key positions in Dubai has been widely admired.

His bold conception of Emirates Airline in 1985, and the subsequent development of the tourism sector, also shows an eye for a business opportunity, and the ability to successfully diversify an oil economy by shrewd and commercially driven investment. But he favors profits rather than prestige alone.

Sheikh Mohammed became Crown Prince of Dubai in 1995, and effectively took over the day-to-day running of the emirate. He created Emaar Properties in 1997 and introduced freehold property ownership in 2002, creating a real estate boom, and icons like the Palm islands, Burj Al Arab Hotel and the Emirates Twin Towers.

FDI champion

Indeed, his ability to marshal private investment into large infrastructure projects is unmatched in the history of the Middle East. Vast amounts of capital from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Abu Dhabi have been invested in Dubai in recent years. Foreign direct investment in the UAE is clearly going to be very welcome.

At the same time His Highness has forged a dynamic public sector, which has also undergone huge expansion, whether it is the Dubai International Airport, Emirates Airline, the enormous proliferation of free zones, and most recently the opening of the Dubai International Financial Centre and the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre both with new capital markets.

Such a proactive approach to government is doubtless now going to be applied to the UAE federation, though we can only wait to see how Sheikh Mohammed decides to proceed and to what extent he chooses to change his Cabinet.