Sheikh Mohammed announces region's biggest tourism project costing over AED 18 billion

It is expected to attract visitors from all over the world at all times of the year and is part of Dubai's Strategic Plan to transform the emirate into an international tourism attraction. The government is working on the infrastructure. The private sector will benefit from investment opportunities.

Dubailand will be built on 2 billion square feet area and will include 45 main projects and 200 sub-projects. Overall investments are estimated to be more than AED 18 billion - excluding the cost of the infrastructure.

The launch of Dubailand project was attended by a large number of officials, investors and businessmen.

"The new project complements perfectly Dubai's Strategic Plans to add more depth to the tourism sector and contribute towards transforming Dubai into one of the internationally leading tourist destinations, thereby attracting 15 million tourists by the year 2010. At the same time, it will also reinforce the UAE's position in the global economy," Sheikh Mohammed said.

His Highness added that: "Dubailand project is an initiative that combines bold vision, strategic perspective and horizons of success with the ability to encourage and attract investments and expertise.

"It is an initiative that strengthens the bond between the government and the private sector, in which the government works on developing the infrastructure and providing an environment that encourages the growth of business and gives a chance for the private sector to benefit from the large investment opportunities that it provides."

He pointed out that the project comes after two years of intensive studies and research, and will include international attractions that would bring in more than 200,000 visitors on a daily basis. This will give the tourism sector in the country a thrust and will increase its contribution to the GDP from 12 per cent to 20 per cent.

Sheikh Mohammed said: "The visionary leadership of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has given our country a solid foundation for progress and prosperity. We believe that the opportunity is appropriate today more than ever to build on this foundation to guarantee our future prosperity by developing sectors with high potentials of growth. The tourism sector in one of these promising sectors as it is an annual USD 464 billion global industry with 700 million tourist arrivals."

He also added "What we have achieved in the tourism sector is promising, as the UAE has developed to become one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations in the year 2002, which by itself, is a triumph for such a new destination.

"However, we are committed to achieving our goal of transforming the country into an internationally recognised tourist destination by attracting 15 million tourists by the year 2010. We have prepared ourselves to achieve this goal by working on different approaches. For example, Emirates airline continued its strong expansion by placing a USD 26 billion order for new aircraft. So has Dubai International Airport, which aims at welcoming more than 75 million travelers annually by increasing its capacity by investing USD 4.5 billion. This comes at a time when the sectors of tourism, hotels and services are witnessing rapid development."

His Highness said: "We believe that we have competitive advantages that make our country the finest tourism destination in the world attracting visitors from all around the globe.

"We are blessed geographically with a location that literary makes us the bridge between East and West and we are conveniently located and easily accessible. The UAE is already the trade and commercial hub to a region that includes the GCC, Levant, Africa, Central Asia and the Subcontinent - a region with over 1.5 billion people and a combined GDP in excess of USD 1.5 trillion.

"The country also enjoys the advantage of offering a safe and family-friendly environment with distinguished natural resources and developed tourist and hotel facilities that are qualified to develop new streams in the tourism sector such as family-based vacations, environmental and business and incentive tourism."

Sheikh Mohammed assured that Dubailand is also based on the same principals that contributed to the success of the other projects and initiatives launched over the past few years.

"The projects and initiatives that have been launched in Dubai in recent times, from the expansion of the airport to Dubai Internet and Media cities, from the Palm Island to the organisation of the IMF-World Bank meetings, have had three things in common: They have been bold. They have been strategic and to succeed, they have depended on utilizing the relative competitive advantages.

"Over the past decade we have executed several massive projects, which have confirmed our ability for making our dreams come true - on time and on budget - even when many people, some of whom are perhaps amongst you in this room, doubted the potential success of these projects because they viewed them individually. But the picture looks clearer when you look at these projects as part of a strategic vision that considers the requirements and developments of different fields regionally and internationally," Sheikh Mohammed said.

He said: "Who would have dreamt that Dubai would turn into a tourist attraction drawing 5 million tourists? Who would have dreamt that Emirates airlines, within only a few years, would transform into one of the fastest growing companies and reach the top among profit-oriented companies?

"Who would have dreamt that the United Arab Emirates within three years of the launch of the Dubai Internet City and the Electronic Government, would become the capital of information technology in the Middle East - comparable with industrial countries in terms of the percentage of people using these new technologies?

"Who would have dreamt that Dubai would become an international centre for conventions that enjoys a world-class reputation, enabling it to host distinguished events such as the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings?

"Who would have dreamt that the economy of the country would continue to grow strongly even in periods of difficult regional political conditions?" Sheikh Mohammed asked.

The Crown Prince of Dubai added: "We are sure that by now you are able to feel the positive intra-effect of all the projects and the initiatives that we have launched for the growth of economic sectors in the country, as they are now working as a well-coordinated chain to provide more business opportunities and support the general growth of the local economy.

"We are also sure that the existing and new projects will continue to play a vital role in the growth of the economy."

He pointed to Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City which have "positioned Dubai as an IT and Media Hub with about 1,400 companies, while we launched the Dubai International Financial Center to tap into global fund flows and accelerate the repatriation of the USD 1 trillion in Arab funds, which are invested and managed outside the region. And, Dubai Healthcare City, in turn, will position Dubai at the centre of a regional healthcare market of USD 95 billion.

Along with all this, tourism has also shown record growth of 30 per cent. Sectors like manufacturing, trade and transportation have also grown to account for 45 per cent of the GDP.

"These developments have contributed in enabling our economy to accomplish annual growth rate of 8 per cent representing an increase in the GDP from AED 49 billion in 1998 to AED 69 billion."

His Highness expected that Dubailand project would contribute effectively in strengthening efforts made to add more diversity to the local economy, and create more investment opportunities for the private sector. He pointed to the commitment of the government in continuing its efforts to provide an encouraging environment for business and prosperity. He also urged investors to benefit from the huge opportunities Dubailand offers.