UAE ‘is a centre for creativity and innovation'

Dubai, Dec 12, 2012 (WAM) - His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, opened on Tuesday the third Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit-Entrepreneurial Ventures of Arabia (GES-EV) at the World Trade Centre in Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed also witnessed the signing of a number of scientific agreements. Sheikh Mohammed addressed an audience of more than 2,000 experts and decision-makers in the field of entrepreneurship in addition to small and medium enterprises around the world. “We are partners with all countries of the world in order to assume our responsibilities to create an attractive environment for creativity, an environment that will attract the young innovators across the Arab nation and the world at large.” US President Barack Obama participated in the event through a televised statement on the importance of encouraging initiative and entrepreneurship in the region. The inaugural session was attended by Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs Ahmad Juma Al Za’abi, and a number of ministers, senior officials and business leaders. Sheikh Mohammed welcomed the participants to the summit hosted in the city of Dubai in the UAE, noting that the UAE is one of the pioneering countries in the world in supporting and encouraging young entrepreneurs. He also asserted that UAE is a centre for creativity and innovation on the regional and global levels and provides the ideal environment. The Arab youth can benefit from this, develop their talent and exploit their energy and use it to serve the goals and objectives of their respective countries, he added. He said that entrepreneurship is not an alien phenomenon for the Arabs. “We invented the alphabet and many branches of science such as Algebra and mathematics. We the Arabs founded the first university in history, from where people of learning graduated in medicine, astronomy and mathematics. The Arab Islamic civilisation is the first one that excelled in the globalisation of culture, science and knowledge,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “In the UAE, we overcame poverty and illiteracy because we have confidence in ourselves and in our citizens who have turned the desert into a modern state in the world,” he added. “We are partners with all countries of the world in order to assume our responsibilities to create an attractive environment for creativity, an environment that will attract the young innovators across the Arab nation and the world at large,” Sheikh Mohammed said. Shedding light on the gradual development of the UAE in the economic and educational fields, Sheikh Mohammed attributed this to the strong resolve adopted by the country’s leadership. “If we look at the recent past, it will remind us of the founders of this modern state, the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the late Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who built the country on strong foundations.” – Gulf News