ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2018) H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council this evening attended a lecture, titled "The Science of Decision-Making: Mohammed bin Rashid Model" at Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed at Al Bateen Palace in Abu Dhabi.
Delivered by Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future, the lecture noted that history is arguably the sum total of decisions taken by leaders that have led to the building of states and civilisations or caused the decline of nations and societies. The repercussions of such decisions tend to be felt long after they were made. The UAE, which is a young nation, has had the good fortune to have had leaders who possessed a clear strategic vision and foresight to plan for the future from the very outset.
"His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in particular, had helped shape a cutting-era of development in the UAE with his innovative style of decision-making," Al Gergawi said.
The lecture was attended by Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of Federal National Council (FNC); H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council; H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, and other dignitaries.
Gergawi began his lecture by saying that history is the product of decisions, reviewing a series of historical decisions. "Leaders are the ones who make the decisions and the decisions made by leaders make history," he said.
Gergawi, who is also the Chairman of the Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, has been closely associated with the UAE Vice-President for close to two decades and is familiar with his philosophy of decision-making. "Mohammed bin Rashid has raised the ceiling in the UAE and the region and has set new trends in the decision-making mechanism and moved beyond the temporal and spatial framework of the UAE," the minister said.
During the course of his lecture, Gergawi offered several theories on the methodology and mechanisms of decision making, listing different kinds of decisions taken, including those affected by psychological or social conditions, those based on a leader’s intuition as well as administrative and rational decisions.
The minister then reviewed a number of important decisions taken by Sheikh Mohammed that transformed not just Dubai and the UAE, but also the wider region. He spoke about decisions based on ‘principles’ such as His Highness’s decision to consolidate the open skies policy at Dubai International Airport, which transformed Dubai into an international aviation hub. There were decisions that were ‘well ahead of their time’, which helped Dubai embrace the future long before any other city in the region. Sheikh Mohammed was the first to launch a tourism strategy for Dubai, creating a whole new sector.
The Vice-President is also known for several ‘impactful’ decisions, Gergawi said, which sought to change perceptions or even reverse age-old perceptions, changing long-standing models in a short period. There were also ‘insightful’ or forward-looking decisions such as the innovative decision to establish Dubai internet City, in addition to launching Dubai Media City.
Sheikh Mohammed is highly-regarded for his ‘crisis management decisions’ such as the decision to continue the UAE Dream, and intensifying efforts to consolidate the situation during the global financial crisis of 2008. Today, the UAE is the second strongest economy in the Arab world. The Dubai Ruler has also taken several decisions to establish new trends decisions such as launching the Dubai Metro project, which instilled a new public transport culture in the UAE, and has benefitted more than a billion commuters since it was launched in 2009.
Also of note have been His Highness’s out-of-the-box decisions such as the decision to develop shipping lines owned by the UAE, which led to launching DP World in 2005, an entity that now manages more than 78 ports across the globe. Along the way there have been decisions to raise the ceiling, such as developing strategies to improve government performance, and working towards achieving the first rank across all domains. Today, the UAE leads many international competitiveness indexes. Gergawi also spoke about Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s ‘flexible’ decisions, based on agility, resilience, and speed in coping with change and adapting to circumstances.
Gergawi said that many of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s decisions have successfully created a new and positive reality for the Arab youth, engaging them in the Arab dream. As such, the UAE has become the destination of choice for a large number of people across the region and the wider world.
"On the same night that Mohammed bin Zayed gave his lecture to Future Generations, Mohammed bin Rashid instructed me to turn the future lecture of Mohammed bin Zayed into a strategy for the next 50 years".
The minister said he was surprised that the decision to launch the space sector was on the minds of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces , at the same time. The minister said the federation of the United Arab Emirates was established on December 2, 1971, the day the unmanned Soviet space probe reached Planet Mars. As if to reinforce the UAE’s date with Mars, the UAE gears up to mark its 50th National Day in 2021 by launching the Hope Mars Probe, which will be the first Arab space probe to Mars. This development will transform the UAE from a country that didn’t have roads to one that has a highway in the sky.
