Dubai: A living miracle

Dubai! I have never heard of it. Where is this country on the map? And who lives in it and what do they do for a living?
These were some of the questions my American classmates used to ask me in 1979. I vividly remember that in 1959, Egypt had dispatched a team of engineers to Dubai to assess how the overall infrastructure should be planned. Interestingly, on the basis of the team’s assessment Egyptian newspapers wrote that it was very difficult to develop Dubai.
At that time, Dubai didn’t even have any kind of government structure, no electricity, no airport, no schools, no roads and no running water. So, what did Dubai do that no other city was able to accomplish in such a short span of time?
It is true that the growth of many countries like Singapore is a miracle but Dubai achieved all this with limited resources and under a very competitive environment.
Now Dubai is known all across the world and has shown the world what a strong-willed leader could achieve. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum had a dream, an iron will and made a promise to transform Dubai into a city of miracles, and Sheikh Mohammed delivered on his promise.
Nowadays, Dubai is not only the main link between the East and West but is also the link between the South and the North. About 30 years ago, when the aviation industry was struggling to survive, Dubai launched an airline they called Emirates. They had only two aircraft at a time when the Federal Express had a fleet of 700. Emirates started with four flights a day at a time when the United Airlines had a schedule of 4,000 flights a day. The rest is history. Everybody knows the current position of Emirates.
Around 30 years ago, when the world was suffering from a slowdown in the real state and slowdown in accomplishing mega infrastructure projects, Dubai was ahead of many cities around the world in building and developing one of the most sophisticated infrastructures in the world. The world saw not only the construction of high rises, highways, schools, and hospitals but also the evolution of a society that cares for the welfare of the people.
Three years ago, when the international news was focusing on the unrest in the Arab World due to the so-called Arab Spring, Dubai was and still is, an oasis of stability.
Dubai now is going to host the Expo 2020. Dubai was selected among many cities and won with majority. The expo is held once every five years and lasts six months. Many experts expect Dubai to do miracles from the year 2013 to the time of the opening of the expo in the year 2020. Dubai will receive more than 25 million people in the year 2020 and they can handle this number of people from around the world because they have been doing it for the past 10 years. Dubai is the center of commercial flights with an airport handling tens of millions and its tourism department is handling a capacity of more than 60 million visitors every year. Events, exhibitions and air shows are held in Dubai year-round. In other words, no one was surprised that Dubai was given the privilege to host the 2020 Expo.
Dubai’s Expo 2020 will be hosted under the theme: “Connecting Minds, Creating Future.” Dubai will show the world the art of global priorities in every aspect. And what is more, the nomination of Dubai didn’t only show the world how advanced and developed Dubai is, but it also showed how the people of the United Arab Emirates are enjoying a unique unity between the ruler and the ruled. The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, and other rulers of the Emirates are great supporters of Dubai’s preparations for the Expo 2020. Dubai’s nomination is a first for the Arab world and Africa. And seeing Dubai host the Expo 2020 is going to have a positive impact not just on the UAE but on the countries in the region.
Dubai’s nomination also reflected the political, security, economic and social stability it enjoys. The people of the UAE enjoy one of the highest per capita-income in the world and one of the few countries in the world with no poverty.

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