Profile

While in 2015 the world’s emerging countries and fastest-growing economies suffered due to low commodity prices and currency depreciations, Dubai still enjoyed steady GDP growth at around 4% and an increased drive towards consolidating its position as a knowledge-based economy. With a well-diversified model and a set of transformation-oriented projects worth some Dh300bn ($81.7m) in the pipeline, 2015 was worth its designation as the “year of innovation”. The issuing of the Dubai Open Data Law and the creation of Dubai Smart City were among the flagship initiatives driving this transformation.

This chapter contains interviews with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council; Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President, Dubai Women Establishment; Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports; President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; and Chairman and CEO, Emirates Group; Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation; and Director-General, Expo 2020 Dubai; and viewpoints from Xi Jinping, President of China and former UK Prime Minister David Cameron.