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TEXT: Bilateral Relationship, The bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan are acquiring new dimensions at all political, economic and social levels emerging into trust-worthy strategic partnership.
•Right from the beginning, the UAE has been famous among all comity of the world due to its generous humanitarian assistance, stability, tolerance, innovation, vision for better health and education.
•UAE is one of the largest investors in the country but bilateral trade has been steadily growing over the years and people-to-people contacts are constantly on the increase.
•Infinite Bonds the founder of UAE Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was keen to give an impetus to the bilateral relations between the two countries from the very beginning. It was further strengthened and patronized by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
•Both countries reaffirm their strong commitment to further reinforce the bonds of friendship; they urge the need to expand the horizon of their bilateral cooperation in diverse fields reflecting deep-rooted and historic ties.
•Around 1.6 million Pakistani expatriates are working in UAE. They sent $ 4.45 billion being the highest remittances in the current fiscal year which contributed significantly in the macro-economy of Pakistan.
•The UAE Pakistan Assistance Program was launched in January 2011 at a total cost of US$450 million for the reconstruction of infrastructure damaged by devastating floods and natural calamities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Bajaur and South Waziristan districts of the tribal belt to provide better life to the people by creating jobs.
•The Project is to focus on four major sectors: education, public health, roads, bridges and supply of water treatment plants and networks.
•The leaders of UAE always stood first to lessen the sufferings of the people affected in times of national crisis caused by natural calamities by sending teams and relief goods in the country.
•Teams from UAE Military Relief Force, charitable foundations and organizations played dutiful role in the rescue, distribution of supplies and rehabilitation of victims of earthquake and floods through lengthy operations carried out by Chinooks helicopters in the most flood affected regions of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochitsan Provinces.
•UAE Military Field Hospitals were installed in many remote areas of the country to treat thousands of flood-victims and launch necessary vaccination campaigns to save children, women and elderly people from diseases. Under the directives of HH the President of UAE.
•UAE and Friends of Democratic Pakistan UAE played an important role in the formation of Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP). Initially, UAE hosted many meetings (ministerial & public-private conferences) of FoDP and tried its best to highlight the aim, importance and utility of this forum to the world at large and for the socio-economic development of Pakistan.
•Time and again, UAE government reaffirmed its support to Pakistan to help overcome its macro-economic difficulties.
Economic Cooperation
•The UAE is one of the largest investors in Pakistan among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
•The report indicates that multinational companies have made investments in different sectors in Pakistan including the Emirates National Oil Company, “Enoch”, The International Petroleum Investment Company “IPIC” The Emirates Telecommunications Corporation “Etisalat”, Dana gas, Al Ghurair, Emaar, DP World, Abraaj Capital, Thani, Dnata, Atharihra agricultural Company, Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries “Julfar,” the Emirates Investment Group, the Arab Company for Packaging, Al Nasser Holdings.
•Pakistan offers vast opportunities for foreign direct investments and joint ventures in infrastructure development; electricity generation, water desalination, agricultural based industries, insurance and real estate.
•Prospects of initiating joint ventures in aluminum products, agriculture (horticulture, farming, dairy farming and livestock, financial sector, housing prefabricated houses and affordable low income houses are bright. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can also be tapped.
•Aviation plays very important role in promoting bilateral trade volumes. More than 90 flights weekly fly from UAE to different cities of Pakistan and which are operated by five national carriers Etihad Airways, Emirates. Fly Dubai, Al Arabia and RAK.
•Keeping in view, the importance of greater aviation cooperation a delegation of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), recently visited Islamabad to explore new avenues of mutual cooperation, Agreements to increase number of flights operated by UAE’s national carriers between the two countries were signed.
Investing in UAE
The UAE is blessed with a strategic location between the east and west, making it accessible to major emerging economies, linking shipping routes and facilitating goods transportation between the various regions in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Africa.
The UAE offers endless choices of business premises and locations. Depending on your business activity, you are at liberty to choose a place appropriate for the operations, whether on the mainland or in a free zone.
Make It In the Emirates
The Unified Industrial Brand Identity launched its slogan, ‘Make It In the Emirates,’ to boost the UAE Brand. ‘Make It in the Emirates’ is the first campaign of its kind in the UAE to encourage local and international investors, innovators and developers, to benefit from the facilities and incentives offered by the country’s industrial sector and to fulfil their ambitions of developing, manufacturing and exporting products.
The Unified Industrial Brand Identity supports the diversification of the national industrial base and contributes to positioning the country as an incubator for innovation and creativity. Ultimately, every product made in the UAE will comply with the highest international quality standards and have its rightful place among the best global products.
The new campaign stems from a vision based on distinction, uniqueness, and endeavours to build the credentials of UAE products by improving their quality and global competitiveness. Ultimately, every product made in UAE will comply with the highest international quality standards and have its rightful place among the best international products.
Just as the UAE Brand seeks to share the UAE’s story with the world as a pioneer in sustainable development, the Unified Industrial Brand Identity aims to develop UAE products within an attractive industrial sector that has limitless growth potential and make the industrial sector as an integral part of the UAE’s unique success story and a key contributor to the country’s development journey.
The Unified Industrial Brand Identity aims to create a sense of pride in locally made products so that the ‘Made in UAE’ label on a product persuades people worldwide to buy it for its superior quality.
The new Identity seeks to build trust in UAE products by setting stringent production standards to raise excellence, efficiency and quality to the same level as similar reputable global products, if not better. It also encourages the UAE’s highly diversified business sector to move towards industrial projects and contribute to developing local industries across the country.
The Unified Industrial Identity promotes a ‘manufacturer mentality’ among the UAE’s business community, including citizens, residents and foreign investors, based on the culture of possibilities that enables any innovative idea to be translated into reality. The manufacturer is adventurous, thinks outside the box and is willing to seize every available opportunity to invest in the industrial sector while benefiting from the UAE’s conducive investment environment and strategic location.
Travel and Tourism
The UAE is an ideal tourist destination in many respects:
•Economic and political stability
•A strategic location linking East and West
•Excellent connectivity to major international airlines
•Strong and tourism-supporting infrastructure
•Wide range of accommodation options suitable for various categories and budgets
•A variety of events and activities that cater to all age groups
•The UAE’s unique biodiversity is characterised by the beauty of deserts, oases, mountains, valleys and plains, mangroves, beaches, and a diversity of flora, wildlife, and marine life.
•Religious and cultural tolerance, reflected in the UAE embracing people of over 200 nationalities from different religious and cultural backgrounds who live on its territory in harmony and peace.
The UAE has also become a world-class venue for conferences, regional and international exhibitions and major global sports events, such as the Dubai World Cup for horseracing, the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, the Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament, the FIFA Club World Cup, world-class film festivals in Dubai as well as Abu Dhabi, and the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.
In 2016, the direct contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the UAE’s GDP was AED 68.5 billion (USD 18.7 billion), which is equivalent to 5.2% of the total GDP. It is forecast to rise by 5.1% per annum from 2017 to 2027 to AED 116.1 billion (USD 31.6 billion), which would be equivalent to 5.4% of the total GDP in 2027.
The total contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the UAE’s GDP was AED 159.1 billion (USD 43.3 billion), which is 12.1% of its GDP. It is forecast to rise by 4.9% per annum to AED 264.5 billion (USD 72 billion), which would be 12.4% of GDP in 2027.
Studying in UAE
One of the UAE’s highest priorities has always been education. As President His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the UAE, noted, “The greatest use that can be made of wealth is to invest it in creating generations of educated and trained people.”
The UAE has focused on educating both men and women. In 1975, the rate of adult literacy was 54 percent among men and 31 percent among women. Today, literacy rates for both genders are close to 95 percent.
New initiatives are being launched at all educational levels. A key area of focus has been to transform K to 12 programs, to ensure that UAE students are fully prepared to attend universities around the world and compete in the global marketplace. In addition, some of the world’s best universities are creating programs in the UAE, attracting talented students in the Arab world and globally.
The UAE’s commitment to education has helped the nation diversify its economy and prepared a new generation of young people ready to compete in the global marketplace. In 2019, young people surveyed throughout the Arab world identified the UAE as the top country to live in and to emulate for the eighth year running, reflecting the opportunities available to youth entering the workforce.
K-12 Programs
The education system of the UAE is relatively new. In 1952, there were few formal schools in the country. In the 1960s and 1970s a school building program expanded the education system. Now, education at the primary and secondary level is universal. In the 2013-2014 academic year, approximately 910,000 students were enrolled at 1,174 public and private schools.
Education reform focuses on better preparation, greater accountability, higher standards and improved professionalism. In addition, rote instruction is being replaced with more interactive forms of learning, and English-language education is being integrated into other subjects, such as math and science. While general strategy is determined by the Ministry of Education, education councils set up in individual Emirates assist in implementing government policy. The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), the Dubai Education Council (DEC), the Sharjah Education Council and the UAE Ministry of Education are each tasked with reforming the educational program in the UAE while still preserving local traditions, principles and the cultural identity of the country.
Higher Education
The UAE is home to a wide range of universities, both public and private. UAE citizens can attend government institutions free of charge, and the UAE has one of the highest application participation rates in the world. Ninety-five percent of all girls and 80 percent of boys enrolled in the final year of secondary school apply for admission to a higher education institution. UAE public universities include:
•UAE University, where enrollment was 502 in its founding year and has increased nearly 30-fold over the years. Women represent a majority of the student body. UAE University awards 70 undergraduate degrees in addition to graduate degrees with many programs that are internationally accredited. (www.uaeu.ac.ae)
•Zayed University (ZU), established in 1998 as an all-women’s institution, and recently opened a men’s campus. It is organized into five colleges—Arts and Sciences, Business Sciences, Communication and Media Sciences, Education and Information Systems—and the primary language of instruction is English. Zayed University has US accreditation, attesting to its high standards. (www.zu.ac.ae)
•Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), the largest higher educational institution in the UAE with an enrollment of 16,000 students. Founded in 1988 with four campuses, HCT now includes 16 men’s and women’s colleges in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Madinat Zayed, Dubai, Ra’s al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Fujairah. The colleges offer more than 80 technical and professional degrees and certifications. More than 10,000 of the current students are female. (www.hct.ac.ae)
Private Institutions
Some of the key private institutions include:
•American Universities of Sharjah and Dubai, both of which are US accredited
•Sharjah University
•Ajman University of Science and Technology
•Abu Dhabi University, with campuses in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain
•Al Hosn University
•Khalifa University of Science and Technology
In addition to these institutions, the Masdar Institute for Science and Technology (MIST) began accepting students in 2009. MIST is the Middle East’s first graduate education and research university focused on clean energy and developing the next generation of solutions to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Global Partnerships
A number of international universities have campuses and/or programs in the UAE. Some are housed in special zones, including Dubai Knowledge Village and Academic City.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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