SimplyAbuDhabi XXXVII

MM: Why don’t we discuss for a moment the pins we’re wearing? “Well that’s it… and I think you see it, you know, most Emiratis in this room, and if you go down to the streets, you’ll see most people wearing a pin or something that links them and associates them with Sheikh Zayed. That’s how the people feel about our founding father Sheikh Zayed because everything he’s done to build what we see here today, we are eternally grateful for. But what he’s been more successful in doing is build a sustainable foundation. He put the base and you’ve seen in this country how it has evolved over the years, even after his passing, how we continue down that journey. You know, Sheikh Zayed didn’t have a college degree, he didn’t even have a high school degree, but I think he put some important foundations based on values that we all live by still today. MM: So, I had the honour of meeting Lee Kuan Yew in the early 1970s when I went to Singapore and I had the honour of meeting Sheikh Zayed in the 1990s, and I think at the Institute we’ve been very focused over the years comparing Singapore and Jamaica, similar stories, both separating from the UK at the same time, Lee Kuan Yew, travelling to Jamaica and asking the leader in Jamaica what the strategy was. Similar populations, similar weather, a very similar at that time. The leader in Jamaica chose natural resources and tourism, as the leader in Singapore. And I think it is so apropos Khaldoon, that you link these two leaders. It’s the same when I think about our decision in Asia, in Singapore, our decision in North Africa and the Middle East, and Abu Dhabi and the UAE… both tied into unique leadership where that leadership, Sheikh Zayed, was focused on the people. And the future for the citizens of the country. And it’s unfortunate that it is rare that the world has seen leaders like Sheikh Zayed or Lee Kuan Yew and the ability of what they created. I think what you’ve underlined here is the ability that is sustained after they both passed away. No one would confuse today Jamaica with Singapore. Likewise, no one would confuse Libya today with the UAE. This growth, the expansion of medical facilities – you know, it was 2006 when you and I joined to cut the ribbon at the Imperial College Diabetes Center – the most modern diabetes centre in the world opened almost 13 years ago here in Abu Dhabi… how has the place and the role you see the UAE playing, changed? So 71, birth of a country, Singapore was just a few years before in the 1960s… and how do you see its role and mission today? How has that changed? 038 | SIMPLY INFLUENTIAL KKM: Well, I think it has evolved over the years, from building that foundation, the base, and then developing on that base. And I’ll try to address your question in different angles. So, bear with me. The focus throughout this has been on the human components… the people. Your example of Singapore is an example we live by every day. We look at Singapore always as a great example that we try to emulate in different ways. I mean Singapore started from a similar start as the UAE, but they didn’t have oil, they didn’t have gas, they didn’t have any natural resources. And you look at the evolution of their GDP, you look at how they’ve developed as a nation. It’s phenomenal. But because they focused on the human being, on the people, on developing, and I think Lee Kuan Yew what he has done in education to his people, you’re seeing it. It’s eternal and it’s sustainable. We’re trying to do the same in the UAE. That’s always been the strategy, but it’s evolved. It’s improved over the years. Education and healthcare were two foundations, which I think are key foundations to the success of any country. That’s a space that has been heavily invested in over the years. You look at the number of universities – you have over a hundred universities in the UAE. There’s a university here, New York university, NYU Abu Dhabi, and this is a university trying to bring in a US standard, high quality, liberal arts college into the United Arab Emirates, but then taking it up a notch and creating the next Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard of the Middle East, here out of Abu Dhabi. Now to do so was very hard, but we have the will, we have the ability, the financial ability, and we have the vision and it’s, you know, you look at NYU today, I would’ve been, it’s been, they’ve had seven I think graduating classes, and I’m going to give you one data point. They have about 1,200 students and they’re connected to NYU, New York. NYU, New York in over a hundred years of graduating classes have had six Rhodes Scholars, six. NYU Abu Dhabi in seven years of graduating classes have had 12 Rhodes Scholars. Their average SAT score of an entering class, the average is 1580 out of 1600. That’s what we’re doing in education. That’s an example of what we’re doing. SIMPLY INFLUENTIAL | 039 The focus throughout this has been on the human components… the people.” “