They met like tribal chieftains, Bedu-style, in a simple tent in the desert at a place that marked the border of their two domains.
When it was over, a momentous decision had been made on the strength of a simple handshake: the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai would come together as one people and one country.
It was February 18, 1968, when Sheikh Zayed, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, Ruler of Dubai, reached a formal agreement that would bind them together and lead to the formation, three years later, of the United Arab Emirates.
The moment of their decision, though, was anything but formal, marked by the growing friendship between the two men and their respect for each other.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, recalled the meeting in a series of tweets in 2018.
“From that day we started, from that day we agreed and from that day we began our march together,” he said.
Then a young man not yet 20, and newly graduated from officer training at a UK military academy, Sheikh Mohammed recalled the exchange between his father and the UAE Founding Father.
“So Rashid, what do you think? Shall we create a union?” Sheikh Zayed asked the older of the two Rulers.
“Give me your hand, Zayed,” Sheikh Mohammed recalls his father replying. “Let us shake upon the agreement. You will be President.”
“Fifty years are nothing in the age of a country, but with Zayed every year was worth 50 in work and achievements,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said on Twitter.
“Our nation remembers this day so as not to forget our beginnings and not to forget good intentions and to stay aware that we are of the desert, we began there and we have reached space.”
What led to the unification between Abu Dhabi and Dubai?
The meeting 57 years ago was held in Seih Al Sedira, a small hill on the Abu Dhabi side of the border and close to the community of Al Sameeh, now grown in size and bisected by the E11 on the approach to Ghantoot.
The road to Al Sameeh, though, had been anything but straightforward. Less than a month earlier, the cash-strapped socialist Labour government of the UK, had, without warning, decided to withdraw from the Arabian Gulf, a sphere of British influence for more than 100 years.
Britain’s departure, to take place by the end of 1971, would end a series of treaties in which the old Empire agreed to defend what were then known as the Trucial States in exchange for control over their foreign relations.
As Britain’s warships and fighter aircraft departed, the seven emirates, along with Bahrain and Qatar, would be left to fend for themselves.
Without protection from a major power, they would face many potential enemies, namely Iran, which claimed the islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, belonging to Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah respectively, and all of Bahrain.
This was the background to the February meeting between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Even the location was a minor diplomatic triumph, given that the border between the two emirates had only recently been fixed and, indeed, had been the subject of several past disputes.
The atmosphere on that February day, though, was cordial. The gathering was small, in two tents; one for private meetings between the two Rulers, the other for hospitality. As the youngest member of the party, it was the duty of Sheikh Mohammed to serve the coffee.
The two Rulers had already met several times previously, most recently in January, when Sheikh Zayed offered to fund a number of infrastructure projects with Abu Dhabi’s new oil wealth, including the first paved road between the two emirates.
Now the stakes were even higher, but the objective also clearer. After the two leaders departed, a joint communique was issued, bearing both their signatures. It stated, briefly, that it was the intention of the two emirates to join together, with a common policy on foreign affairs and defence. It invited others to join them.
How the seven emirates came together to form the UAE
One week later, a much larger gathering took place in Dubai. All seven emirates were represented, along with Bahrain and Qatar. After two days of intense meetings and discussions, a broader agreement was reached.
A new country would be created from the nine, to be called the Union of Arab Emirates, while preparations would begin for a draft constitution.
A statement was issued: “The Union of Arab Emirates comprises one people, and has one policy, one diplomatic representation, one army and one economic and social structure.”
“The organisational structure of the Union is democratic, its official religion is Islam, the source of its legislation is Islamic Law, its official language is Arabic and its people is part of the Arab nation.”
Many challenges still lay ahead. Bahrain and Qatar eventually decided to go their own ways. Iran continued to press its claim over the disputed islands, eventually occupying both the Tunbs and Abu Musa. Ras Al Khaimah was initially hesitant about joining the new country, eventually doing so as the seventh emirate in early 1972.
There were internal discussions and complications as well. What currency would be used? Where would the capital be? Would the individual emirates retain their own military forces? What would be the extent of federal controls over areas like education and taxes?
They are familiar issues to anyone who has studied the recent history of the European Union, or even the Gulf Co-operation Council.
Dr Fatima Al Sayegh, professor of history at UAE University, has described the period between 1968 and December 1971 as "the most difficult in the history of the union. It witnessed long and difficult negotiations, sometimes reaching a deadlock".
But, she added: “The Al Sameeh meeting, hence, marked the beginning of a golden era in the history of the region. It paved the way for the establishment of a unique country that has become a model in various areas of development.”
This story was first published by The National for the UAE's 50th National Day in 2021.
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
World ranking (at month’s end)
Jan - 257
Feb - 198
Mar - 159
Apr - 161
May - 159
Jun – 162
Currently: 88
Year-end rank since turning pro
2016 - 279
2015 - 185
2014 - 143
2013 - 63
2012 - 384
2011 - 883
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Company%20Profile
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The specs
Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
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Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Non-oil%20trade
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UNSC Elections 2022-23
Seats open:
- Two for Africa Group
- One for Asia-Pacific Group (traditionally Arab state or Tunisia)
- One for Latin America and Caribbean Group
- One for Eastern Europe Group
Countries so far running:
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Naga
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ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Pickford, Pope.
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Dier, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Maitland-Niles, Mings, Saka, Trippier, Walker.
Midfielders Henderson, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks.
Forwards Abraham, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Ings, Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
