President Sheikh Mohamed names Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi

President Sheikh Mohamed named his eldest son, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Sheikh Khaled holds key roles in Abu Dhabi public life and has the task of thrusting the emirate forwards into the future.

He has led initiatives to boost growth, from major accelerator programmes to a start-up hub for businesses.

Sheikh Khaled has served as member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and as Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office.

He is a board member of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, of which the chairman is Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, now Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Investing in the future

Sheikh Khaled has overseen the capital's Ghadan 21 project to drive development through business, innovation and the emirate's strongest asset — its people.

With Dh50 billion made available to be spent in three years, the fund is designed to make it easier, faster and more efficient to invest and trade in the emirate.

Other features are designed to attract more visitors, facilitate housing loans for Emiratis and boost school capacity. Improving the public realm including creating cycle paths and green spaces are other goals.

Ghadan 21 is delivered by the Abu Dhabi Executive Committee, led by its chairman Sheikh Khaled.

Sheikh Khaled was behind the launch of Abu Dhabi's global tech ecosystem Hub71 in 2019, which has created more than 900 jobs since its inception.

During the pandemic alone, the hub doubled the number of start-ups to which it is home, and companies based there bagged more than $400 million in funding since 2019.

As chairman of the Executive Committee of Adnoc's board of directors in 2021, Sheikh Khaled launched a landmark clean energy partnership between Adnoc and the Emirates Water and Electricity Company that will see up to 100 per cent of Adnoc's grid power supplied by Ewec’s nuclear and solar clean-energy sources

Sheikh Khaled is chairman of the Emirates Genome Council, which on Tuesday launched a national strategy to map the DNA of every Emirati as the country looks to provide personalised medical care for every citizen.

The National Genome Strategy has seen more than 400,000 citizens have already submitted blood samples and DNA cheek swabs, giving scientists an insight into the health of the nation.

“The National Genome Strategy ensures a comprehensive and sustainable ecosystem that will accelerate the development of priority preventive and personalised healthcare solutions for our citizens," Sheikh Khaled said.

"The council will also oversee the ‘One Million Genome’ project which will enable the healthcare sector and enhance its services.”

Sheikh Khaled has represented the UAE on a number of occasions. Last September, he led the UAE delegation attending the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. He also attended the wedding of Princess Iman of Jordan earlier this month.