Creative new ways of expanding the UAE's message abroad was the focus of a new diplomatic body's first meeting involving a number of the country’s top diplomatic officials.
Chaired by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs, the UAE Soft Power Council convened on Monday as part of the two-day UAE government annual meetings to come up with a UAE Soft Power Strategy to increase the country’s global reputation abroad by highlighting its identity, heritage, culture and contributions to the world.
“The UAE’s Soft Power Strategy is a comprehensive framework for all sectors in the country,” said.
Sheikh Mansour. “The responsibility of the UAE’s reputation is also the responsibility of any person and group in the UAE. Our goal is to build a strong reputation for the nation, through which we can achieve our developmental, economic and cultural goals and ambitions.”
Sheikh Mansour noted the UAE’s ambitious political leadership, strong economy, significant cultural initiatives, along with its infrastructure, which he said is the best in the world, “support us in leapfrogging our soft power.”
“The UAE is an urban metropolis and an important hub in the region,” said Sheikh Mansour. “We have developed in a remarkable way, and can offer a model for development for many other countries around the world.”
He added, “The UAE is a regional and global platform that embraces Arab culture and global best practices; we are a global meeting point, an essential gateway to the Arab world, and offer a platform for a renaissance in the Arab world.”
“The people of the UAE are a valuable part of our Soft Power Strategy, and open communication with them is as much a priority as communicating with government entities; we will develop an institutional framework for communication, so we may deliver our message to many parts of the world,” he concluded.
The strategy is based on four main objectives, which are to develop a unified direction for various sectors including the economy, humanities, tourism, media and science, and to promote the UAE’s position as a gateway to the region. In addition, to establish the UAE as a regional capital for culture, art, and tourism, and to establish its reputation as a modern and tolerant country that welcomes all people from across the world.
The strategy also includes six main pillars that together form the framework for the UAE’s public diplomacy: humanitarian diplomacy, scientific and academic diplomacy, national representatives diplomacy, people diplomacy, cultural and media diplomacy, and economic diplomacy.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the UAE Soft Power Council in May, enlisting it to develop the country’s soft power strategy to include the culture, technology, humanitarian, science and economic sectors, in order to establish relationships at the grassroots level with partners both in the Middle East region and globally.
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
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Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan
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2pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
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2.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,000m
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3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m
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3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,700m
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4.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh 40,000 (D) 1,200m
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Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
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8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
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7.40pm Laser Show
8.15pm Angel Alexander
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10pm: Beyond Reason
