people. I do not work alone, I have a team whom I lead and encourage and on whom I rely. Within each human being there is an inexhaustible source of potential, but there is no human being with unlimited capacity. What is important is to know your capacities -- and how you should use them.
For fun, I spend my time with my family at the beach or in the desert. I love to read. I ride horses. My love for horses is indescribably enormous; it is part of20my soul and history. The National Abu Dhabi Media Company - Matt Slater
How are the Federal Government and the Government of Dubai cooperating to re-tool the development model to address what many economists predict is a permanent reduction in credit available from international capital markets
Whether the available global credit declines or increases, the model of our economy is stable and is developing within the framework that we created earlier. Dubai’s needs for credit tend to decline and the government’s loans, which are modest, compared to the size of the economy, all concern investment in infrastructure, not current expenditures or operational budgets. The majority of our infrastructure projects are of a long-term productive nature, such as the Dubai Metro, the expansion of the power generation station, and so on. With regard to the loans of state-owned companies -- they are purely commercial in nature, and their calculations are based on the cost of the loan and the return on investment. The global financial crisis has affected the liquidity of the companies, and we believe that it is only a temporary impact. We have sufficient means to provide the necessary liquidity for these companies. I would like to stress that Dubai's economy is part of the UAE economy, and we cannot in any way deal with the situation as an independent entity. I will give you one example: We say Abu Dhabi banks, Dubai banks and Sharjah banks. These terms relate to the location of the headquarters only, since all banks operate in all the seven Emirates, and are subject to fiscal and monetary policy overseen by one body, and one central bank. In any case, credit is always available, and even a few months after the financial crisis, it had been available. Of course, this does not mean that all the available credit is desirable. This issue is a subject to extensive studies and discussions and to cost-benefit equations.
By Al-Sharq al-Awsat Daily
The question of population demography has been a source of worry to the UAE nationals, as it must certainly worry Your Highness. You have announced some initiatives in this regard, uncovering a few of them. Could you tell us more about these initiatives?
This question is important because of its ramifications and interconnection of its economic, social, and cultural dimensions. His Highness the President of the UAE has defined our approach toward this question. He has said that we have a positive outlook toward the demographic structure, showing the ability of our people and state to mix this human quantity and variety in a human framework, capable of creating a model highlighting the power of human interaction in the process of building and raising our state to assume an advanced position on the level of civilization and development. Such a model will help us in gaining the respect and appreciation of local and in ternational organizations for our human and civilized treatment of all residents in our country, providing incentives for them to take active part in the development process of the UAE.
This vision, as defined by His Highness the President, does not remove from our sight the necessity of preserving our national identity. This was the starting point which led to the formation of a high-level committee, headed by the minister of interior, to deal with the question of demographic structure. We highly appreciate the work of this committee, which drew out a number of initiatives to deal with this question and take active measures in this connection. We are preparing other measures and decisions within our declared and transparent policy for dealing with the question of demographic structure in a civilized manner, without
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