Have plans for this year? Dubai's got them for the next 50

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Have plans for this year? Dubais got them for the next 50
MAPPING OUT THE FUTURE: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed at the first meeting of the newly formed Dubai Council.

Fifty years of forward-thinking is just mind-boggling, but then that's Dubai for you.

By Vicky Kapur (From the Executive Editor's desk)

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Published: Tue 7 Jan 2020, 7:00 PM

Last updated: Wed 8 Jan 2020, 4:58 PM

Last week this day (Wednesday, January 1, 2020), like everyone else, I was busy putting finishing touches to my New Year's resolutions. Diet, delegate, detox, destress, and all that 'di/de' stuff. Admittedly, the list looked strikingly similar to my last year's until I decided to use a fluorescent green marker instead of the blue ballpoint pen I used 365 days ago. It eventually 'looked' different. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that my 2020 wish-list remains a sketchy affair at best, and not too different from what I've been plotting over the past few years. Going by research that maintains that most people give up on their resolutions by mid-February, I suspect it's the same for others.
Now let's look at the To-Do list of the Dubai government, with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, spelling out an overarching strategy for not one, two or five years, but 50. That's half a century of planning ahead! Fifty years of forward-thinking is just mind-boggling, but then that's Dubai for you. We've often heard that grandiloquent interview question about where do you see yourself in three or even five years. That we're talking 50 here and not for an individual but an emirate, which is part of an exceedingly dynamic nation, says a lot about the master strategist drafting the blueprint and creating a vision of the future.
With an eye on the future, the formation of the Dubai Council with a focus on performance, better governance and services across a range of domains demonstrates the leadership's resolve and intent to further transform the emirate and, with it, the lives of its citizens and residents. The UAE has identified 2020 as the year of preparation for the next 50, and seems to be in a hurry to create that roadmap and implement that vision. The first week of the year has seen a flurry of ambitious yet decisive announcements, including the development of a quality of life map to ensure that Dubai continues to meet the expectations of its citizens while attracting the top global talent by emerging as the best city in the world in terms of facilities and services. It's perhaps time for us to expand our own list of resolutions.


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