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UAE President among Newsweek’s list of the 50 Most Powerful People in the World |
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President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan was chosen by the Newsweek magazine among its traditional list of 50 most powerful people in the world. The U.S magazine’s most recent issue hailed Sheikh Khalifa’s ability to hunt down crises since an early age up to the current days where he managed to save the United Arab Emirates from the global financial crisis. The magazine elaborated on Sheikh Khalifa’s political career, achievements and traits ever since the then young crown prince of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, back in 1979, was tasked by his father Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the late Founding Father of the UAE federation, with tackling the violent financial crisis which hit the emirate because of high-interest loans given to nationals to finance new houses and businesses. Directly addressing the crisis which hit the emirate few years after independence and before the discovery of oil, Sheikh Khalifa set up a committee that purchased the indebted citizens’ debts and in less than a year slashed interest rates on their loans from 20% to less than 2%, said the magazine. The said committee later turned into a loan-giving entity directly and effectively contributing to shooting the quality of life of the UAE citizens to very high levels matching those in the West and the then rich nations and driving extensive urban development which boosted the popularity of the young crown prince of the emirate, it noted. The magazine also noted that Sheikh Khalifa, who continues to build on the legacy of wisdom of his late father, has developed strong relations with his own people, the region and the leaders of world. It noted that upon taking over in 2004, Sheikh Khalifa launched reforms and a women-empowering process which led to appointing 4 women as ministers, giving women 30% of senior governmental positions and to increasing the number of businesswomen to more than 2400. Hosting the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the first universal museum in this region, the Guggenheim museum and world-class universities such as the Sorbonne and New York University, Abu Dhabi is set to be a global cultural crossroad, said the Newsweek.
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