Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum chaired the opening session of the remote government meeting entitled 'Preparations for the post-coronavirus, COVID-19, period.'
The three-day meeting is attended by the ministers, undersecretaries, secretary general of the Executive Councils, officials from over 100 federal and local entities in addition to international experts, strategists and researchers.
Addressing the participants, His Highness said: “Today we have the federal government team and local governments’ teams. And I will call you the UAE Team. Our purpose is to draft the UAE plan for post COVID-19. A plan that will ensure our fast recovery and will put us back on the track”.
Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, stated that the future-oriented vision adopted by the country's leadership has placed the UAE in a better position to respond to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Al Gergawi mentioned three morals which, he said, should be learnt from the past two months: "The first is the pandemic has expedited the implementation of many future solutions which had been foreseen by the World Government Summit, and turned remote work into a reality, driven by the readiness of the UAE Government, which's now operating entirely remotely. Distance education has likewise become a reality fed by advanced technologies."
The second lesson is history confirms that global changes often occur after major events and what the world is currently witnessing is tantamount to a third world war, he said, stressing that after the crisis is over, there will be a new world order.
Geopolitical changes will lead some countries to "turn increasingly inward in terms of manufacturing and food security, with advanced technologies to gain the upper hand as the major organising force in our daily activities; some economic sectors will decimate while others will emerge."
Al Gergawi added: "The third lesson is that the crisis has provided a great opportunity to create a new model for governments that are more flexible, a government that can coexist with only available financial resources and can develop new resources to deal with rapid changes and different national priorities and ensure decent life for citizens."