Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

A lifetime of service by the President of the UAE

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan attending the opening ceremony of the Arab summit in Riyadh March 28, 2007. Arab leaders officially began a two-day summit in Saudi Arabia that relaunched an Arab initiative for peace with Israel Thomson/Reuters
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan attending the opening ceremony of the Arab summit in 2007 that relaunched an initiative for peace with Israel

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, ruler of Abu Dhabi, was elected President of the United Arab Emirates in November 2004, to succeed his father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, UAE President from 1971 to 2004.

Sheikh Khalifa presided over a major restructuring of both the Federal Government and the government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

A modern visionary

The appointment of a new Cabinet in February 2006, with Vice-President and Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as prime minister, saw major changes in the government’s structure.

These included new ministries devoted to streamlining and modernising the government, a new focus on community development and an important step towards reforming the political process through introducing indirect elections for half of the Federal National Council’s membership.

Socially conscious

Early in his presidency, Sheikh Khalifa took extensive tours throughout the UAE to study the needs of the northern Emirates. Assessing the need, he commenced a number of projects to build housing and schools and provide other social services.

Sheikh Khalifa also implemented dramatic changes in the government of Abu Dhabi, including improving public services and opening up the economy to encourage investment and public-private partnerships. During the early years of the Federation, he believed it was right and appropriate for government to play the leading role, but now, with a burgeoning private sector and with a well-educated population, the time is right for both local and federal government to step back and concentrate on the core areas of government responsibility.

Global pioneer

While emphasising the need for a restructuring at home, not just in terms of government, but also in how the people of the UAE look at their own societal responsibilities Sheikh Khalifa continued to ensure that the country pursues an active foreign policy.

Sheikh Khalifa demonstrated his commitment to continuing to build relations with other countries. Under his leadership, the UAE provided emergency assistance at times of natural disaster, responding immediately in sending help after events such as Hurrican Irma, which battered the US and Caribbean in 2017, and the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2018. 

A unifier

During his tenure, the UAE became the world’s largest donor of humanitarian assistance relative to national income, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2018.

Sheikh Khalifa was a strong supporter of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), believing that the success and achievements of this body reflect the depth of understanding reached among its leaders.

Latest articles

Emirati director Nayla Al Khaja. Her film 'Three' is currently being shown in UAE theatres in Mandarin using Camb.ai's AI translation programme

Dubai startup helps AI-voice cloning take centre stage

A YouTube video released in January of Novak Djokovic shows the tennis star speaking fluent Spanish at a post-match press conference.  While the Serbian champion is renowned for speaking several languages, in this case his voice was created by an artificial intelligence tool developed by a Dubai-based startup, Camb.ai. The original Djokovic footage was taken […]

Alec IPO SeaWorld Abu Dhabi

Alec IPO could start listings rush in construction sector

A listing by Dubai’s Alec Engineering and Contracting could open the gates for more construction-related companies to go public as they take advantage of the country’s buoyant property market, according to a business expert. Alec, which is backed by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, is behind some of the […]

A Saudi woman works inside the first all-female call centre in the kingdom's security sector, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Saudi Arabia unemployment fell in Q4 2023

Unemployment among Saudi Arabian nationals fell to 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, from 8 percent during the same period in 2022, the government said this week, reflecting the growth of the non-oil sector despite an economic contraction.  Unemployment among Saudi males was 4.6 percent, which was up from 4.2 percent the year […]

Saudi finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan

Saudi FDI inflow up but still far short of target

The net inflow of foreign direct investment into Saudi Arabia was just over SAR13 billion ($3.5 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 16 percent on the previous period, government data said this week.  The data, released by the General Authority for Statistics, puts the total net inflow for 2023 at SAR46 billion, which […]