Majid Al Suwahidi: "The day we pack our last barrel of oil we will celebrate"

On the occasion of the communication week, the European University of Madrid offered an event in which the Emirati ambassador, Majid Al Suwahidi, presented the 2021 exhibition that will take place in Dubai next October. In the same way, Al Suwahidi presented the growing opportunities that the Emirati country is experiencing as a new model of promotion and international openness in the region.

In this sense, the ambassador spoke of the Emirates as a "country of tolerance and openness" in which "multilateralism, tolerance and optimism" are being promoted, and which is experiencing a growing economic diversification that is attempting to move away from the country's dependence on oil and gas resources. For this reason, Al Suwahidi emphasised the UAE's economic diversification in other areas, stating that "the day we pack our last barrel of oil we will celebrate because we have a bright future in other areas".

In this regard, Majid Al Suwahidi spoke of the position of women in the Emirates as a key role in the world of work and academia, as "70% of women have access to education and 77% of these women continue with higher education after secondary school".  Along these lines, three out of five students in public higher education are women. This is shown by educational indicators that reflect women's achievements in education which, in some cases, are higher than those of men due to a strong desire among women to be economically independent and professionally successful. For the ambassador, this factor makes the UAE a country that manages to differentiate itself and position itself in the Middle East as a developed and open country. 

In the same way, the UAE is characterised as a competitive country that is committed to open economies that seek to attract businesses and companies and places the digitalisation of the economy as a key factor in the region to fight corruption. This digitalisation would consist of converting all economic processes into digital ones, which would combat the black economy and reduce production costs.

On the other hand, the UAE continues to lead the way in the development of medical and healthcare advancement by trying to create a policy aimed at providing all citizens with basic necessities. In this regard, the UAE was one of the countries that introduced the "Ministry of Happiness" among its portfolios to generate "social goodness and contentment as core values" in the country and to ensure that the government is not only concerned with providing services but also with "fostering the development of skills and providing the climate for achievement".

In addition, according to the ambassador, the UAE is considered one of the countries most committed to mitigating the consequences of climate change. In this regard, the country has cities declared as zero carbon cities, in addition to having a plan that has an agenda to combat climate change, focused on the use of hydrogen as a renewable alternative.

Relations between the Emirates and Spain continue to strengthen in a context in which there are parts of the Emirates that "have a higher birth rate of Spanish children than in some areas of Spain". According to the minister, the Emirati country has Spanish schools due to the increase in the Hispanic population in the territory. In addition, the Emirates and Spain continue to work together in terms of the multilateral fight against terrorism and extremism. For Al Suwahidi, countries must unite in terms of multilateralism to ensure international security, since "conflicts must be resolved through negotiation".