DUBAI // Ministers who are not exceptional have no place in government, the deputy prime minister has said.
Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, who is also Minister of Interior, delivered a speech on leadership, talent and technology on the opening day of the second annual Government Summit in Dubai.
“I will tell all the ministers and government heads, if you can’t be an exceptional minister you won’t have a future in this government,” he said.
“So I ask you all now, do you accept being less than exceptional? Keep your answer to yourself and think about it.
“To every father and mother I say you have to be exceptional if you are to raise exceptional children. To teachers I say you have to be exceptional to educate an exceptional generation.”
Gauging the opinion and voice of the people was critical for the leadership to meet their needs, said Sheikh Saif.
“Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid hold a weekly open majlis with Emiratis,” he said.
In response to a comment by an Emirati that ambulances in parts of the country were taking too long to arrive, Sheikh Saif said the President had requested an investigation and a study on ambulance response times, with a global comparison.
“We have now constructed 20 new ambulance points in the northern emirates and two helicopters that will begin operations by the end of this month,” he said.
“We have an agreement with Harvard University to train Emirati emergency medics. In the next two years your Emirati brothers and sisters will helm these emergency response points.”
Sheikh Saif also spoke about how the UAE had weathered the economic crisis. “From 2008 to now the world has passed through economic crises, political crises and security crises.
"But the UAE had a clear strategy. We launched three satellites, had Formula 1, got the International Renewable Energy Agency and Expo 2020, and when all the airlines of the world were closing down there were two that were buying new planes."
Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, told the summit that leadership could be defined by four factors: brains, soul, heart and nerves.
“A leader must be intelligent and know what he is doing and why. He must believe in what he is trying to accomplish. He must have passion for what he does and compassion for the people he is doing it for. And he must be able to cope with the setbacks in disappointments when things don’t work out,” he said.
“There are a handful of leaders in the world who fulfil these key features, and I’m sure I can find some here.”
More than 3,600 delegates and 60 speakers on government, business, transport and education are attending the three-day summit at Madinat Jumeirah.
malkhan@thenational.ae
