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PROPERTY, BUSINESS, INVESTMENT
BUSINESS EMIRATES
BUSINESS&POLITICS
scholarswhowill continue all theendeavours
initiatedbymygeneration and lead the
Emirates’economy tonewmilestones and
achievements. That iswhywehave to invest
considerable funds intoeducation and scientific
research.
Today’sworld is getting very small, due to
integration andglobalization; it is progressing
at a breath-taking speed. Andwe realize that
amodern society is by nomeans built solely
onmoney andnatural resources; first of all,
it goes about people and the readiness to
meet the realities of tomorrow.We have to
undertake everythingpossible toprepare our
younggeneration tomeet the future because
these are inparticular the youngpeoplewho
will make newdiscoveries andmake their
countrymore prosperous.
We try to actively cooperate inmany
sphereswith scientific and research centres
inmany countries of theworld, with the aim
tobuildupour own scientific potential. In
our opinion, themost promising cooperation
spheres are the use of human resources,
studies of the practical applicationof the solar
energy in the region, nano-technologies. In
oneword, we understand that we have to
pay special attention tobasic sciences and to
continue the studieswe have began.
What isyouropinionabout thepossibleuse
of theexperiencesgainedbyUkrainianscholars
whendeveloping theEmirates’national science?
We know verywell the scientific
achievements of Ukrainian scholars and
research institutes. Even in the Soviet times,
Ukrainehas been a leading centreof science
and industry.We areby allmeans ready to
consider anypossible cooperationoptions. Any
INTERVIEWWITHHISHIGHNESSSHEIKH
NAHAYANBINMUBARAKALNAHAYAN,
Minister of Higher Education and
Scientific Research of the UAE
YourHighness, theUAEbecame
in threedecadesnotonlyacountry
withadevelopedeconomybutalsoa
statepayingenormousattention to
issues connectedwitheducationof its
populationanddevelopmentof science.
Couldyouplease shareyour visionof the
futuredevelopmentofhigher education
and fundamental science in theUAE?
As of today, theGovernment of
theUAEhas elaborated aprogramof
the country’s strategicdevelopment
containing thebasicpriorities. Among
thesepriorities, the issues relatedwith
higher education and scientific research
occupyoneof the leadingpositions.
Oneof the keygoalswe are facing is
theestablishment of anational research
institute.We attract to this goal thebest
global companies engaged in scientific
research.Wehave already signed the
cooperation agreement in this sphere
andon theestablishment of a scientific
centre in theUAEwithColumbia Institute
inNewYork. In thenew scientific centre
we shall conduct all kinds of up-to-date
scientific research. SheikhMohammed
binRashidAlMaktoum, Vice-President
andPrimeMinister of theUAE, Ruler of
Dubai, has declared a long-term strategic
planof the country’s development; in
the framework of this plan, specialized
scientific institutionswill be created
Of coursewe arewell aware that the
futureof our statewill bebasednot on
theoil reserves but on thehighlyqualified
specialistswhichwehave togrow from
the young citizens of theUAE.Weneed
our ownhuman resources, progressive
experience and knowledgewhich
couldbeuseful for our country is
important and interesting for us.
TheUAE areopen for thebest
international experience and ready to
create various joint researchprograms.
Wewill welcomeeverybody coming
touswith interesting anduseful
proposals andprojects. Moreover,
we are ready to listen and adopt
thebest experience and knowledge
accumulatedbyother countries,
with the aim toestablishmutually
rewarding cooperation and to
improveour scientificbase.We
cannot be isolated from theglobal
processes as global warmingor
protectionof environment.We are
already conducting in these spheres
our own research. I would also like
toemphasize thatwehave started
cooperationwith several Ukrainian
scientists, with the assistanceof
UkraineTradeCenter in theUAE.
YourHighness, letme thankyou
for the invitationof theemployeesand
VIP-guestsofUkraineTradeCenter
in theUAE toattend theFestival of
Thinkersheldat theendofOctober
inAbuDhabi andDubai. Tellme
pleasehowdidyoucome toan idea to
conduct suchagrandioseevent in the
Emirateswith theparticipationof 15
Nobel laureates?
As I have already said, ourworld
is getting smaller. Therefore, the
peoples of all countries haveno
alternativebut to interactwith each
other.We also realize thatwe cannot
be isolatedwhen there aredisasters
or cataclysms somewhere in the
world. All the events happening in
theworldwhether inUkraineor
China, are important in someway
or another, for the entiremankind.
If somethinghappens to the
ecosystemof our planet, itmatters
for everybody. If there are some
disruptions in the economy of any
region, it alsomatters for everybody.
I would remind youon theoil prices
explosion at theworld commodity
exchanges that affect the economic
stability ofmany countries.
In short, in themodernworld
we cannot afford to live isolated
from eachother. The frontiers are
gettingmore andmore transparent.
The IT-technologies enable us to
momentarily contact, in real time
mode, our partners living inother
parts of theworld. That iswhy no
government canprevent you from
crossing the national boundaries
in the virtual space. Our worldhas
changed, andwe have to
SergiyPasko–ChargeD’AffairsUkraine in theUAE,AnatoliyZlenko–MinisterofForeignAffairsofUkraine
1990-1994,2000-2003,Advisor to thePrime-ministerofUkraine,HHSheikhNahayanMubarakAlNahayan–
MinisterofHighEducationandScientificResearch,SergiiPachkovskiy–DirectorGeneral,UkraineTradeCenter
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
