Abu Dhabi, UAE— The UAE cabinet has approved the establishment of the ministry of investment, and appointed Mohamed Hassan Al Suwaidi as the minister.
The ministry will support the UAE’s business objectives, and investments policies and promoting its world-class infrastructure, as a global platform to attract investments in various sectors.
The ministry will be responsible of proposing the general investment policies of the UAE in coordination with the relevant authorities, in addition to preparing strategies, legislation, plans, projects and national programs to promote the investment environment in the country and enhance its competitiveness.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, chaired the UAE cabinet meeting at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi.
He said: “Today, I chaired the cabinet meeting in Qasr Al Watan, in Abu Dhabi, where we adopted under the directives of the President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the establishment of the Ministry of Investment and appointed Mohamed Hassan Al Suwaidi as the minister. Our aim is to develop the investment vision of the UAE, and promote the investment environment and the competitiveness of this sector in the country.”
He added, “As a result of the accelerated economic growth, we approved the updated UAE National Energy Strategy, which aims to triple the contribution of the renewable energy over the next 7 years, and invest $41 to $54 billion during the same period to meet the country’s growing demand for energy.”
Sheikh Mohammed said, “We also approved the National Hydrogen Strategy, which has recently emerged as one of the most important types of clean energy. The strategy aims to promoting the UAE’s position as a producer and exporter of low-emission hydrogen over the next eight years through the development of supply chains, the establishment of hydrogen oases and a national research and development center.”
He noted, “We appointed Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as Chairperson of the Quality of Education Centre. The Centre will be responsible of developing an evaluation system, monitoring the quality of education and setting targets and outputs for all levels and types of education in the country.”
Sheikh Mohammed also said, “We approved the National Electric Vehicles Policy which aims to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers, organizing the market of electric vehicles, promoting associated industries to ensure lower emissions, lower energy consumption and maintain the quality of roads.”
He added, “We also adopted the first national preliminary approval for autonomous vehicle in the UAE for WeRide company. The company will begin testing all types of autonomous vehicles in the country, reflecting a change in the country’s future mobility patterns.”
Sheikh Mohammed said, “The Cabinet also approved a federal law establishing the Financial Stability Council, which aims to promote financial stability in the country, monitor associated risks, tackle and prevent financial crises, and develop proactive measures to manage and protect economic, financial and monetary systems in the UAE.”
He added, “The UAE is a global financial hub trusted by thousands of financial institutions and millions of investors around the world. Our goal is to maintain this confidence.”
He concluded, “Today, we approved amendments to the law on combating human trafficking, including tightening sanctions, providing new services for victims including educational support, safe return to their home country, criminalizing incitement to commit, and increasing the penalties for perpetrators.”
The cabinet issued a decision appointing Sheikha Mariam bint Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as Chairperson of the Quality of Education Center.
The center will be responsible for endorsing educational goals and targets across all levels of education in the country, and approving the overarching framework, policies, strategies, legislation, and educational systems for all stages of education, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and educational institutions in the UAE.
Also, the center will monitor the performance of the education sector and ensure the alignment of its outputs with current and future labor market demands.
The cabinet approved the updates on the UAE National Energy Strategy 2050, aiming at increasing reliance on renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and promoting the use of clean energy. The strategy will support research and development programs in energy technologies, in addition to encouraging innovation and investment in energy sector.
The national strategy will work on strengthening the country’s capacity to provide clean and sustainable energy, raising its global competitiveness in the energy sector and consolidating its position as one of the most countries attracting innovation and investment in the sector.
The strategy provides new investment opportunities in renewable energy, supports efforts to strengthen cooperation with international partners to achieve sustainability goals in the energy sector, and constitutes a long-term national program to balance meeting energy needs with ensuring the sustainability of natural resources for future generations.
The strategy aims to triple the contribution of renewable energy by 2030, to reduce the effects of climate change and achieve climate neutrality. The strategy’s objective is to achieve up to $27 billion financial savings by 2030, and increase national energy investments between $41 to $54 billion until 2030, in addition to raising the share of clean energy in the total energy mix to 30 percent by 2031.
Within the UAE’s initiatives and projects to invest in new clean energy sources, and as part of the country’s preparations to host COP28, the UAE Cabinet approved the National Hydrogen Strategy to support low carbon local industries, contribute to achieving climate neutrality and enhance the UAE’s position enhance among the largest producers of hydrogen by 2031, through 10 main enablers.
The strategy aims at accelerating the growth of hydrogen economy and enhancing the global position of the UAE among the world’s largest producers of low-carbon hydrogen, through developing energy policies, and attracting investments in this sector.
Also, the UAE Cabinet has approved a national policy on electric vehicles. It aims to develop cooperation with federal and local partners as well as the private sector, to build a national network of electric vehicle chargers that supports the needs of owners of electric vehicles and regulates its market in the UAE.
The policy will contribute in reducing energy consumption in the transport sector by 20 percent, through the Green Mobility Project, in addition to reducing carbon emissions by 2050, building a unified database of electric vehicle charging stations and contributing to raising road quality and maintaining the world’s first rank in this index.
During the meeting, the Cabinet also granted a preliminary approval to the autonomous vehicle project for WeRide company that develops autonomous vehicles. The approval comes to support technological developments in the sustainable transport sector and to reduce carbon emissions.
The Cabinet also adopted amendments to the federal law on private education, in line with the new structure of the UAE’s education sector, and defining roles for new education institutions, including the UAE Federal Agency for Early Education (FAEE), and the National Centre for Education Quality, in addition to the roles of the Ministry of Education and local educational institutions.
The meeting also adopted a new framework for governing federal bodies of higher education institutions to ensure the quality of local and international educational services, and outputs in the UAE.
Also, the Cabinet has adopted amendments to the law on combating human trafficking, including tightening sanctions, providing new services for victims including educational support, safe return to their home country, criminalizing incitement to commit, and increasing the penalties for perpetrators.
The meeting approved a federal law establishing the Financial Stability Council, which aims to promote financial stability in the country, monitor associated risks, tackle and prevent financial crises, and develop proactive measures to manage and protect economic, financial and monetary systems in the UAE.
A decision regarding Tatmeen, the highly advanced track and trace platform for pharmaceuticals and medical products, has been approved during the meeting. Also, the Cabinet approved forming a trade agencies committee, the executive regulations of the federal law to promote the country’s industrial sector, and technical regulations of the regulatory requirements of medical and laboratory measurement tools. The meeting approved the mechanisms of the application of VAT on electronic devices registered in the country.