Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
Saudi Arabian Airlines has agreed to buy 100 innovative electric vertical take-off and landing planes as it seeks to connect Jeddah with the Kingdom’s leading tourist destinations, according to one of the firm’s leading officers.
Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Group Chief Marketing Officer Khaled Tash said Saudia — the airline operated by his firm — will be the first in the region to make use of the technology.
The deal has been struck with German company Lilium, which is in the final testing phase for the aircraft, with operations expected to start in two years.
Tash said Saudia will be using the aircraft to improve access to destinations alongside the Red Sea and Makkah.
“That will actually be our first priority in the next few years to connect to the airport with Makkah whereby some of our premium passengers can land in Jeddah airport, take one of these small planes and go to Makkah and back in a few minutes. That will be a breakthrough,” he said.
The executive insisted the announcement shows air mobility in Saudi Arabia is set to move into a different era.
“When we think about what’s happening in the country, Vision 2030 is about a lot of transformation that is happening in the Kingdom and maybe today’s announcement, that we made with Lilium, is probably a testimony to how Saudi national champions like Saudi airlines are walking the talk,” Tash said.
“We want to be at the forefront of innovation, EVTOLs — or electric, vertical, takeoff and landing aircrafts — are the future of air mobility, I think in especially short distances. For us to be the first Middle Eastern and North African within that region, the first airline to make this step towards EVTOLs, I think that means a lot for us,” he added.
Tash used the example of seaplanes connecting the islands of the Maldives as delivering economic benefits to tourism — something he hopes will be replicated in Saudi Arabia.
The commitment to 100 vehicles will also offer value for money for his firm, he added, saying: “By moving by big players like Saudia moving into early adoption of such a technology or such an innovation, that will have, hopefully a very good impact on the cost.”
“So if we start with Jeddah to Makkah and then with with Jeddah to the Red Sea or Jeddah to AlUla URL, or Jeddah to King Abdullah Economic City, the more use cases we can find for this, the more commercial opportunities we will have and the less cost it will be,” he said.
“So if I have an aircraft that goes 20 times between Jeddah and Makkah each day, it will definitely be cheaper than going six times a day,” he added.
As well as the economic case for buying the aircraft, there is also a clear environmental benefit.
Tash was clear that while sustainability is a very important topic under the Vision 2030 umbrella, it is also for Saudia.
“We think that electric, in terms of these kinds of EVTOLs, is the future for aviation, and we believe that our sustainability initiatives will be further strengthened,” he said.
“It’s not the only sustainability initiative that we’re doing. We’re working on so many different fronts. We have one of the youngest fleets in general in our entire fleet that also has less emissions. We are committed to work on sustainability, more and more,” Tash added.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
_______
Saudi Arabian Airlines Group Chief Marketing Officer Khaled Tash speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh
Read on for a list of regional female filmmakers who have been taking the industry by storm.
Farida Khelfa
Farida Khelfa is an Algerian-French documentary filmmaker. She is currently set to release a new film titled “From The Other Side of the Veil” that aims to dismantle misconceptions and stereotypes that often surround Arab women.
Kaouther Ben Hania
The Tunisian filmmaker made headlines in the film industry after her critically acclaimed movie “The Man Who Sold His Skin” was shortlisted for the Oscar’s Best International Feature Film award this year.
Ayten Amin
The Egyptian director has long chronicled the lives of women in modern Egypt. Her feature film “Souad” was selected for the cancelled 2020 Cannes Film Festival.
Danielle Arbid
Danielle Arbid is a Lebanese filmmaker. Her work has screened at numerous film festivals in France and the rest of the world, including New York, San Francisco, Tokyo and more.
Annemarie Jacir
The Palestinian filmmaker has written, produced and directed award-winning films such as “A Post Oslo History.” Her movie “Wajib” (2017) won her 18 international awards.
Nujoom Al-Ghanem
The Emirati filmmaker, writer and poet had to overcome societal stigma and family disapproval to make it. She defied the odds and produced films such as “Amal” (2011) and “Sounds of the Sea” (2015).
Egyptian doctors ranked among the top five ‘joiner doctors’ who joined the UK medical workforce in 2021, according to a report released the British General Medical Council (GMC).
The GMC, a UK public body responsible for maintaining the official register of medical practitioners within the kingdom, said that Indian, Pakistani, Nigerian and Sudanese doctors were the other four nationalities in the top five who joined the kingdom’s medical system that year.
The GMC report also found that the number of Egyptian – as well as Chinese and Sudanese – doctors who joined the UK’s medical system tripled between 2017 and 2021.
It explained that the number of Egyptian doctors who joined the UK medical workforce was 435 in 2017 and increased to 765 in 2018. But, these numbers, it added, increased by almost 200 percent in the following three years on average, registering 1,301 in 2019, 1,220 in 2020, and 1,312 in 2021.
More IMGs – less UK and European
The GMC report analysed statistics related to the UK medical workforce and discussed various challenges that faced the kingdom’s medical system in 2022.
It found that the number of international medical graduates (IMGs) who joined the UK workforce in 2021 exceeded the numbers of graduates from UK and European Economic Area (EEA) who joined the kingdom’s workforce.
These increasing numbers of IMGs came primarily from doctors from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, the report found.
Doctors from these three regions comprised 84 percent of all ‘IMG joiners’ in 2021 at 8,900 doctors, a number which actually exceeded the number of 8,200 UK graduates who joined the country’s workforce in the same year, the report added.
According to the GMC report, the ‘joiner doctor’ category includes doctors who obtained a license to practice medicine in the year before applying for a job in the UK medical system.
The single fastest route to becoming a ‘joiner doctor’ is through enrollment in the UK’s medical graduate programmes, the GMC report found.
Egyptian doctors: Challenges and solutions
In recent decades, Egyptian doctors have faced increasing financial difficulties due to low pay as well as an increasing workload amid population growth.
According to a March 2019 study released by the ministries of health and higher education, the numbers of doctors who held a license to practice medicine in Egypt were estimated at 212,000 in 2018, with 82,000 of them – or 38 percent of the total – working in hospitals, both public and private.
The study also found there was an average of 8.6 doctors for every 10,000 citizen – or one doctor for every 1,162 citizen, when the global average was 23 doctors for every 10,000 citizen – or one doctor for every 434.
The Egyptian Medical Syndicate, which represents the country’s doctors, said in a report in April of this year that the doctor-to-citizen ratio improved to 9.2 doctors for every 10,000 citizen by March 2022 but remained far short of the global average.
The syndicate also said that 11,536 doctors resigned from the Egyptian public health sector from 2019 through March 2022.
Though these numbers do not represent more than five percent of the total of practicing physicians in the country, still, they have pushed many in the public to call on the government to improve the work conditions and salaries for doctors in order to stop any “doctors exodus” – real or not – and prevent any acute shortages that could impact the health system adversely.
The government has responded to these public calls by increasing the number of medicine faculties in the last few years in order to graduate more physicians.
It has also increased spendingon the health sector to EGP 128 billion in the budget for the FY 2022/23 up from EGP 108 billion in 2021/2022 – an 18.5 percent increase.
In 2021, the government, as per President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives, raised salaries and allowances for doctors and nurses in the public health sector by 75 percent.
Last August, President El-Sisi also instructed the government to offer financial incentive package for medical staff to improve their work conditions and raise their incomes.
Egyptian doctors check a patient s X-ray at the infectious diseases unit of the Imbaba Hospital in Cairo, during the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis. (AFP)
Bahrain’s GHF Financial Group has acquired a second US medical clinics portfolio at $400 million, as the firm continues its US expansion.
According to a press release, the newly acquired portfolio comprises 11 assets spread across four states: California, Texas, Maryland and Louisiana.
The new investment capitalizes on GFH’s joint venture partnership with Big Sky Medical, an asset management firm focused on medical assets.
Over the past six months, GFH, along with Big Sky Medical, has acquired assets worth $500 million.
To date, GFH has built a portfolio of assets in the US medical office building sector valued at $1 billion.
“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of this prime, income-yielding medical clinic portfolio as part of GFH’s ongoing expansion in the medical office building sector in fast-growing cities across the US,” said Nael Mustafa ,co-chief investment officer for real estate at GFH.
He added: “We believe strongly in the long-term fundamentals in the health care sector and the dynamics that are supporting an increase in demand for high-quality medical office space.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
____________
To date, GFH has built a portfolio of assets in the US medical office building sector valued at $1 billion. (Shutterstock)
The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria, the first in Egypt and Africa, is celebrating its centenary, reports Ameera Fouad.
It has been 100 years of success, 100 years of international and local relations, 100 years of developing markets and companies, 100 years of trade agreements, and 100 years of boosting made-in-Egypt products.
The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria is celebrating its centenary this year, having been established in April 1922. It was the first national chamber of commerce to be established in Egypt, Africa, and the Arab region. Situated near the Raml Station in Alexandria, it acts as a national economic and business institution that fosters economic and business development in Alexandria and the Arab and Mediterranean region.
The idea of setting up the chamber developed after the 1919 Revolution, which demanded the freedom and independence of Egypt’s industry and commerce. With the agreement of traders and industrialists, the chamber’s first board members were elected in 1922.
Its first elected president was businessman Mohamed Effendi Tawfik. According to a report published by the chamber, 129 members joined it when it was founded, a large number, and in addition to the president 15 board members were elected.
The centenary of the chamber coincides with the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Federation of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ESCAMI). This brings together more than 500 chambers from 23 countries overlooking the Mediterranean and more than 22 million companies. It is headed by Ahmed Al-Wakeel, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria.
The ESCAMI chambers implement regional projects financed by the EU with a budget of more than 180 million euros in the sectors of the food and textile industries, tourism, transport and logistics, new and renewable energy, environment and training for employment, regional development, transport and logistics, and the participation of workers abroad in the development of their countries. There is also a regional programme for the development of trade and investment.
At a press conference held to announce the centenary, Al-Wakeel said that the Alexandria chamber was working on automating all the services provided to its affiliates by the end of this year at a cost of LE7 million as part of the country’s larger commitment to digital transformation.
“The process includes the establishment of an electronic portal for the chamber, in addition to launching an electronic application on mobile phones,” Al-Wakeel said. He added that it also includes the internal systems of chamber employees and financial and administrative aspects.
The chamber has begun to provide online services to its members, such as obtaining certificates and getting acquainted with the laws that regulate the business environment as well as regulations and tenders. In terms of financial inclusion and the electronic transformation, the chamber is currently studying ideas for signing a protocol with an electronic payments company.
During the press conference, Al-Wakeel stressed the leading role played by the software industry, not only at the level of the Egyptian market, but also globally in the light of the availability of suitably qualified professionals. “Our professionals compete globally and are considered one of the sources of our national income,” he added.
He also highlighted the importance of updating the laws on intellectual property rights in Egypt after the launch of the Egyptian Strategy for Intellectual Property, which guarantees the rights of companies and individuals.
DEVELOPMENT ROLE: One of the core roles the chamber undertook just after its establishment was to resolve the economic problems that resulted from World War I.
“Among these problems were the lack of sugar in the markets, the tram tariffs, the issue of reducing freight fees and freight for ships and railways, and reducing floor fees and many more,” said Ahmed Sakr, a board member of the chamber.
“The then council addressed all these problems to meet contemporary concerns and needs.”
Since its establishment, the chamber has paid special attention to fostering and developing national industry and made-in-Egypt products. In 1940, it held its first permanent exhibition for national industries in Said Al-Awal Street in Alexandria. Then king Farouk visited the exhibition and hailed it as a success.
To hold the exhibition, the chamber made an agreement with Banque Misr to allow exhibitors participating in it to pay an interest rate on loans for exhibitions not exceeding two or three per cent. This succeeded in encouraging and assisting manufacturers and Egyptian-made products at the time.
A hundred years on, the chamber is still keen on taking the necessary steps to cope with global developments and the environmental changes associated with the climate change crisis. “The chamber is one of the first buildings that uses solar energy in its historic building in the Raml Station area,” Sakr added.
The chamber also uses solar energy in the wholesale market in the Ameriya district, making it the first of its kind in the world to operate on solar energy. The market was opened last February in the presence of Ali Moselhi, the minister of supply, Mohamed Al-Sharif, the governor of Alexandria, and Christian Berger, the EU ambassador to Egypt.
“We are always striving to play our important role in terms of social responsibility and sustainable development,” Sakr said.
WOMEN’S ROLE: Realising the important role that youth and women play in the economic sector, the chamber has helped strengthen their roles in society.
It activated an amendment introduced to the chambers law in 2002 that allowed the election of women as board members of the Chambers of Commerce. In 2015, the chamber established its first committee for businesswomen to represent female entrepreneurs and others. The committee aims at helping them to solve their problems and providing them with opportunities and workshops that can help them to promote their own businesses.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Al-Wakeel stressed the importance of women’s participation in the economy and comprehensive social and economic development. “It is an essential role that works to enhance Egypt’s long-term prosperity and stability,” he said.
He expressed his hope for more cooperation with embassies and other chambers in the field of women’s economic empowerment. The chamber is seeking networking opportunities and shared experiences with other countries in order to achieve a women’s economic renaissance and an effective developmental footprint, he said.
Reem Siam, founder of the Economic Council for Businesswomen, reviewed the Alexandria Chamber’s actions over the past seven years, praising steps taken to support female entrepreneurs and the programmes that the chamber has sought to implement in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Social responsibility: Many people relate the Chamber of Commerce only to industry and trade. But it also plays an important role in society and in facing up to many economic and other challenges.
“We have faced two major problems, a deadly pandemic and now the Russian-Ukrainian War, in just one decade,” Sakr told the Weekly. “But at the same time, we are working tirelessly for the sake of members and the wider population so that the markets will remain stocked with products.
“No one expected that the Russian-Ukrainian war would affect the Egyptian economy in the way that it has, especially the tourism sector. We must open new markets, encourage more types of tourism, and seek new opportunities in every sector,” he said.
In response to the high prices of commodities and high inflation, the chamber last month inaugurated a Food Commodities Exhibition under the auspices of the Northern Military Region, the Alexandria Governorate, and the Ministry of Supply.
The exhibition offers food commodities at discounted prices ranging from 10 to 30 per cent off at the General Abdel-Moneim Riad Complex on the Agricultural Road in the Smouha district of Alexandria.
It is divided into 50 sections with the participation of 35 exhibitors and offers discounts on various products. Companies affiliated to the Food Industries Holding Company of the Ministry of Supply, some major commercial chains, fresh and processed meat and poultry companies, and various food commodity companies have all participated in the exhibition.
“We believe that crises serve as catalysts for major transformations. The present anniversary marks an important point in history where everybody in the chamber is trying out innovative methods using digital technologies, open data, and citizen engagement for the greater welfare of our country,” Sakr concluded.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 13 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
A number of Arab films are being screened at the ongoing 60th New York Film Festival.
The films include titles from Lebanon and Morocco.
With its screening in the New York Festival, the Lebanese feature narrative film Tales of the Purple House by Abbas Fahdel makes its North American Premiere.
The film will be screened on 11 October, followed by a Q&A with the director.
Another Lebanese film, Beirut the Encounter, will screen on 7 and 16 October.
Directed by Borhane Alaouié, this 1981 production went through a new restoration, allowing the US audiences to view it in an improved condition.
Morocco is represented with Life on the CAPS by Meriem Bennani. The film will be screened on 7 and 9 October, as part of the Currents Program 5: After Utopia segment of the festival.
The New York Film Festival opened on 30 September and runs until 16 October.
As the festival is ongoing, two other Arab films are currently being screened in New York’s cinemas: Casablanca Beats by Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch and Lebanese documentary Sirens by Rita Baghdadi. Both films had their US premiere on 16 and 30 September respectively.
‘The Sandman’ star will be the face of its women’s collections in the Middle East.
Building on an already stellar year, Lebanese British actress Razane Jammal has been announced as Dior’s latest ambassador. She will be the face of its women’s collections in the Middle East.
The announcement was complemented by a fashion shoot featuring Jammal in some of the house’s latest creations. She is no stranger to the world of high fashion — the actress was previously an ambassador for Chanel.
“I’m so unbelievably excited to finally announce that I will be joining Dior as a brand ambassador in the Middle East,” Jammal wrote on Instagram.
“Ever since I joined the fashion community, I wanted to collaborate with people I can truly grow with, to join a family that I value as much as it values me. It’s been a long journey but I can confidently say I’ve found my home.
“This is the start of a wonderful collaboration. I cannot wait to embody the timeless creations of @mariagraziachiuri.”
This is yet another mark of Jammal’s upward trajectory. She stars in the highest-grossing film in Egyptian history, Kira & El Gin, and is one of the key characters in Netflix’s hugely popular new show The Sandman.
“It’s been a very crazy couple of years,” she told The National in a recent interview. “But I’m very happy that the hard work has paid off.”
Fluent in Arabic, French and English, Jammal’s first serious foray into acting was in the French-German feature Carlos in 2010. This was followed by Cruel Summer in 2012, a short film by Kanye West, and then Une histoire de fou in 2014 by director Robert Guediguian. All three projects had their world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Based on 1919, the novel by Egyptian writer Ahmed Mourad, and directed by Marwan Hamed, Kira & El Gin is an action drama that chronicles the 1919 revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan.
The Sandman is based on Neil Gaiman’s groundbreaking graphic novel series.
The experience has been a bittersweet one for Jammal, she told The National, as her mother died last year while The Sandman was being filmed.
“We were filming during Covid-19 in London. We were following very strict Covid-19 protocols and I wasn’t allowed to travel. So I didn’t go back home for eight months after losing my mum. My mum was the most important person in my life. She was a single mum, we had a very close relationship.”
Morocco recently has stepped up efforts to restore and protect its cultural heritage.
Following a series of complaints about the cultural appropriation of Moroccan Zellige (mosaic), on Friday, Morocco’s Ministry of Culture announced the official patenting of Zellige of Fez by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
In 2015, Morocco registered the Zellige of Fez in the Vienna Classification of Figurative Elements of the World Intellectual Property Organization in an effort to preserve its national heritage.
Celebrating the new patent, the Moroccan ministry took to social media to share the news, stating “Zellij is one of the most artistic forms that express the originality of Moroccan architecture.”
The ministry’s post added that the Zellige “industry dates back to the tenth century AD, when it flourished during the Marinid era in the honorable Kingdom before moving to neighboring tribes during the following centuries.”
Given the global popularity of Zellige of Fez due to its quality, originality, and multicolored feature, the Moroccan ministry says that “the city of Fez [is] the owner of this art and the main center for its production and industry due to its special clay that is not found in other places.”
In addition to gaining global appeal among designers, interior architects, celebrities, and even international organizations , Moroccan Zellige has been studied by Moroccan and foreign experts in the fields of engineering, arts, social sciences, and mathematics including Rushita Choksey and Jean Constant.
Despite the existence of an extensive literature body asserting the Moroccan origin of the Zellige, the clay artwork remains subject to external claims.
Earlier this week, Morocco filed a complaint against Adidas for producing and promoting new Algerian jerseys with Zellige patterns. Adidas claimed that the patterns were inspired by El Mechouar palace in Tlemcen.
Soon after Moroccan social media users learned about Adidas’ news, the brand’s post was flooded with comments from Moroccan users who denounced the company’s act. Moroccan users added social media hashtags such as #Moroccan culture, #Moroccan Zellige, and #No theft of Moroccan heritage to spread the word.
Some internet users also stressed the Moroccan origin of the El Mechouar’s architecture stating that the Algerian-based palace was built by Sultan Youssef Ibn Tachfin during the Almoravid dynasty and renovated in 2010 with Moroccan calligraphy, mosaic, and plaster art.
In response to the social media backlash between Moroccan and Algerian users, Morocco’s Ministry of Culture filed a complaint against the multinational firm, condemning the “cultural appropriation [and the] attempted robbery of a form of traditional Moroccan cultural heritage.”
Still, Moroccan-Algerian clashes over the origins of popular products such as couscous, caftan, and mosaics are likely to persist after the patenting of the Zellige of Fez. These debates, which mostly take place in the digital space, reflect the decades-long tensions between Rabat and Algiers centered on the Western Sahara dispute.
The rising diplomatic tensions and small-scale online clashes between the North African neighbors, however, do not fully reflect the relations between the two nations’ peoples, as many Moroccan and Algerian families have shared history and lineage.
Massimo Bottura, Niko Romito, Yannick Alleno, Heston Blumenthal, Clare Smyth and Anne-Sophie Pic are the big culinary names she’s ranked alongside on the top 100 list for this year’s The Best Chef Awards.
“The people on this list are actual living legends in the culinary field, so for me to be on it at all is amazing,” she tells The National.
“What I’m currently doing is trying to put Middle Eastern cuisine on a global scale, so for me to be the only Arab on this list means I’m taking one step forward to doing that and to give our cuisine its moment in the spotlight and its culinary renaissance.”
Not only is Bashmi the only Arab, she’s also one of only 18 women who have made it on to this list of 100 culinary talents across the globe.
She ranked 93rd, but says the number didn’t “really matter” to her. “Going into this, I had no idea if I was going to make this list,” she says. “I’m from a small island that doesn’t get much exposure, so for me to get this is amazing.”
At the event, which was held at the Crystal Gallery of the Palacio de Cibeles, in Spain’s capital, she met some of her all-time heroes. This includes Andoni Luis Aduriz, a Spanish chef who ranked number five and picked up the award for The Best Science Chef Award. Bashmi describes him as “humble, down to earth and very focused on what matters in this industry rather than distractions around, which I really admire”.
Spain’s Dabiz Munoz picked up the top accolade of The Best Chef for a second consecutive year for his work at DiverXO restaurant in Madrid. Noma’s Rene Redzepi came second, while Spain’s Joan Roca i Fontane rounded out the top three.
Bashmi, who heads The Gulf Hotel Bahrain’s well-regarded restaurant Fusions by Tala, is no stranger to culinary accolades, having picked up her award for Best Female Chef in the region in Abu Dhabi this February. Her restaurant also ranked 39th on the first list of Mena’s 50 Best Restaurants.
She inherited an interest in cuisine and cultural identity from her father through his in-depth knowledge of the ingredients used. She then used this interest to launch Baked by T, before joining the Culinary Arts Academy in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Staying in the central European country, she had roles at the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel and the Michelin-starred restaurant Prisma in Vitznau, where she learnt more about restaurant operations, as well as working in fast-paced kitchen environments.
Since returning to the Mena region, Bashmi has competed on MBC’s Top Chef Middle East television show in 2020, where she reached the finals.
In 2017, she took over the helm at Fusions by Tala, where she makes modern interpretations of Bahraini dishes, including the standout bamia, a traditional okra and meat stew, for which she uses Wagyu beef cheek, crispy okra glass and tomato broth rice.
“I try to appeal to every audience from every country, in a sense of bringing them back to a state of nostalgia,” she has previously said of her approach. Bashmi might do this through any of our senses, such as when she adds a campfire aroma to the Saudi-Bahraini dessert aseeda to evoke memories of camping, whether in the desert or the forest.
“I feel like this is still the beginning for me,” she says of her latest achievement. “People haven’t seen what came before, what led to today, so every time something is achieved, it’s a new beginning and opens new doors to opportunities I hadn’t even thought of.
Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Chairman of the Committee leading Great Arab Minds, and Secretary-General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), highlighted the details of “The Great Arab Minds” initiative.
Launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in January 2022, the initiative is the Arab world’s largest movement designed to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields.
The Great Arab Minds initiative, under the MBRGI, aims to identify, support and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplify their impact and inspire future generations. One of its main purposes is to reduce the emigration of Arab scientists, specialists, intellectuals, doctors, and engineers.
He affirmed that “The Great Arab Minds” initiative reflect His Highness’ vision in reigniting the Arab World’s Civilisation Drive, support great Arab minds and acknowledge their work and achievements, in service of humanity.
Mohammad Al Gergawi pointed out the importance of the Arab Reading Challenge initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, among many other development projects, serving more than 91 million beneficiaries.
A study conducted by KPMG, showed that ignorance costs the Arab world more than US$2 trillion. The Great Arab Minds initiative aims to change this reality and contribute to shaping a brighter future for Arab generations.
During an event organised in the Museum of the Future to announce the details of the initiative, Mohammad Al Gergawi witnessed the signing of four partnerships between “The Great Arab Minds” initiative and KPMG, LinkedIn, Meta, and Majarra.
The initiative’s mission is to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields, aiming to identify, support and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplify their impact and inspire future generations.
Over a 5-year period, “The Great Arab Minds” will reward scientists, thought leaders, scholars, and innovators across 6 categories: Natural Sciences (Physics and Chemistry), Medicine, Literature and Arts, Economics, Technology and Engineering, and Architecture & Design.
The initiative includes the “Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Great Arab Minds”, which will be awarded to 6 winners of six categories each year.
The Great Arab Minds initiative aims to facilitate the recognition of Arab thought leaders, scholars, scientists, geniuses, and transforming their ideas to real-life breakthroughs and solutions. It also aims at empowering cluster of Arab scientists and thinkers and building a network of Arab thinkers, scientists, and exceptional talents in various fields to work as one team to drive the Arab world’s intellectual renaissance.
