(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Wednesday wrapped up the two-day Arab Social Media Influencers Summit with an open dialogue session with the participants of the first edition of the event organised under his patronage.
In the session, Shaikh Mohammed emphasised that social media created a new reality, removed a lot of barriers and helped make thousands of creative people and influencers famous.
He said that the UAE had the belief that social media will play a role in changing the lifestyles of people, and was able, from the very beginning, to use these media to receive remarks, ideas and proposals for improving government services and use this feedback to make its people happy.
He noted that in a brainstorming session during a retreat for his Cabinet team, some 80,000 ideas were gathered and discussed and a number of these ideas were adopted.
Shaikh Mohammed also noted that his mantra on social media is the Quranic verse in which Allah says that He made mankind into nations and tribes, that they may know one another. This is so because good and well-being lie in the process of making acquaintances, exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences and exploring new opportunities with other peoples, he noted.
"The Islamic Civilisation was able to achieve prosperity when it opened up to, and interacted positively with other civilisations and built on their contributions to benefit humanity by generously disseminating knowledge and publicising inventions."
Answering a question on how he could make so many achievements, Shaikh Mohammed said: "Many social media users talk about Mohammed bin Rashid. The secret (to success) does not lie in Mohammed bin Rashid. Rather is lies in the thousands of teams who work day and night to make achievements."
Noting that he sets the direction for these teams through a clear vision, Shaikh Mohammed added that he follows up on their work and encourage them and that they are the real heroes who deserve thanks and appreciation. He further noted that new ideas come up during his weekly follow-up meetings with the work teams.
Answering a question from a social media influencer about the UAE's large number of diverse projects, Shaikh Mohammed said that the secret to this lies in the fact that the door is open for proposals from all people and that the role of the government is to listen, implement and follow-up.
Answering another question about the high quality that visitors immediately recognise in the UAE, he said that when thinks of quality, he starts with taking in the taxi driver first, along with service people at airports, staff and services of hotels all the way up to the highest levels. The result, he noted, is that all those who visit us come back to us.
Answering a question from another Arab social media influencer about his own guards, Shaikh Mohammed said that one day he was walking in one of the markets when a foreign shopper approached him to ask the same question "Where are your guards Shaikh Mohammed?"
Shaikh Mohammed answered: "Look around you. Don't you see them?" The shopper said: "I only see shoppers".
Shaikh Mohammed then said: "These people are my guards." He commented that being loved by people is what provides any leader with the strongest protection and that it is always under protection from Allah Almighty.
At the conclusion of the session Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid told participants who insisted on posing for photos with him that they are always welcome in the UAE and that their interaction contributed to the success of the summit which he stressed will always be an annual forum for them just as the UAE is always a gathering place for all Arab creative people.
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