Offering opportunities for young talent is one of the UAE’s priorities

 Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum fulfilled the dream of a group of Arab students of the Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC) to meet him when he spoke to them at a gathering organised at the Government of Dubai Media Office.

Crown Prince of Dubai HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Deputy Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, also attended the event.

In videos posted online, as part of a project for their documentary film class, the students had expressed their dream to meet the His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. "We dream of meeting the person who taught us how to dream," one of the students said in the video.

Their video titled ‘Six Degrees of Dubai' talks about how Dubai is a great example of the theory of ‘Six Degrees of Separation', according to which everyone is connected through just six connections. The video depicts their efforts to test this theory by trying to reach HH Sheikh Mohammed. The students were delightfully surprised when HH Sheikh Mohammed expressed interest in meeting them.

Speaking to the students, HH Sheikh Mohammed expressed his appreciation for the enthusiasm the students displayed in their video. "I admire your passion and appreciation for everything we have achieved in the UAE. I'm happy you're here in Dubai and I'm happy to be with you today," he told the students.

Offering opportunities for young talent is one of the UAE's priorities, HH Sheikh Mohammed told the students. "We are keen to attract talented youth from the region and the rest of the world," he said. We have created a world-class infrastructure and a highly supportive environment for young people to develop their creativity and innovation, His Highness said.

His Highness urged the students to keep pace with the latest developments in the media and communications industry. He said new technologies are critical to reach wider audiences at a time when the use of social media networks and smart mobile devices are becoming more widespread.

He encouraged the students to persevere in pursuing their dreams. Whatever your objectives are, you should adopt creative ways to achieve them, he told the students. Though most inventions have come about in response to a need, creativity is all about developing solutions and innovations that go beyond immediate needs, he said.

He noted that according to the annual Arab Youth Survey 2015, the UAE was named by a majority of Arab youth as the country they would most like to live in, for the fourth year. In the Survey, the UAE was the top choice ahead of 20 other countries.

Speaking about key initiatives of Dubai and the UAE to develop entrepreneurship and talent, he said Dubai Media City (DMC) was launched in 2001 to provide a hub for the growth of media enterprises. Today, Dubai Media City has developed into a flourishing media community of over 2000 local, regional and international companies. DMC has created an environment that promote greater synergies and collaboration between media companies.

Developing media talent was a key part of the vision to transform Dubai and the UAE into knowledge-based economies. In 2008, we established the Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication (MBRSC) as part of the effort to create a large pool of high quality talent for the rapidly growing media industry, His Highness said.

HH Sheikh Mohammed also said that under his directives, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) is offering a total of 100 scholarships to develop the next generation of Arab media talent.

In response, the students said that both Dubai and HH Sheikh Mohammed have been inspirations for them. The scholarships offered by HH Sheikh Mohammed have given them a golden opportunity to pursue their dreams, they said. According to them, Dubai offered a high quality of education, which they previously believed was only available in western countries.
Source: WAM