SOCIETY 378

SOCIETY
ment to support long-term economic
growth: This way we can preserve and
protect the environment for future
generations. The initiative includes a
range of programs and policies in the
areas of energy, agriculture, investment
and sustainable transport, in
addition to new environmental and
constructional policies. Some key
points are the promotion of renewable
energy, investments in green economy,
urban planning, organic agriculture,
maintaining biodiversity and
protecting the ecological balance,
rationalizing the use of resources,
managing waste as well as bringing
The goal is to enhance
the country‘s competitiveness,
while still
maintaining a sustainable
environment
to support long-term
economic growth.
forth means for dealing with the effects
of climate change. Besides this,
the International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) has its headquarters
in the UAE. IRENA is actually located
in Masdar City, one of the largest
Ecovillages, which is located near Abu
Dhabi. The city is planned to be a hotspot
for cleantech-companies and will
be mostly emission-free and powered
by solar energy. With promising
projects like this, on the whole we are
confident that someday the UAE can
take a leading role in green energy.
There are also significant investments
being made in infrastructure
in the UAE – how important is a
modernized and well-functioning
infrastructure for a country?
Because of the geographical position
of the UAE, we find ourselves being at
the hub, fulfilling the important task
of connecting east to west and vice
versa: That on its own is a good reason
to develop our country’s infrastructure.
The UAE seeks to be a logistical
center, with excellent facilities for
communication and transportation.
At the moment, four airlines from the
UAE, which are Emirates, Etihad, Air
Arabia and Flydubai, are flying or will
soon be flying to Vienna and Salzburg.
Building such infrastructure surely is
a challenging endeavor, but we have
the ambition to be number one and
our leadership has spared no effort to
modernize the country. However, infrastructure
is not limited to roads and
airlines, but has great importance on a
cultural level, too. Just think about the
Louvre of Abu Dhabi, which is closely
collaborating with the Louvre in Paris.
Such institutions are fostering transnational
interchange and are crucial
infrastructure as well. They make us
even more proud of being a multicultural
country.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
083