Thursday, November 15, 2018
Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attended the opening ceremony of the World Tolerance Summit that commenced today. The two-day Summit is organised by the International Institute for Tolerance, a subsidiary of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.
Crown Prince of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Deputy Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum attended the opening ceremony.
Held under the theme ‘Prospering from Pluralism: Embracing Diversity through Innovation and Collaboration’, the Summit brings together over 2,000 ministers and government leaders from around the world.
Sheikh Mohammed affirmed that the UAE is keen to provide a platform for productive discussions on enhancing peace and tolerance between nations. He also asserted that the UAE seeks to serve as a bridge between cultures and promote peaceful co-existence with the aim of ensuring happiness, stability and prosperity.
“We in the UAE aim to create a model for tolerance and positive coexistence and be a catalyst for building greater understanding between cultures. We will continue to contribute towards promoting global dialogue and goodwill between people of different nations, cultures and backgrounds,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
Sheikh Mohammed said: “We have learned much from Zayed’s values and ideals, the most important of which is tolerance. The UAE accepts people from all backgrounds, and they all live happily and work together to build a better future.”
His Highness added: “Tolerance is a force that drives the community forward. We teach our youth to welcome and respect diversity. The strong man is the one that is more capable of accepting diversity and disagreements.”
Speaker of the Federal National Council (FNC) Her Excellency Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future HE Mohammed Al Gergawi and a number of senior officials and international delegations attended the opening ceremony.
Minister for Tolerance and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Institute for Tolerance HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan delivered a keynote speech titled ‘Collaboration and Innovation to Build a Society that Incubates Cultural Diversity’ in which he thanked His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his patronage of the event.
Speaking about tolerance in the UAE, Sheikh Nahyan said that its people are keen to practise tolerance and live according to high humanitarian, economic and social values. The people of the UAE have a strong bond with their leaders and all institutions in the country are united in fighting extremism and intolerance and promoting common human values.
He further said that God has blessed the people of the UAE with wise and sincere leaders, beginning with the nation’s founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, who along with the other founding fathers, was open to the world and was always positive in his interactions with other cultures. Sheikh Zayed was totally committed to the values of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and equality. He also said that the country’s commitment to these values and principles has continued under the leadership of President of the UAE His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, strongly supported by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Pr
