Ministerial retreats, an innovative approach led by Mohammed bin Rashid, has established the UAE government as a global reference in achieving development leaps.

Since assuming the presidency of the UAE government on January 5, 2006, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, has adopted a new and innovative model in government work based on holding ministerial retreats as a tool for strategic planning, making major decisions, and generating innovative future ideas and initiatives. The UAE government has held 7 ministerial retreats that constitute pivotal milestones in drawing up its policies, determining their priorities, and developing… Its vital sectors, improving government work mechanisms and tools, and enhancing the country’s global competitiveness.

The year 2007 witnessed the holding of three ministerial retreats. The first, held in February 2007 at the Bab Al Shams Resort in Dubai, focused on setting the features of the federal government’s first strategic plan for the years 2008-2011, discussing 6 main sectors focusing on 20 axes in government work, and coming up with more than 370 recommendations for action.

The first retreat was followed by several exceptional retreats that focused on developing government work and improving performance, to bring the UAE to the ranks of the best countries in the world. The second retreat, which was held in July 2007 at a rest stop in the Emirate of Fujairah, focused on establishing an integrated system for performance management and implementing the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to convert government services to electronic by 50% by the end of 2008, with 90% of this vision being achieved by the end. 2010, and translating the national strategy into 16 strategic plans at the ministries level that include more than 150 major initiatives.

The third retreat, which was held in December 2007 at the Jebel Dhanna Rest House in Abu Dhabi, focused on discussing 15 strategic plans presented by 26 government agencies and entities.

In February 2010, the fourth ministerial retreat was held at the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort in Liwa, to review the achievements of the UAE government’s strategy that extended from 2008 to 2010, during which 41 strategic plans for federal entities were presented and discussed, 7 general principles, 7 strategic priorities, and 7 strategic enablers. The fourth ministerial retreat also resulted in the issuance of a national document for the state that constitutes a road map for achieving the strategic goals by the state’s golden jubilee under the name “The Emirates Vision.” 2021″.

Among the most prominent decisions of the Council of Ministers during this retreat were the adoption of the strategic plan of the UAE government, the preparation of the state’s general policy regarding climate change, the preparation of a study on the optimal method for consumer protection in the state, and the preparation of a study entitled From social assistance to social development.

In 2013, the fifth ministerial retreat was held on Sir Bani Yas Island, and it focused on developing the education and health sectors, by reviewing 5 axes for the education sector and launching 13 initiatives in this vital sector, and discussing 5 axes in the health sector and launching 12 initiatives that ensure the strengthening of health care in the country. The “Government Innovation Lab” initiatives were also announced to discuss 70,000 ideas and proposals that were monitored through social media as part of the “Emirati Brainstorming” initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum during that year, which resulted in the development of more than 25 national policies.

Among the most prominent decisions during this retreat was the launch of a project to evaluate government schools, a program to attract distinguished and top university graduates into the educational field, a project to evaluate and classify public and private universities and colleges, and develop an integrated system to detect the talents of gifted and creative students.

In January 2016, the sixth ministerial retreat, called the “Post-Oil UAE Retreat,” was held at the Bab Al Shams Resort in Dubai. It focused on the importance of diversifying the national economy. It also witnessed the announcement by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of the start of work on the UAE’s post-oil strategy, which is based on 4 main axes.

In 2021, the seventh ministerial retreat was held at Bab Al Shams Resort, with the participation of ministers and government officials, with the aim of setting a strategic framework for the development vision of the UAE over the next fifty years, where leaders discussed the country’s priorities for the next fifty years, the form of the government in the future, and its priorities related to accelerating development and improving the business and economic environment.

The retreat was held in conjunction with the year 2021, the “fiftieth year” and the country’s golden jubilee, with the aim of setting a new development model to mobilize efforts and resources to design new systems and action plans that achieve a strategic vision that includes all state institutions and segments of society, so that the UAE will be the best in the world during the next fifty years.

Sectoral retreats were also organized, such as the “Hundred Retreat” in 2016, in the presence of 100 national figures concerned with the Year of Reading, to set a general framework and discuss permanent national initiatives to consolidate reading in society. The retreat discussed more than 100 ideas and initiatives in 6 main tracks.

In October 2016, the first youth retreat was held at the state level, which brought together more than 150 young people who constitute an elite group of strategists, thinkers and innovators, with the participation of 67 government agencies at the state level to discuss 8 main areas that included interaction, health, empowerment, values, responsibility, safety, productivity and education. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the launch of the National Youth Agenda, which included more than 20 interactive initiatives.

The Ministerial Retreat for the Year of Giving was also held in 2017, in which more than 100 ministers, government officials and community figures participated, with the aim of developing a permanent strategic framework for ideas and initiatives in the Year of Giving within 6 main axes.