UAE cabinet okays plan to make the country a talent hub

Dubai - Talented residents have been always a crucial part of the UAE journey and achievements.

The UAE Cabinet on Wednesday adopted a Strategy for Talent Attraction and Retention, a move that would contribute to strengthening the country’s leading position as a preferred destination for living, working and investing.

Chairing a meeting held at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said that the strategy aims to place the UAE among the top three countries in talent attraction and availability of highly skilled employees.

Talented residents have been always a crucial part of the UAE journey and achievements, he said, stressing that attracting more talents and creative minds is a key factor of the UAE’s preparation for the future.

The UAE strategy is an integrated national initiative that aims to enhance the country’s attractiveness to foreign investments and talents. It serves as a comprehensive framework that allows the country to develop policies to attract talents from all over the world.

The strategy for talent attraction and retention has three main targets: positioning the UAE among the top 10 countries in the global talent competitiveness indices, ensuring talents availability across all strategic sectors and to cementing the UAE image as an ideal destination for living and working.

The Cabinet also approved the export development policy that sought to increase UAE exports and open new international markets with the aim of supporting the country’s foreign trade and increasing the non-oil sector's participation in the GDP.

The policy is a long-term vision for the UAE’s foreign trade, it enables the national economy to benefit from opportunities of the economic recovery expected in the current and future stages.

The Cabinet congratulated the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Their Highnesses Members of the Supreme Council and Rulers of the Emirates; Emirati people and Muslims all over the world on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan.

The Cabinet received a briefing from Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General of Expo 2020 Dubai, about the latest preparations and readiness of all teams and the participation of the UAE federal government entities in the event that is held under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.

“We reviewed the preparations for the largest event that our country will host in 2021...Ten years of construction...230,000 workers...190 participating countries...and 170 days for its launch...We are ready to host the world in Expo Dubai 2020,” Sheikh Mohammed said on Twitter.

Ministries and federal government entities will participate in a wide range of topics including: climate and biodiversity, tolerance and inclusion, travel and communication, food and agriculture, space, water, urban and rural development, knowledge and learning, and health, in addition to other topics that fall under the Expo 2020 programme (Humans and Planet Earth), which has been approved by the Cabinet.

On the legislative affairs, the Cabinet amended the Executive Regulation of Federal Law on Tax Procedures. The amendment extends the tax notification from 10 to 40 working days. The amendment also covers the time limit for issuing the decision of the Federal Tax Authority to reduce or exempt administrative penalties from 20 to 40 working days from the date of receiving the application.