Mohammad Al Gergawi

Al Gergawi was born in Dubai in 1963. His father, Abdulla Ali Al Gergawi, was a successful merchant in the city. He completed his primary and secondary school education in the emirate and attained a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the United States.[1]

In 1989, Al Gergawi joined Dubai Municipality as the Deputy Manager for revenue at the finance department at Dubai Municipality. His principal role as the deputy manager was to streamline the process of fee collection and its relevant components within Dubai Municipality as well as ensuring that the revenue generated was audited as per the Municipality's financial policies.

Al Gergawi first joined Dubai's Department of Economic Development in 1993 as the Director of the Department of Finance and Administration. During his tenure as director, Al Gergawi spearheaded the launch of the Dubai Quality Award in 1994. He maintained his position as the Director of the Department of Finance and Administration from 1993 to 1995 where he was promoted Director of the Commercial Licensing Department. As director, Al Gergawi oversaw the registration and licensing activities within the department and the control and protection of businesses within the emirate. In 1996, Al Gergawi oversaw the launch and management of the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Dubai Summer Surprises, he was the Managing Director for both initiatives that were held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who was crown prince of Dubai at the time.

Al Gergawi was named Deputy Director General of Dubai's Department of Economic Development in 1997 as a result to his vast achievements within the department. Al Gergawi's new role led to many new accomplishments, including his appointment as a Board Member in the newly formed Emaar Properties in 1997. During the next year in 1998, Al Gergawi was appointed by Sheikh Mohammed as the Secretary General and Managing Director of Dubai Government Excellence Program, a Dubai government program that focused on continued improvement of government service and government performance within the emirate.

In 1999, Al Gergawi was appointed the Director General of Dubai Internet City, which was later absorbed under the newly formed Dubai Technology, E-Commerce and Media Freezone Authority, which later became Dubai Holding, all of which were headed by Al Gergawi. During his term, Al Gergawi administered the launch of the Arab Journalism Award and the Dubai Press Club which he founded. In 2000, Al Gergawi was appointed a member of the board of directors of Dubai E-Commerce Council.

In 2001, Al Gergawi became a board member in the Emirates Media Incorporated Company. In the same year, he was fundamental in the establishment of the Dubai Autism Centre. During 2001, Al Gergawi was very active on multiple fronts, including being the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Dubai Media Forum and a founding member of Dubai Media City. Another notable project that Al Gergawi led during 2001 was the founding of the Knowledge Village in Dubai, which was a knowledge generation and sharing cluster in the city.

2002 marked yet another active and important role for Al Gergawi, wherein he oversaw the launch and development of Dubai Healthcare City, a health services cluster in the city of Dubai, and Dubai International Financial Centre, a federal financial free zone. Other key achievements of 2002 for Al Gergawi included the establishment of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, focused on supporting young entrepreneurs and driving entrepreneurs in Dubai. Starting from 2002 until 2005, Al Gergawi was appointed Chairman of the Board for Dubai's Investment and Development Attraction Authority. Al Gergawi has also been a yearly delegate to the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos.

Al Gergawi was appointed Chairman of the Executive Office of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Following the vision of Sheikh Mohammed, Al Gergawi's was able to differentiate The Executive Office from all other government offices, by laying the foundations for it to become a forward looking office that incubates the more prominent and positively impactful initiatives. The Executive Office's office culture under the leadership of Al Gergawi is seen as a merger between a Fortune 500 Tech Company and a Think Tank, a model that has never been seen before in the public sector.[2]

Since its inception, the Executive Office has been the incubator of forward looking initiatives that are later spun off in Dubai. In 2003, under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed, Al Gergawi managed the foundation and launch of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Programme for Leadership Development.[3] During the same year, Al Gergawi managed the Dubai Strategy Forum, a leading local forum focused on future foresight and identification of potential economic and political trends globally and across the Arab region. The Forum was renamed the Arab Strategy Forum in 2006, in which it marks an annual gathering that takes place on December of every year.

Under the Patronage of Sheikh Mohammed, Al Gergawi and his team at The Executive Office managed the 3rd Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Dubai on December 11, 2012. The Executive Office incubated the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre in 2013, under the supervision of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, who appointed Al Gergawi as the chairman of the board. In June 2013, Al Gergawi managed the Arab Social Media Forum, which was launched by The Executive Office, and in October of the same year, Al Gergawi was appointed chairman of the executive committee of the Smart City initiative.

On June 2014, Al Gergawi managed and directed an initiative that was launched by Sheikh Mohammed, Dress 1 Million Needy Children Around the World, a charitable initiative aimed at providing clothing for 1 million needy children. The initiative broke all targets and expectations, reaching more than 2 million children across the world.

In 2003, Al Gergawi became the first Secretary-General of the Executive Council of the Government of Dubai. As Secretary-General of the Executive Council, Al Gergawi worked on putting policies and key performance indicators for Dubai Government entities, implement the directives of the federal government of the United Arab Emirates and manage ongoing and new projects in the emirate. Al Gergawi then moved from being Secretary-General of the Executive Council in 2006, following a decree from the President of the United Arab Emirates appointing him as Minister of Cabinet Affairs.

Dubai Holding was founded in 2004 and Al Gergawi was appointed its Chief Executive Officer. Al Gergawi managed the company from its embryonic stages until it became a global holding company with more than 130 Billion AED in total assets. Al Gergawi served as the Chairman of the company until March 2017.[4][5] Through Dubai Holding, Al Gergawi helped envision and launch TECOM Group, Dubai Properties Group, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications, and Family Entertainment and New Media. Al Gergawi's main focus in Dubai Holding was in creating value adding clusters in the emirate of Dubai.

On the 11th of February 2006, The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, issued a presidential decree appointing the new cabinet of the United Arab Emirates. The cabinet included Mohammad Al Gergawi as Minister of Cabinet Affairs, who was responsible for the development of the UAE's Federal Government Strategy and overseeing its overall delivery and performance. One of the first positions that Al Gergawi held as Minister was the deputy chairman of the Ministerial Council for Services, under the leadership of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In 2007, Al Gergawi led the formation of Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organization working on improving children's access to quality primary education. During the same year, Al Gergawi was commissioned by Sheikh Mohammed to create and launch ‘Ada’a’, the UAE government performance management system that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid uses on a daily basis to audit and follow the performance of his government.

During 2008, The Prime Minister's Office, which is part of the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, launched the UAE Government Leadership Programme. In 2010, the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs launched the UAE Vision 2021 and the UAE Strategy Cycle 2011–2013, both focusing on setting a strategy and targets for the UAE to become one of the best countries in the world by 2021. On March of the following year, Al Gergawi was tasked by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to create and launch the Emirates Government Service Excellence Program, which was and still is part of the Prime Minister's Office.

In 2013, the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, under the leadership of Al Gergawi, launched the Government Summit, in which Al Gergawi served as Chairman of the Executive Committee. During the same year, under directives from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Ministry launched the Emirates Government Excellence Council, which consolidates all excellence programs in the United Arab Emirates that serve federal and local government entities. Another notable initiative that Al Gergawi managed at the Prime Minister's Office in 2013 was the M-Government Initiative, which drew the trajectory to migrate all government services on mobile in two years.

Al Gergawi's momentum did not slow down during 2014, wherein the Minister served under close guidance of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to launch multiple initiatives including, the National Agenda, the UAE Drones for Good Award, the UAE Star Rating Program, Best M-Government Service Award, the Mohammed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award, the founding and launch of the UAE Space Agency, UAE Water Aid, the Government Service Forum and the Museum of Future Government Services.

In 2015, Al Gergawi was appointed as the chairman of the National Science, Technology and Innovation Council, a council that focused on nurturing innovation in the country that launched the National STI Strategy for the government of the United Arab Emirates. During the same year, Al Gergawi managed many projects that were assigned to him by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, such as the creation of the Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation, the launch of the Dubai Museum of the Future Foundation, the creation of the Public Diplomacy Office and the creation of the Global Future Councils in collaboration with the World Economic Forum which he co-chairs with Professor Klaus Schwab. Al Gergawi participated at the Social Good Summit in New York in September 2016 to discuss his role as Minister of the Future.[6][7]

• "Oil won't last forever, so Dubai is betting big on science and tech" (Popular Science, 2017)
• "Dubai Aims to Be the Transportation City of Tomorrow" (The Wall Street Journal, 2017)
• "World Government Summit to be held in Dubai next month" (The Indian Express, 2017)
• "Imagine, a Minister of Youth Who’s Actually Young" (Foreign Policy, 2016)
• "Hyperloop One and Dubai Future Accelerators will build the first ‘hyperloop for cargo’" (TechCrunch, 2016)
• "Building a Futuristic City" (Futurism, 2016)
• "ISIS-destroyed monument rebuilt with 3D technology" (CNET, 2016)
• "Incheon plans to construct 'smart city'" (The Korea Times, 2016)
• "Aid and Development Foundation launched for the Middle East" (CNS News, 2015)
• "Minister: ‘UAE a model from the region to the region’" (AlArabiya, 2014)
• "Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum" (Time Magazine, 2006)

• "The Story of Arab HopeMakers". Akhbar Al Emarat. May 17, 2017.
• "Dubai looks to the future with new museum". CNN. February 14, 2017.
• "Dubai tests drones for government delivery". CNN. February 11, 2014.

• "Head to Head Keynote Interview: The next 50 years". GMIS: Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit. April 18, 2017.
• "A Conversation With Elon Musk". World Government Summit. February 13, 2017.
• "Dubai 2016 - Press Conference with Mohammad Al Gergawi". World Economic Forum. November 14, 2016.
• "Future & Hope". Mashable Experiential. October 5, 2016.
• "Mr Mohammad Al Gergawi and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launch Middle East". UAE News. November 10, 2016.
• "Leadership of the UAE and Global Aspirations". UAE Gov. April 29, 2015.
• "Mohammed Al Gergawi Speech @ ICSC MENA 2014 Gala Dinner". MENA ICSC. October 28, 2014.
• "Davos Annual Meeting 2008 - Adapting to New Champions". World Economic Forum. January 26, 2008.
• "Dalian 2007 - Global Risks to Global Growth". World Economic Forum. September 11, 2007.