THE creation of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies has not only helped Dundee forge close links with Dubai but also helped bring major economic benefits to Scotland.
Professor Malory Nye, the Institute’s Principal, said it had played a major role to focus Dubai business leaders’ attention on the city and Scotland.
“In many ways, Dundee is regarded in Dubai business and educational sectors as the capital of Scotland, with a small ‘c,’” said Professor Nye in his first graduation day speech as the Institute’s principal.
“It is appropriate to focus on the relationships and opportunities that exist between Dubai and Scotland, building on the mutual interest and understanding that exists between the two countries.
“For many years now, the Al-Maktoum Institute has been saying – with great justification – that the interest of Dubai in Scotland through the Institute has great potential benefits for our country.
“Now is the time to try to ensure this is taken even further and I have no doubt that it will.”
He outlined many achievements since the Institute’s creation in 2001 by its patron and sponsor, HH Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance of the United Arab Emirates, whose vision for multiculturalism is at the heart of the Institute.
“Clearly, the Institute’s arrival set the basis for Dubai’s interest in Scotland and, of course, Scotland’s interest in Dubai,” he said.
Over the past eight years, direct daily flights from Glasgow to Dubai have been established while Dundee and Dubai have signed a sister city agreement, making Dundee the only UK city with such an unique link.
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