'I want to be Dubai': UAE a role model for Eurasian countries, says official

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The UAE, especially Dubai, is a role model for Eurasian countries because of what it has achieved over the past three decades, said a senior official of Strategeast, an independent non-profit organisation working to develop Eurasia’s digital economy.

“The UAE is a unique case that demonstrates that if countries work properly and systematically, they can transform the desert into a global megapolis. If you ask anybody in Dushanbe or Tashkent, ‘what you want to be,’ they say, ‘I want to be Dubai’. The UAE is a role model for them,” said Anatoly Motkin, president, Strategeast.

He pointed out the recent signing of the UAE-Georgia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is a reflection of growing ties between the two parties.

He said there is a strong interest from other countries to have a similar level of agreements with the UAE.

Led by Motkin, a high-level delegation comprising senior officials from the CIS region including Astana Hub and IT Park of Kazakhstan; IT Park Uzbekistan; High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic and others are currently visiting the UAE. The delegation met senior officials of the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP).

Knowledge is the new oil

The Strategeast president said that for the UAE, Gulf and Eurasia, growing digital ties are the easiest to come closer because it is a trans-border sector. “You don’t need to bring commodity from point A to point B. The knowledge is new energy. The Gulf countries that became richer due to hydrocarbon also see the need to diversify their model. We have a lot of opportunities for collaboration and let us bring all the knowledge together as this will make countries like the UAE much stronger. It is not just digital, but a knowledge-driven era,” Anatoly Motkin told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview on Tuesday at SRTIP headquarters in Sharjah.

“What impresses me each time I am going to land in a Dubai plane during day time is the emirate’s amazing infrastructure. It is because of the knowledge. All that happened in Dubai is based on knowledge and new technology,” he added.

Win-win proposal

Motkin sees the UAE and Eurasia region mutually benefitting from the investment opportunities that are available for the companies.

“The UAE is the ultimate new market for the Eurasia region because it is a modern and digitally-advanced country. Also, the UAE can also benefit as more than 10,000 startups are operating in the Eurasian region that were accelerated by American accelerators but they need investments and it is a huge opportunity for VC funds from the UAE to invest there.”

He further stated that the capital in the Gulf region combined with the digital and knowledge expertise in Caucus and Central Asia can help create a third global leader along with the US and China.