Government of Dubai Media Office hosts meeting of Estonian leader with UAE media
Estonian leader praises Dubai Smart City project and its rapid pace of implementation
Government of Dubai Media Office - 19 October 2015
The Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivas today said that Estonia and Dubai can accelerate each other's development by learning from each other's experiences of smart government and implementing technology services for its citizens.
The Estonian leader was speaking to the media during a visit today to the Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO). Mona Al Marri, Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office received the Estonian Prime Minister at the GDMO offices. Leading representatives of UAE media were present at the meeting.
Estonia has been looking with great interest at what Dubai has done in order to learn from it, Roivas said. If we join forces and share experiences, we can achieve even more, he added. The Prime Minister said that he is hoping to find opportunities for mutually beneficial exchanges of experiences during his visit to the UAE. "There are several things that we can learn from Dubai and there are many ICT solutions used by Estonia that could be used in Dubai," he remarked.
During his visit, Roivas will be meeting with senior government leaders and engaging with prominent business leaders and entrepreneurs in the UAE. The delegation is seeking to open doors for Estonian entrepreneurs in the local market, and introduce Estonian IT solutions to government and private sector companies. The Estonian delegation will attend GITEX, the largest technology exhibition in the region.
Praising the Dubai Smart City project, the Estonian Prime Minister said that Dubai has an ambitious plan for transforming itself into a Smart City in the next few years. He noted that other countries, in comparison, usually take more than a decade to implement such services, adding that he was impressed by Dubai's "anxiousness" to "get things done quickly." He said that Estonia shares Dubai's belief in rapid implementation.
The Estonian Prime Minister spoke about the significant similarities between Estonia and the UAE, especially in the way both countries have grown rapidly in the last two decades. He pointed to similarities in the innovative and creative ways in which both governments are run. "It looks to me that both governments believe in similar ideals," he said.
Speaking about wider government-to-government, business and trade-related cooperation and exchanges between the two countries, he said that Estonia and the UAE should intensify the exchange of experiences at a high level. He said there is great interest among Estonian companies to explore business opportunities in the UAE. During some of his engagements, he also noticed great interest among UAE companies in Estonia's digital government services like its digital signature system.
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© Press Release 2015
