UAE’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future Mohammad Al Gergawi has said that the annual meetings of the government lay foundations to 50 years of national work. “The UAE has a distinct regional and global stature, which poses challenges that call for a different way of thinking in the future of many vital sectors such as the knowledge-based economy, renewable energy, education, health, and future government services... The world we live in is undergoing rapid changes … Our role is to work as a team to keep up with the changes and to be the fastest growing country to invest opportunities to create new sectors,” Gergawi said. “The UAE’s annual government meetings encapsulate the unified, integrated work model adopted by the nation’s leadership to meet the requirements of today’s world to build more open and interactive governments, in terms of information exchange, policy development or resource sharing,” he added. Gergawi stressed that nowhere in the world does the population of a country show a more acute awareness and understanding of the phrase “unity is strength” than in the UAE. Wednesday’s session witnesses the launching of seven long-term strategies along with over 100 initiatives and six knowledge sessions and lectures on driving, governance and artificial intelligence, etc. The meeting discusses more than 24 topics including security, safety, higher education, advanced skills, smart services, digital infrastructure, forgiveness, spending efficiency, development, industry, culture, food security, and advanced sciences. The first edition achieved a remarkable success by launching five long-term strategies including the UAE Soft Power Strategy, National Strategy for Higher Education 2030, the UAE Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 in addition to more than 100 national initiatives under 30 themes.