An ever-improving environment for businesses and employees has made the UAE a magnet for talent the world over, a senior official said on Tuesday.
And as the country expands its workforce, it’s willing to recruit the best talent from anywhere, even from the moon, said Faisal Al Bannai, Secretary General of the Advanced Technology Research Council, on the second day of the World Government Summit in Dubai.
“This is a nation that is tolerant and welcoming of many nationalities around the globe, which meant we went out hunting for the best talent globally to get them here,” Al Bannai said. “If that talent was on the moon, we will get them.”
Al Bannai explained how tapping into top global talent has advanced the UAE’s capabilities in research and technology. “To enable all of this, we needed to change classical policies that were there,” he said. “Traditionally, as a government research centre, most of the researchers have to be nationals. We updated the policies and we said we will welcome the best talent from around the world, and that this can be their home.”
Al Bannai said that the country made sure that talent is here to be a part of the fabric of the UAE. The country’s issuance of longer-term residency visas and those for remote working have been the biggest motivating factors in attracting tech experts. This 10-year Golden Visa is designed for specialised talents and researchers in the fields of science and knowledge such as doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, athletes, and creative individuals in the field of culture and art.
“We fused all of them with some of our amazing national talents to be part of this ecosystem,” said Al Bannai. “It resulted in talent hitting the ground running.” He emphasised that the benefits of this approach are starting to show up in the local economy and within the tech sector.
The Advanced Technology Research Council has been able to achieve many milestones in recent years due to its push to attract global talent. Al Bannai noted that the council had already launched a teaser of a larger language model similar to ChatGPT in 2022, where the AI wrote an Arabic article for a local newspaper. “This is an area that we will be tuned into this year, and expect a few more announcements from us in this field,” he said.
“If we look at what we have done in the field of quantum computing, we have already produced the Arab world’s first quantum qubit,” said Al Bannai. “And we are on the journey of working to produce our first quantum computer as a full stack in this regard.” The UAE will launch the first part of intercity quantum communication this year, and intercountry the next year.
Al Bannai confirmed that the UAE is already engaging with other countries to partner in the field of research and technology to solve global challenges.
