Dubai forms body to engage with international media

06 December 2018
The move follows reports in November of an economic downturn in the emirate

Dubai has formed a new communications body to promote engagement with regional and international media. 

UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum approved the formation of the Dubai International Communication Committee (DICC) on 5 December. The body was initiated by the Government of Dubai Media Office with the aim of promoting effective and positive engagement with international media in order to raise the profile of Dubai’s major achievements and initiatives.

Sheikh Mohammed also approved a media briefings programme aimed at keeping local, regional and international media updated on the progress of Dubai’s development journey, including its strategic projects and initiatives.

The move to establish the new media body follows reports published during November by various media outlets on an economic downturn in Dubai.

The reports have drawn strong criticism from Dubai’s business community. In a video posted on his Twitter account on 20 November, Khalaf al-Habtoor responded to reports by the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg by saying: “Their comments are unacceptable and not precise”.

He added that the government should respond to such reports with official statistics.

“My question is no one official from Dubai government or media of Dubai say anything commenting on this. We don’t have people to say anything?” said Al-Habtoor.

“We have to say something, otherwise everyone will read and believe what is the content of that [media report]. And I don’t think these giants will object to our comment. And our comment will only be numbers and figures to prove to them what we are doing.”

https://twitter.com/KhalafAlHabtoor/status/1064869005935034370

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