Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum did more than transform Dubai into a global city, he changed how people in the region see their own potential, Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi said at the Mohammed bin Rashid Leadership Forum 2026.
Addressing the gathering, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs delivered a personal message of gratitude to the UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, reflecting on six decades of achievements and the leadership principles that have shaped the emirate’s development.
“It’s difficult to summarise what Sheikh Mohammed has accomplished over six decades in an airport, a tower or a project,” he said. “He built a city, and with it a society, a culture and a human being. He built a model for the region.”
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Al Gergawi said Sheikh Mohammed taught people to think globally and understand that ambition should not be limited by resources or geography. By placing people at the center of development, he said, the Ruler of Dubai had shown that human capital, knowledge, and hard work could turn aspirations into reality.
He recalled how the region was often viewed through the lens of conflict and an oil-dependent past, while Sheikh Mohammed believed in the potential of the people living there.
That vision helped shape a diversified economy spanning trade, aviation, tourism, finance and technology, Al Gergawi said, with ideas translated into opportunities that have changed people’s lives.
He added that Dubai had become a destination for ambitious individuals, talented professionals and international companies, reversing a pattern in which young people traditionally left their home cities to seek opportunities in the West.
Today, he said, people come to Dubai for security, opportunity, respect for work, and recognition of merit.
‘Are people satisfied?’
One of the most important lessons Al Gergawi said he had learned from Sheikh Mohammed was the need to measure government performance by its impact on people’s lives.
Recalling the Ruler’s field visits, where he would test services, ask questions, and follow up on projects, Al Gergawi said one question captured the essence of the leadership approach: “Are people satisfied?”
While public satisfaction was often described as an unattainable goal, Sheikh Mohammed taught his teams they had a responsibility to achieve it, he said.
Al Gergawi also recalled how the Ruler challenged officials when they hesitated to pursue ambitious goals, asking why something couldn't be done.
The approach changed how teams thought and worked, encouraging them to move faster and focus on the people waiting for government services.
Behind every service, Al Gergawi said, is a person waiting for a solution. A decision that might otherwise take a month could be made in a minute, while a project expected to take years could be completed in a week.
He said this culture of speed, ambition and execution had extended beyond government into the private sector and among young people, helping establish Dubai’s reputation for getting things done.
“Dubai has become synonymous with achievement and work,” he said, describing a culture where excellence meant delivering exceptional results with distinction and on a tight timeline.
The leader behind the achievements
Beyond the projects and policies, Al Gergawi offered a personal account of the man he had worked alongside for more than three decades.
He said he had seen Sheikh Mohammed make difficult decisions, take bold steps when others hesitated, and act quickly when others were still waiting.
But he had also seen the Ruler’s personal side, including his concern for a child whose treatment he followed despite not knowing the child personally, his inquiries about people in need and his attention to a project in a remote African village.
Al Gergawi shared a particularly personal memory involving his late mother.
While Sheikh Mohammed was signing books for several leaders, he took a copy of his book and wrote a special dedication for Al Gergawi’s mother, knowing how much she meant to him.
“These details are not written in reports, but they reveal the character of a person,” he said.
For Al Gergawi, these moments reflected a leader who was decisive, inspiring, and generous qualities that extended beyond his public role.
He suggested that Sheikh Mohammed’s greatest impact on those gathered at the forum was bringing out the best in them, helping people recognise abilities they might not otherwise have realised they possessed.
A legacy carried forward
Looking beyond Dubai’s physical transformation, Al Gergawi said history would remember Sheikh Mohammed for restoring people’s confidence in what the region could achieve.
He said the legacy would not be limited to the city he built, but would also include the belief that people in the Arab world could compete with the rest of the world and accomplish what once seemed impossible.
Addressing Sheikh Mohammed directly, Al Gergawi described the speech as both a message of appreciation and a pledge for the future.
“Thank you for believing in us, raising our ambitions and helping us achieve what we thought was impossible,” he said, adding that the Ruler had built a city people could be proud of, a society in which they could feel secure about their children’s future, and a model that had inspired the world.
He said the responsibility now rested with those who had benefited from that leadership to protect what had been built and carry its principles forward.
“The best way to thank a leader who has spent his life working is to continue working,” Al Gergawi said. “And the best message we can give you is not what we say today, but what we do.”