Projects of the 50: UAE announces new Green Visa, Freelancer Visa

Dubai: In a press conference on Sunday, UAE ministers kicked off a series of announcements linked to the Year of the 50th celebrations this year. 50 projects are set to be announced during the month of September, and Sunday's conference marked the official start of these announcements.

As directed by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discussed with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the UAE announces the 'Principles of the 50' which paves the strategic roadmap for the country's new era of political, economic, and social development.

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The speakers at the event were:

• Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs
• Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology
• Abdulla bin Touq, Minister of Economy
• Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade
• Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications
• Saeed Al Eter, Chairman of the UAE Government Media Office

Kicking off the series of announcements, Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs started the conference with a ten-principle charter.

• Strengthening the union
• Calling for peace and dialogue to resolve all disputes
• Political disagreement with any country does not justify its failure to provide relief in disasters, emergencies, and crises
• The value system in the UAE will remain based on openness and tolerance
• Digital, technical and scientific excellence will define the UAE’s development and economic boundaries
• The UAE is one united economic, tourist, and industrial destination
• The development of positive political and economic relations with others is considered the most important priority of the country's foreign policy
• Developing education and attracting talent is the key to maintain the UAE’s excellence
• The end goal of politics is to serve the economy, while the end goal of the economy is to provide the best life for the people of the UAE
• Building a better and more active economy in the world

Green Visa and Freelance visa

On Sunday, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade announced that the UAE would be issuing two new kinds of visas - Green Visa and Freelancer Visa.

Green visa holders can sponsor their parents, can sponsor their sons until the age of 25. Once expired, holders have a 90-180 days grace period. It will be granted to top achievers including students, investors, businessmen, and those with specialized skills.

Green Visa is a new residence system that separates residence permits from work permits, and targets high-skilled people, investors, entrepreneurs, top students, and graduates, and includes a range of new privileges different from regular residence.

Freelance visas will be granted to owners of independent businesses or self-employed individuals.

Digital talent

Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications said: "Digital economy is the future and the UAE is going to be a big player in exporting digital talent. 100,000 golden visas for technology talent is going to be a game changer in attracting talent."

"We are going to have the highest share of female coders in the UAE." He also said that the UAE will add 3,000 coders per month to the workforce in the national economy, at a rate of 100 coders per day.

The UAE is drafting a technical information law, the first in the Middle East to regulate and develop the language of the future. UAE also launched the largest “PyCon Global Programming Summit” in the Middle East in the field of programming and digital economy, to develop talent, expertise, and projects specialised in programming, and establish a link between the programmer community, government, private and academic agencies.

He added, "We don't want to be a local player any longer, we want to be a major global technology player."

Promoting Emirati creativity and projects

The Emirates Development bank has allocated Dh5 billion to support Emirati projects, it was announced on Sunday. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology announced this in line with the commitment of the country's leadership to support Emiratis in their ventures.

Al Jaber added that more than 42 percent of government purchases will be from local companies.

UAE and the global economy

Abdulla bin Touq, Minister of Economy said, "The UAE will launch a global investment summit early next year to attract Dh550 billion [in investments] within nine years." He also said that the UAE is launching a global economic agreement in 8 global markets, with a value of Dh40 billion.

Al Zeyoudi said, "The UAE will conclude 8 agreements with the most important international economies in the world including Indonesia, Israel, India, Britain, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Korea."