Celebrating 48 years of Fujairah Ruler’s legacy

September 18th marks the anniversary of H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi assuming the rule of the Emirate of Fujairah. He succeeded his late father, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi.
H.H. was keen to follow his father’s steps in developing the Emirate in all fields, turning it into a destination of choice for Arab and foreign tourists and investors.

The Emirate of Fujairah is still making major strides, under the wise leadership of Sheikh Hamad thanks to his insightful planning and hard work, to make Fujairah a global city.

Education has always been a priority for Sheikh Hamad. His Highness used to visit the schools in the Emirate and meet students and teachers, find out their needs, listen to their future aspirations, visit art exhibitions organized by schools, and honour outstanding students to encourage them to continue their efforts and reach advanced academic levels.

Following the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamad, Fujairah National Theatre was established and has flourished through the local, Gulf and Arab performances that were held at the Fujairah Theatre.
In the field of media development, His Highness officially inaugurated the radio broadcast of Fujairah Radio broadcasting to all parts of the world. H.H. Sheikh Hamad issued an Emiri Decree establishing the Fujairah Culture and Media Authority to achieve comprehensive media and cultural progress in Fujairah and enhance its position in the cultural field.

Sheikh Hamad took a remarkable humanitarian and paternal stance towards the families of the UAE’s martyrs from the UAE Armed Forces. On the occasion of Martyr’s Day, which was held in Wahat Al Karama in Abu Dhabi 2021, His Highness honoured several martyrs’ families with the “Medal of the Martyr” in appreciation of their heroism in the fields of chivalry and honour.

The Emirate of Fujairah recently ranked first, internationally in the Numbeo Safety Index 2022 with a score of 93.23, ranking higher than 466 cities around the world. This achievement, made under the leadership of the Ruler of Fujairah, embodies the level of safety that citizens and residents enjoy in Fujairah. Fujairah maintains the lowest regional crime rate and alarming accidents, according to the statistics of Fujairah Police.
Building and Development during the reign of Sheikh Hamad has seen many infrastructure and urban development projects emerge. Fujairah has made remarkable leaps in the urbanisation and construction sector; tall towers and buildings rose alongside the archaeological monuments and historical castles and forts that Fujairah is famous for.

The pace of work has accelerated in utilising environmental resources and natural tourist sites that spread across Fujairah, including the investment of the picturesque scenery of its vast beaches and marine and mountainous sites and the establishment of more tourist facilities such as hotels, tourist resorts, recreational sites to provide unique experiences to residents and visitors. Fujairah is famous for its land and marine reserves that contain unique biodiversity. The Government of Fujairah, following directives from the Ruler of Fujairah, has paid great attention to preserving them, including working on the “Fujairah Cultured Coral Reef Gardens” to protect the marine environment, developing its resources and revitalising its tourism side.

In March 2022, Wadi Wurayah National Park, UAE’s first mountain nature reserve has been inscribed in the tentative list of nominations for UNESCO World Heritage Site status; a national achievement in the environmental work sector, which reflects the keenness of the Fujairah government, to highlight the biodiversity of the Emirate.

In 1982, the first Rock Wool factory in GCC was opened in Fujairah. Today, the factory ranks as the largest insulation materials company in the Middle East, and supplies countries around the world with insulation materials used in the construction sector.

His Highness issued an Emiri decree in 1987 establishing the Fujairah Free Zone. The Zone has worked since that time together with the Port of Fujairah to promote economic activity in Fujairah and attract foreign investments, which contributed to increasing the emirate’s GDP.

Moreover, the Ruler of Fujairah issued a decree establishing the Fujairah Petroleum Industries Zone (FOIZ) in 2011. Since its establishment, FOIZ has enhanced navigation, petroleum activity, oil and gas industries, and the establishment of economic and logistics projects in the field of petroleum industries. Today, Fujairah Port is the second largest bunkering hub in the world.

In 2012, H.H. Sheikh Hamad announced the project of oil export operations through the Abu Dhabi-Fujairah pipeline, an important strategic step that reflected his vision to boost economic development. His Highness is also following the stages of work on the “Etihad Rail” project, which passes through the Emirate of Fujairah, and ensures providing all forms of support to help with the completion of the UAE’s largest land transport project, as a new global achievement for the country in the field of supply, transport and logistics services.

After assuming the rule of Fujairah, His Highness has made many official visits to leaders of world countries, and was also entrusted with the tasks of representing the UAE in foreign forums, heading the country’s delegation in conferences, seminars, and Gulf, Arab and international summits, and representing the then-President of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in official missions in various countries of the world.

His Highness has always supported sports clubs and encouraged athletes to train and participate in local, regional and international competitions and championships. In recent years, the sports sector in the Emirate of Fujairah has achieved remarkable qualitative leaps and recorded global achievements and advanced positions achieved by Fujairah’s athletes in tournaments. Fujairah’s reputation has grown internationally in the field of organising international championships for various types of sports, including bodybuilding championships, mental sports, and the international marine championships organised by the Fujairah Marine Sports Club. His Highness has also supported the Fujairah Sports Club since its establishment, and in 2019 His Highness ordered the construction of the Dibba Al-Fujairah Sports Club Stadium at a cost of AED100 million.

Martial arts in the Emirate of Fujairah also achieved several records thanks to the support of His Highness to organise Martial Arts tournaments, and to hold global competitions in Fujairah throughout the year.

H.H. Sheikh Hamad issued a decree establishing the “Fujairah Government Excellence Programme” based on his belief in the importance of developing performance in government institutions, and moving to an advanced level in improving the competencies of its employees, by establishing strategic partnerships between local departments and the private sector regionally and globally.
His Highness has followed the development of medical services in the Emirate of Fujairah, and the establishment of hospitals that attracted the best medical cadres of different nationalities and provided their services to citizens and residents. During the COVID-19 pandemic that swept the world, several examination and health care centres were opened to contain the fallout.

The Journey Continues…