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Abu Dhabi- United Arab Emirates- August 3, 2020: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, chaired the first physical meeting of the new cabinet. The meeting took place at the Presidential Place in Abu Dhabi, after a series of remote meetings.

At the beginning of the meeting, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid hailed UAE's success in operating the first peaceful nuclear reactor in the Arab world and the successful launch of Hope probe, confirming that both achievements are another landmarks success led by UAE youth.

During the meeting, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid announced that UAE Cabinet meetings will continue from August rather than from September as it used to due to the current circumstances. he said: “Our work will resume this summer because of the exceptional circumstances,”.

Stressing the importance of the economy, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed said, “We approved 33 initiatives presented to us by the new Economy Minister and established a committee to follow up on implementation”.

H.H. Sheikh Mohammed added, “We restructured a number of councils and issued new appointments. We discussed the government’s structure for the upcoming period and the most important new changes to keep pace with the priorities of the next stage”.

The cabinet has approved the new structure of the Ministerial Development Council, chaired by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and His Excellency Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future as Deputy Chairperson and the membership of His Excellency Abdulrahman bin Mohamed Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs, His Excellency Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, His Excellency Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, His Excellency Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, His Excellency Sultan bin Saeed Al Badi, Minister of Justice, His Excellency Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, Her Excellency Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, Her Excellency Jameela bint Salem Mesbeh Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Public Education, His Excellency Nasser bin Thani Juma Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Her Excellency Hessa bint Essa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development, and His Excellency Abdulla bin Touq Al Mari,  Minister of Economy.

During the meeting, the Cabinet has also approved the establishment of Union's General Budget Committee, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Deputy Chairperson and the membership of His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister Of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, His Excellency Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and His Excellency Obaid bin Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs.

The Cabinet approved the new structure of the Education Council, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Furthermore, the Cabinet approved a number of decisions, including, the appointment of His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber as Chairman of Emirates Development Bank, the appointment of His Excellency Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates General Petroleum Corporation, the appointment of Her Excellency Sarah bint Youssef Al Amiri as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAE Space Agency, the appointment of His Excellency Dr. Ahmed bin Abdullah Belhoul Al Falasi as Chairman of the Council for Projects and Small and Medium Enterprises, and the appointment of His Excellency Ohoud bint Khalfan Al Roumi Head of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources.

The Cabinet has mandated Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoud, Minister of State for Foreign Trade for retaining and attracting talent, and Dr. Ahmed bin Abdullah Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Enterprises with the role of boosting the tourism industry in the country.

On another level, the Cabinet approved a policy on Freezing Red Blood Cells for emergency purposes. The policy organizes the process of red blood cell (RBC) freezing as it adopts the most advanced approach to freeze-preservation of red blood cells.