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The UAE Cabinet, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved a temporary licence to test self-driving vehicles, a move that comes as a part of the government's continuous efforts to adopt advanced technologies within all sectors.

The meeting, held today at Expo 2020 Dubai, was attended by H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior; and cabinet members.

Testing autonomous vehicles comes within the UAE strategy to become a global leader for attracting innovation and advanced technology applications. The UAE will be the first country in the Middle East and the second globally to test the application of self-driving vehicles.

The testing process will be carried out through the RegLab, an initiative by the General Secretariat of the Cabinet that provides a safe test environment for legislation that will govern the use and applications of future technologies.

The Cabinet also approved the issuance of a pilot licence for the fractional bonds project. The project will be carried out under the supervision of the Securities and Commodities Authority.

The issuance of the pilot licence aims at supporting the financial sector with advanced technologies and agile legislative framework that facilitates the adoption of innovative financial products and solutions and meet the requirements of investors in accordance with the best international standards in terms of credibility and confidentiality.

The UAE is the largest FinTech hub in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The cabinet approved the government special funds policy. The policy aims to determine the type of government special funds and to provide a reference guide for federal entities to use to establish private funds.

The cabinet approved the standardisation of maternal and new-born healthcare services. The step seeks to providing the best quality of healthcare services for women and children.

The cabinet approved amending the conditions for granting residency to retired foreigners, a move that would contribute to attracting this valuable category and support the UAE efforts to achieving more flexibility in terms of residency laws and visa requirements.

As per the amendment, if the retiree fulfils one of the following criteria, will be eligible for retirement residency. The criteria are: a single property or more than one property worth AED1 million (evaluation to be carried out by the related entity in each Emirate), or a bank deposit of no less than AED1 million, or an active income of no less than AED180,000 per annum.