Sultan bin Sulayem is an icon in Dubai, his projects now spanning the globe. Alongside the emirate's rulers, he helped pave the way for a Dubai which many once thought no more than a dream.
From the Jebel Ali Port and DP World to the Palm Jumeirah, he has been at the heart of the emirate's radical development from a desert coastal town into a global metropolis.
"When we started, the port was there, but there was nothing, no buildings in the desert around it," he recalls.
He lays the credit at the feet of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid AI Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and his late father, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed AI Maktoum. "He [Sheikh Mohammed] has belief in Dubai more than anybody," said bin Sulayem. "This is very important if you believe you can achieve anything," he says, the city now boasting the likes of Emirates airline, now a powerhouse on the world stage.
"In the 80s, it was a very critical period in the Gulf countries, working out how we make Dubai a better place for trade," he recalls.
"Dubai today is the most connected city in the world, where you can reach anywhere you want in the world, whether to take cargo or whether to bring cargo from or to ship in any mode of transportation."
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