In News: Dubai’s deputy ruler Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid died at 75 on 24 March 2021.
About Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum
- Sheikh Hamdan was born on 25 December 1945. He was the second of four sons of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Sheikh who led Dubai to unification with the other 6 emirates to form the UAE.
- He was an Emirati politician, the deputy ruler of Dubai.
- Sheikh Hamdan was appointed the minister of finance and industry of the United Arab Emirates from December 1971, later appointed deputy ruler of Dubai.
- When the UAE formed its first Cabinet in 1971, Sheikh Hamdan became finance minister and held the post until his death.
- Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum was the head of the UAE’s delegation at the International Monetary Fund and the OPEC Fund.
- He invited a delegation from the Islamic Research Academy on 3 April 1999 to discuss the launch of an effort and human investment in preparing an academic team of young scholars as specialists in Islamic Jerusalem Studies.
- He worked on a project to make horse betting easier and faster, the project was to be launched in mid-2010.
- He became a big name in horse racing out of the UAE, founding Shadwell Racing in 1981, an operation with a legacy of producing star thoroughbreds.
- Sheikh Hamdan controlled a wide array of conglomerates reaching across Dubai’s economy, such as the Dubai Ports Authority, Dubai World Trade Center and Dubai Natural Gas Company Limited.
Source: The Hindu
