WEBVTT - Khaldoon Al Mubarak 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:05.439 As CEO of the Abu Dhabi based Mudabola investment company Caldoon. 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:07.840 Al Mubarak is part of a new effort by the 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:12.160 UAE government to diversify its economy beyond oil. Born in 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.320 Abu Dhabi as the son of the UAE ambassador to France, 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:19.040 al Mubarak was educated at Tufts, where he graduated with 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:22.400 a degree in economics and finance. Now he's back in 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.840 the UAE, overseeing a sovereign wealth fund with more than 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.120 two hundred fifty billion dollars in assets and a goal 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:33.080 to find new investment opportunities in a lower oil world. 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.960 Al Mubarak recently sat down with Carlisle Group co founder 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:41.559 David Rubinstein. They spoke on David Rubinstein's Bloomberg television program 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:45.120 Peer to Peer Conversations. Let's talk about something that you're 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.159 very passionately interested in, which is football. You led a 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:51.320 group that bought a team in the Premier League in 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:55.080 England called Manchester City, which just won the Premier League. 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:57.800 It was a great journey. You know, football is a 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:00.440 is a passion of mine. I enjoy football, so doing 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.680 that job was an absolute, absolute joy. So ten years 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:08.440 ago we started this journey. UM. Manchester City was modest 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.720 club back then in terms of their standing within the 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:15.000 Premier League. UM. They had revenues of about eighty million dollars. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:19.280 Ten years on we've pushed the revenue to almost five million. 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.800 The group is very successful financially economically, but more importantly, 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:25.319 when you're in the business of sports, you have to 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:29.760 be successful on the pitch. And over the last seven years, UM, 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.560 because it took us three years to build the capability 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:36.520 and the club to be competitive, over the last seven years, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.280 Manchester City has been the most successful club in the 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:43.720 Premier League. We've won the Premier League three times in 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.720 those seven years. So do you go into the locker 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:48.480 room and give them kind of win one for the 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.800 Gipper kind of speeches or how do you inspire the troops? No? 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.440 I inspire the troops by making sure we have the 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.120 right organization in place. I mean, that's what I think 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.960 I'm good at. Getting the right ecosystem to for success 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:03.960 on the pitch, getting the right players. That's really what 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:08.560 men wins in sports. It's that complete package. When they're practicing. 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:09.919 Do you ever go down in the field and say, 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:11.560 let me kick a couple of balls you know, I 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:15.720 don't in order not to embarrass myself. What other teams 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:17.880 do you have around the world. So we started with 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.160 Manchester and then we came up with this idea of 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:23.880 football is a global sport and it's a sport that's 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:27.880 growing everywhere. How about we create a brand you know, 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.440 are scouting the system, are our management systems, and use 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:36.120 these synergies to be successful in multiple jurisdictions. Never been 0:02:36.120 --> 0:02:37.919 done before. It was a thesis. We didn't know who 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.360 was going to work or not. But over the last 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.640 uh you know, six to eight years, we've built a 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.959 group called the City Football Group that owns UH controlling 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.480 stakes or management stakes in clubs all around the world, 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:54.160 and we're seeing the benefits of that by essentially having 0:02:54.160 --> 0:02:57.400 a much better proposition for sponsors who you know, want 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.760 access to uh not just one market, but global market 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:02.720 and want to have want to have that local presence 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:05.240 through the football network that we have in these clubs. 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.280 We're looking now at India, we're looking at China, which 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:10.320 is kind of a reflection of you know, everything else 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.160 that I'm doing. If you look at our portfolio and Mobada, 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.920 it falls a very similar path as a global UH platform, 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.720 our presences and all these markets and and that's how 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.320 we've grown over the last fifteen sixteen years. Let me 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.040 just ask you about the country that you're from. I 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:28.800 should disclose that you and I have done investments together. 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.160 You've invested in my firm, so we I've got to 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:34.200 know you over quite a period of time. And um 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.640 I wanted to ask you about Abu Dhabi, So let 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.680 me give you a quick history lesson. The UA is 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.600 a federation United Arab United Arab Emirates is a federation 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.119 of seven emirates, seven states. I will let be being 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:51.520 the largest, Dubai being one of the most famous. The 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.120 federation was formed the nine The father of the nation 0:03:55.920 --> 0:04:00.720 is His Highness cherzad Uh. He passed away several years ago, 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:02.680 but he was the father that he established the federation. 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.320 We have a population of about ten million overall. We 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.880 have a wealth of resources, particularly in the oil and 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.560 gas field. That's been the foundation of the economic development. 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:16.279 The oil and the gas is not going to be 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.320 here for the next thousand years. It's finite and we 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:21.440 have to prepare ourselves for the future. The leadership of 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.640 this country has focused on maximizing the benefits and the 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:27.800 returns from this resource, but at the same time build 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.880 a diversification strategy, preparing ourselves for the future. And that's 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.240 what you haven't in the UA today. Your economy now 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.960 is dependent on oil? Is it fifty of your economy? 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:44.760 So many years ago oil represented about seventy to of 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.159 the GDP of the country. We've been able to move 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:52.000 the economy where that concentration is now less than now. 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:53.800 We're still a long way away, and I think the 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:56.000 focus now is to continue to push that number down 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.040 as much as possible. Why do you think to buy 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.479 which is not as wealthy as a would abby is 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.080 better known in some parts of the world. We have 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:06.839 a radius around us of countries like India, countries like Egypt, 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.560 countries with an immense history, and we were new into 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.719 this market and we don't have a taj Mahal, and 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.480 we don't have the pyramids, but we've What we've been 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:17.479 able to do in Dubai particularly has been able to 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:24.719 do was build a tourism infrastructure in terms of hotels, shopping, restaurants, entertainment, 0:05:25.200 --> 0:05:27.400 taking advantage of what we have, which is the sea 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.640 and the desert, and by doing so, we've been able 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:37.880 to build a an influx of tourists that supersedes Egypt 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:42.000 and India combined. Well, let's talk about how you got 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.640 there where you are. You grew up in Aberdabi? Is 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.640 that right now you're not a member of the royal family. 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:50.280 So right now, to be a member of the royal family, 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.839 that means you're part of the family that helped to 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.240 found the country. And the royal family now in Abu 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.960 Dhabi has hundreds of members of comp hundreds of members. Okay, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.440 so you're not a member of the royal family. My 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:08.200 grandfather was essentially the first chief justice uh in the 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:12.640 UI when the federation was established and uh and my 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.880 father was an ambassador. So I come from you know, 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.280 a family that you know has justice, has diplomacy. Uh. 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.440 And I was, you know, after my father passed away. 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.360 I was brought up by my grandfather. So I at 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.240 at a young age and your father passed away because 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:31.960 of something that was tragic. Yes, he was assassinated in 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.120 France where he while he was he was ambassable. He 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.800 was supposed in from how old were you? I was 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:40.880 six years old. So you are now living in Abu 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.240 Dhabi when this occurs you later go to college in 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:48.600 the United States. Had Tops in Medford, And how did 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:50.400 you happen to pick Tops? First of all, I didn't 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.120 even know where Toughs was. I had never been to Boston. 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:56.000 I think I had been to the United States once. 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.359 I'm yeah. Summer I graduated, I went West Coast and 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:01.920 that was the first time I actually go to the 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.280 West Coast. It's only then that I realized that I 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:10.160 was deeply tricked by my friends and colleagues who convinced 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.760 me to go to Boston. I love Boston, but the weather, 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.720 you know from from a kid coming out of Abu Dhabi, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.240 where temperatures in the summer are north of a hundred 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.040 degrees to go end up in Boston, that was a tough, 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:26.320 tough transition for me. And I didn't know California. And 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.240 when I went to California after I graduated, I'm like, 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:31.840 I should have started in California when you've got the 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.840 talks to people say where is Abu Dhabi your student friends? 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:39.240 So I dealt with two things. Number One, nobody had 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:45.320 any idea about Abu Dhabi the Uae. Second is the 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.360 pronunciation of my name. I have a very difficult name, 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:54.680 It's Kaldon and is the pronounce pronunciation of this letter 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:59.320 in English is challenged by most of my friends in 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.760 the United States. So I struggled with my name because 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.920 people couldn't pronounce. So I became known not as Caldon, 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:09.240 which is my name, but Caldon. Caldon is my let's say, 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.560 my American name, so Caldoun, but you actually pronounced it 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.840 call don. You can do that in Yiddish, but not 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.680 so much in Yes. I found that also with my 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.920 Yiddish friends. You come back after college and you looking 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.000 for a job, and what did you do right after college? 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:28.200 Back then? You come out of college, you go back 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.440 to Abu Dhabi and uh, you're you know, a U 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:35.240 S graduate, and you're gonna have really essentially two options. 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:37.959 Either you're gonna work in oil and gas or you're 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.200 gonna work in the investment field. So I interviewed with both. 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:46.400 I had an offer from both um, and I decided 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:50.240 to to start at the Nationalale Company, okay Um. I 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:54.959 worked there for for a couple of years, and I 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.120 spent a lot of time in Abu Dhabi, but also 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.360 spent a lot of time in Japan. Are not many 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.920 people know that, but is one of the largest producers 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.480 of crude oil in the world and our largest market 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:10.199 is Japan. That was very very interesting for me and 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.599 I learned a lot from that experience. From there on, 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.000 I moved into the investment world. I started at a 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:20.560 pipeline project, was the first um gas project that connects 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.800 three countries in them in the Middle East UH and 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.760 it needed a company to own it, so the government 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.720 established a company and that company was Mubadala. So while 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.880 I started with that project and evolved over the last 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.800 twenty years to what it is today. So you were 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:40.319 asked to to run m Bottla and Mubottla today it 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.920 has assets of about two hundred and twenty billion dollars 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:47.360 twenty billion dollars, so you have grown it from a 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.719 relatively modest company. Over the last three years, we've been, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.200 you know, evolving and expanding in different directions. And maybe 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:55.800 four years ago I have told you less than two 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.960 percent of our portfolio was in China, India and South America. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.800 We live, we had no presence in these countries. New exposure. 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.319 Over the last three years we've been actively investing and 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:12.920 UH President in China actively investing in President in India 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.000 actively President President investing in South America. We've been opening 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.280 offices around many places around the world where our operations 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.920 have reached scale. The bottle is owned by the Government 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:29.079 of Abu Dhabi, correct, So who do you report to? So? 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.600 I have a board of directors. The Board of Directors 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:36.280 UH is chaired by His Highness Shamed bin zaid Ayan, 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.559 the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. UH. So we have 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:43.360 a strong board, very present board. The board meets on 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:46.400 a on a monthly basis. Now Saik Mohammed is the 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.199 Crown Prince, but day to day he's in charge of 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.520 running the operations of the government of Abu Dhabi. Is 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:53.679 that fair to say? And it's fair to say you're 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.000 very close to him. I've worked with him now for 0:10:56.160 --> 0:11:02.520 almost almost seven teen years, so I guess you're pretty close. 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.199 So when he comes to let's say the United States 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.760 and he meets with the President United States, UH, does 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.520 he ask you to go with him? Sometimes? So have 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.400 you met with President Trump? So? I've had the the 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.440 pleasure and honor to meet h with pre President Clinton, 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:22.000 President Bush, uh, President Obama and now President Trump. So 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.000 you do this in other parts of the world as well. 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:25.880 You've got to be the prime ministers when the shake 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.839 Bahama goes Yes, So how much of your time is 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.960 running day to day the Mobotle operation and how much 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.080 is dealing with government related issues. So the best thing 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.640 about my job, David is I'm actually don't I don't 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.079 do anything. I have an organization that. One of the 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:43.520 things I've tried to do throughout my career is always 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:49.200 surround myself by talented, capable individuals. I've been lucky, I've 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.040 hired well. I've built a very strong team in Mood. 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:56.000 I have four top notch CEOs the report to me 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.480 that essentially do everything. My ethos professionally has always been 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.120 always try to hire the best, Always try to make 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.640 sure that you have a strong stable of of talent 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.480 around you. And that allows me to do so many things. 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:11.800 Now I have a significant commitment of my time working 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.040 obviously for His Highness um So I spent a lot 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.120 of time supporting His Highness and UH and traveling with 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.719 him many places around the world. Would you ever go 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.160 into the government full time? Or you're happy where you are? 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:25.760 You know His Highness well, you've met him on many 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:30.000 many occasions. He's a person that that I think working 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:34.040 for him is is not a job. It's beyond that. 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.480 It's beyond that. You you you know, I what I 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:38.920 if he asked me to do, to do anything, I 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:43.040 would do it. So I'm loyal to to my country, 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.520 I'm lawyer to my government. But above all, I think 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.839 just working with someone like like Shaik Mohammed, I think 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.000 as a as an absolute joy and I would do 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:53.320 anything more. And one of the things that the country 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.240 has decided to do is to not make it a 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.960 tour center necessarily, but bring more things into the country. 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.480 One of is you have a Cleveland clinic, yes that 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:02.559 you've opened that move Bottle has been involved with. Why 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.520 didn't you decide to have a Cleveland clinic in Abu Dhabi? 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:11.920 So it's a it's a funny story. Um about Yeah, 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:15.360 about ten years ago, I was I was with His 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.079 Highness with Shaike Mohammed and uh it was it was 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:23.040 a month of Ramadan and we had he was visiting 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:28.199 a family and he had the breaking of the fast 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:32.040 at this family's house and one of the members of 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:34.839 that family had just come back from being treated in 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.079 Cleveland for for a long time and they had just 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:41.480 come back cut a long story short after the after 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.040 the meal, Uh shaik, Momma likes to take a walk 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:45.959 always and and and many of our meetings are actually 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.240 over long walks, which is, you know, a challenge when 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.240 when you have to carry documents and and and particularly 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.319 with our weather when it's very hot some days. It's 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:56.720 believed me one of the hard parts of my job. 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.640 So anyways, um, we took a walk and shake. Mohamed 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.840 turned to me. It was night, It was maybe ten 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:09.559 o'clock at night by at that point, and he said, this, 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:14.439 gentleman just spent six months in Cleveland. We're one of 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.040 the wealthiest countries in the world. We have a small population. 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:23.320 We've invested well in terms of infrastructure. Why don't we 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:27.240 have a hospital of the quality of Cleveland Clinic here 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:32.360 in the UE. It's not acceptable. My people deserve uh 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.360 this quality healthcare. And and I, you know, I want 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.720 you to handle this project. Why don't you go figure 0:14:39.720 --> 0:14:43.000 out how you convey how you can build a Cleveland 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.560 Clinic hospital here so you have that now. And that's 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.400 what we did. He said to me. Listen, you know, 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.920 I don't want any bureaucracy on this. You're gonna report 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.200 directly to me on this project, and I want it 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:57.160 done now, and I want to done it done immediately. Um. 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.160 And it took me. It took us to cost as 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:03.160 an organization. It took us about seven years to go 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:06.520 convinced Cleveland Clinic of the logic of this, convinced them 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:10.320 that we would actually commit to the to the quality 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.560 of the care and to the to the management that 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.680 this requires to deliver exactly what you have in Cleveland. 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:19.080 And abud w toocause seven years to build a state 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.800 of the art hospital which we have today. Uh. And 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:23.760 then that vision that he had, that dream he had, 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:26.480 I think has been achieved. Let me ask him about 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.680 another thing. You have opened up a museum that is 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.440 the Louver. How is that working out? Well? First of all, 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:34.560 I want to double check. Last time you came to 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.320 my office and we met, you made a commitment that 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.200 you visit it. Did you do it? I absolutely did, 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.360 And I was astounded to see some of the works 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.320 of art there here. I am an American and I 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:49.760 go to Abu Dhabi and I see Whistler's mother. So 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.280 a great American painted this and actually it was in 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.600 the Loup. It's part of their collection. And now some 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.880 people say that the most expensive work of art ever 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.680 purchased is in that museum. Yes, it will be in 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.800 that museum soon. Okay, this is a Davincia. This is 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.120 Davincia that was purchased a few months ago. I guess 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.840 roughly llion dollars. So that should be a pretty good attraction. 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:16.440 You know, it's um it's a young country, it's a 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:20.080 young nation. We didn't have a museum of this uh, 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.520 of this magnitude in the u E. And I think this, 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:28.360 this museum represents many things. Yes, it's it's beautiful. Yes, 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:31.360 I think that the art collections is remarkable, But I 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.760 think there's a bigger story in this. We are trying 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.280 to push out of the u E a message of tolerance. 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.640 If you go to that museum, you will see that 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:43.800 there is a curation. There's one particular Gelly that is 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:48.000 for me incredible, in which you see the world religions 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.120 really in one gallery and you see them next to 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.680 each other. So there's there's a there's a there's a 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:58.160 tora next to a Bible, next to a call from 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:02.360 the same period, and you multiple literation of of different 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.760 periods where you see the three books next to each other. Phenomenal. 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.920 Now you can see that in a museum and in 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:11.000 Germany or in or in the UK or here in 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.440 the United States. But for a museum in the u 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:16.479 A to have that, I think for people that are 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.000 that don't know the Middle East, I mean, that's a 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.639 massive step, a massive step and a massive a massive 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.119 message that you will understand, David, and many people that 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.159 know them at least will understand the significance of that. Now, 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:31.399 another thing that you've done is bringing the Formula one races. 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.000 Now you've built an elaborate Formula one course and I've 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:38.440 been to the races. There's that working out is working 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.720 out great. I mean the when when we say we 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.359 need to attract, we've gone from from a country that 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.040 was attracting a million tours a year to now over 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.680 twenty million tours per year of a country that has 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.320 a population of less than ten million. So over the 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:57.120 years we've invested heavily in sporting activities and museums and hotels, etcetera. 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.880 And that's made the UE such an attractive place for tourism. 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.360 But you know what's more important than all this safety 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.040 and security in the neighborhood we're in, in the in 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.240 the region we're in. To have a country like the 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:13.440 UI attract that sort of a number of tourists, it 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:15.920 can only be done by having a country that's safe 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.199 and that's secure, and that people feel both safe and secure. 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.600 In terms of the Middle East, Sheik Mohammed is very 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:28.480 close to Shaikh Mohammed been Sman, who is the Crown 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.320 Prince in Saudi Arabia. How do they develop this close relationship. 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:37.000 You know, the Crown Princess Saudi Arabia, his Highness Hammad 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.760 ben s is another incredible leader. I mean, what he's 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:42.959 doing and what you're seeing in Saudi Araba right now 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:47.199 is transformational. They share a view of the future. They 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.800 share a vision of the future a better place, uh, 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:52.840 not just for their people, but but for the region. 0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:56.040 And I think it's all these factors that make again, 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:59.520 these two very special leaders very close together. President Trump 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.720 has pulled out of the Iranian nuclear agreement. Did you 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:05.639 support the agreement? You know, didn' David. It's not a 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.640 big secret that we in the UI have always had 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:13.120 reservations over that that agreement from the beginning. We live 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:17.439 in our region, we live in our neighborhood. We've been 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:21.360 dealing with UM with Iran and the the the challenges 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.399 that it on UH puts on the region and the 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.600 stability and security of the region. It's always been our 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:31.040 position a concern over the UH what that agreement was 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.000 able to achieve in terms of preventing it ON from 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:39.399 building a military nuclear capability. How recently Saudi Arabia and 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.480 u A, among others, have had a dispute with Cutter. 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:45.359 Do you see any resolution and what is the basis 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.440 of that dispute. The basis of the of this dispute 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.320 is we live in all in a very challenging region. 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.240 UH national security has been at the forefront of of 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.560 of challenges that all countries in our region face, and 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:01.919 the GC see as a as a block that has 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.240 always tried to maintain at least a vision of how 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:08.080 we see the future and the stability and security of 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:12.359 that region. There has been a fundamental shift or disagreement 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.240 in terms of how we see the future of this 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.920 region and the direction that that has has decided to 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:23.880 go through with its decisions in terms of both its politics, 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:29.240 who it's decided to support, how it's UM really in 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:33.880 our view not done what we had hoped it would 0:20:33.920 --> 0:20:39.320 do with regards to combating terrorism, combating the financing of terrorism, UH, 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.639 and really sharing the vision that we have of what 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:45.200 we feel all of us should have UH for the 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:47.520 stability of our region. That's really at the heart of 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.760 this dispute. UM. These issues are are quite deep, but 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:54.520 these issues obviously are have been going on now for months. 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:58.399 I hope that ultimately this this matter gets resolved, and 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:01.320 I hope at the end of the day we're all uh. 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:06.200 We're all one family. UH. You know UH autories in Monaiti, Saudis, 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:09.960 Baharani Egyptian schooldays we are all one people. Some of 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:11.879 the rhetoric coming out of the US government, has that 0:21:11.960 --> 0:21:14.640 been a concern to people in the Middlewest about Muslims 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:16.960 or do you think it's political rhetoric and not something 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:19.920 you worry about as much? No, I don't worry about that. No, 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:21.560 we don't worry about that. I think we we have 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:24.040 such strong links with the United States, and we have 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:26.879 such strong links with the people here in the United States, 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:29.920 with the government, with the business community, with the academic community, 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.480 the think tanks, across all facets of US society. So 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:35.680 I think these links are deep. You know, we have 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:37.960 to be able to distinguish between rhetoric and and and 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:40.600 reality and and and and that reality on the ground 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:42.320 is what we feel. You know, I've been watching d 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:44.920 C today. I'm i'm I'm meeting with politicians, I'm meeting 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:48.320 with businessmen, I'm meeting with uh, you know, people from 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:50.080 all facets, and I know I don't not feel it, 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:52.560 and it doesn't worry. The final question I'd like to 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:54.920 ask you about is, UH, is there anything that you'd 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:57.440 rather be doing than you're doing that. I love what 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:02.359 I do. I enjoy it both professionally and personally. But 0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:04.720 if there's one thing that I'd like to do more 0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:06.800