Article:
ISSUE No.6 September - October 2007

Dubai’s Young Elite
Sheikh Hamdan on the way to the top

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum is one of the 16 children of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. His mother is Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum Al Maktoum, Sheikh Mohammed’s first wife. Even though no official crown prince has been named, the fourth son of Sheikh Mohammed is considered the favorite among his brothers.

The 24 year old Sheikh Hamdan attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), which is known for educating and developing outstanding leaders. The young Sheikh Hamdan is already filling leadership positions. He is president and chief executive of the Dubai Executive Council, president of the Dubai Sports Council and he spearheads the Center for Young Business Leaders which was called into existence by Sheikh Mohammed. This institution supports young, talented and creative people. The goal is to remove obstacles and barriers and help these young people to achieve their dreams of entrepreneurship and so develop and build a circle of young and successful business leaders. The center attends to its members’ needs before and during the transformation of their dreams. As leader of the Dubai Executive Council, Sheikh Hamdan was honored with by the United Nations with the Public Service Award. This UN award is one of the most prestigious and sought after awards for the public sector.

Besides his official duties and obligations Sheikh Hamdan is an enthusiastic and successful sportsman. He has won several gold medals for endurance horse races. His biggest triumph was the gold medal for the team endurance race that was won by him along with his brothers Rashid, Ahmad and Majid during the Asian Games in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in 2006. During an endurance race you have to ride your horse a long distance as fast as possible without overworking the horse; in other words, “A Marathon on Horseback”. Sheikh Hamdan also won the Zabeel Billiard Championship recently.

He, just like his father, writes poetry. His works are published under his pseudonym Fazzaa; they can be found on his homepage: www.fazza3.com.