Sheikh Saud's Accomplishments

At the age of 17, Sheikh Saud's father sent him abroad to the American University of Beirut to study economics. With the outbreak of civil war in Lebanon in 1975, Sheikh Saud transferred to the University of Michigan to complete his degree in economics and political science. On his return to Ras Al Khaimah in 1979, Sheikh Saud was appointed Chief of the Royal Court, with a mandate to assist his father, H.H. Sheikh Saqr. In 1986 he became Chairman of the Ras Al Khaimah Municipal Council and on June 14, 2003, his father named him Crown Prince and deputy ruler.

Since 2003, Sheikh Saud has implemented wide-ranging organizational and economic reforms to promote local businesses while attracting a steady flow of foreign investment. Committed to realizing the latent potential of Ras Al Khaimah, he has focused on improving the sectors in which the emirate has a comparative advantage: tourism, real estate, and manufacturing.

Drawing on his experience in the private sector, where he oversaw the reorganization of Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julfar) and the creation of the world's largest ceramics manufacturer, RAK Ceramics, Sheikh Saud helped bring about unprecedented development and growth across the Emirate. His reform initiatives resulted in a dramatic jump of GDP per capita in Ras Al Khaimah from AED 35,000 to AED 56,000 in the years between 2001 and 2009.

In 2005, Sheikh Saud established the Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) to implement and manage the overhaul of the emirate's infrastructure It is one of a number of semi-governmental organizations, including RAK Properties, Rakeen, and the Investment and Development Office, which have been instrumental in attracting quality investors to Ras Al Khaimah and maintaining the integrity of the government. In January 2008, Standard and Poor's and Fitch gave Ras Al Khaimah an "A" rating, publicly attesting to its strong economic standing.

Sheikh Saud has also been deeply involved with the social development of the emirate, with a focus on education, which he sees as an important part of Ras Al Khaimah's sustainable development. He established the Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammad Al Qasimi Scholarship fund to enable local men and women to pursue higher education at first class foreign universities.

The American University of Ras Al Khaimah was established in 2009 to facilitate access to world- class higher education at home. Till then, Ittihad University, which was set up in 1999, and the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) were the only local options in terms of higher education.

Sheikh Saud has also sponsored the building of the Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University to train future generations of doctors, nurses and pharmacists for the UAE as a whole. In 2007, he opened the doors of RAK Hospital, a joint Swiss-UAE venture and the first full service private hospital in the emirate.