China and Dubai: Lands of Reforms

China had been a forgotten land, a sleeping country, a name given to it for its addiction to opium, before it emerged with thriving force of revolution in the year 1949. As a set belief of the economists, a country like China with such a huge size of population, being its largest drawback, can make little progress if any. To add more to it, the great revolutionary leader of China, Mao Tse-tung, encouraged population growth. In his reign the population of Chin almost doubled. But China made its population not its weakness but its strength. Despite its lack of natural resources and huge population, China made tremendous progress, which is a matter of surprise for nations and matter of interest for the study of leadership development and executive education. Since 1978 an economic planning with good governance started in China, which led it to the present economic boom. “In 1978, after years of state control of all productive assets, the government of China embarked on a major program of economic reform. In an effort to awaken a dormant economic giant, it encouraged the formation of rural enterprises and private businesses, liberalized foreign trade and investment, relaxed state control over some prices, and invested in industrial production and the education of its workforce. By nearly all accounts, the strategy has worked spectacularly.”

“Fewer people, however, are aware of China’s impressive strides in human capital investment and its notable achievements in education. Currently, China is spending, on average, more on research and development than any other major developed economy in the West. It is becoming an attraction pole for expatriates and international students alike and a pioneer in producing scientific papers in natural sciences and engineering. In 2007, 59% of the scientific papers published by Chinese scholars were in natural sciences. In its twelfth five-year plan for 2011-15 China reveals that it attempts to become by 2050 the world champion in science and research.” 

This is the yield of good governance of Chinese leadership. China invested not only in preparing labor through technical education, but in executive education too, to generate economic leaders to lead it into the growing economic completion in the world. Good governance coupled with executive can bring such miracles.

Another country which made progress due to good governance and executive skills of it leaders is Dubai. The famous line ofSheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum goes "My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel."

This shows his concern if Dubai kept on relying on its oil reservoirs and did not make efforts to achieve sustainable economic status with the help of its natural and human resources. Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum brought revolutionary reform in the region. He “brought Dubai to join Abu Dhabi and other northern Emirates to create theUnited in 1971, and in 1973, Dubai joined the other emirates to adopt a uniform currency, the UAE dirham.”

“Dubai started its development journey as a local township with humble credentials. At that time, Dubai had a modest economy and population, but a determined mindset and a clear vision to achieve international excellence and global city standing. Dubai’s entrepreneurial leadership defined a challenging strategy to the city, setting the skies as the limit for growth… Entrepreneurial spirit, good planning, and determination for success made Dubai a thriving international open city.”