Address fire an example of effective communication: Mona Al Marri

Starting the opening session, Mona Al Marri, Director-General of the Dubai Media Office, said importance of government communication was best manifested during the Address Downtown Hotel fire that broke out during the New Year’s Eve 2016.

“While the fire was followed by millions on social media, the western media described it as terrorism or invasion. When the dominating opinion suggested we end the celebration, our leadership insisted to continue,” said Al Marri.

She added that with an efficient communication team that worked with speed, accuracy and transparency closely with a keen leadership, the world’s outlook turned to talk about UAE’s efficient crisis management.

Meanwhile, Josh Earnest, former White House Press Secretary, said effective government communication will foster the UAE-US relations and strengthen the UAE’s economy. “Ideas and values that are shared by the US and the UAE and our commitment to pursue them both will not be just for the future of our countries but for the future of the relationship between both countries.”

He highlighted that as the UAE is looking forward to achieve its 2021 vision, effective communication from the government will send a message to business leaders that Dubai is the place to do business. He gave an example of when former US President Barack Obama made a clear interest to build relationships with entrepreneurs during his Cairo 2009 speech.

“This focus on global entrepreneurship allowed the US to yield programmes to foster relations with 17,000 entrepreneurs around the world,” Earnest said.