Proud holders of world’s top passport
Gulf News talks to Emiratis who said that the UAE passport will not only allow them to travel visa-free around the world, but also open up opportunities in education, health care and trade.
Mouza Awad, 50, from Al Ain,
said, “The most important benefit of the UAE passport being number one is that it will allow us visa-free travel around the world but it would also bring many other benefits as well. Earlier, if a person wanted to travel for treatment he had to shuttle between embassies and offices to obtain a visa and it took a couple of weeks. But now we only need to get the ticket and travel. For example, if my mother was sick and I had to take her outside the country for emergency treatment — earlier due to visa issues it would take time, but now it will be easy.” Education, healthcare and trade, in every sphere of life it would open up opportunities and facilitate travel visa-free. I would like to thank the wise leadership of the country for this achievement.”
Obaid Al Kindi, 44, from Sharjah,
said, “This is a big achievement for the UAE and a proud moment for every Emirati. Now the travel document allows him to travel throughout the world. It is a great achievement for all of us. Now we can travel for tourism, trade and education as well as the healthcare services. The country has been striving for this for long and we have achieved it. Many locals travel overseas for education and healthcare service, it will be beneficial to all of them.”
Abdullah Al Nuwaimi, 31, from Sharjah,
said, “Top ranking of the Emirati passport is due to continued efforts of the leadership of the country who regard its citizens and their needs as the top priority. Now it will give more freedom to locals to travel around the world for any purpose. This is the result of Shaikh Zayed’s vision to put the UAE in the forefront and the noble leadership of the country has done it. This is a big achievement — it will help the country and its citizens to further develop and establish a prominent place in the world arena in different spheres.”
Eid Al Muhairi, 41, from Ras Al Khaimah,
said, “We thank the UAE’s leadership for this achievement — the grand success of the Emirati passport. This wise leadership of the country has seen the Emirati passport take top position and now it will open up avenues for every Emirati and the government will develop more peopleto-people contacts with different nationalities of the world and further develop ties with them. Benefits are at par and people will realise it when they start doing business abroad.”
Muna Sulum, 35, from Sharjah,
said, “The most important thing for us is to be able to travel overseas without visas and I consider this a big facility for us and will make our path easier in different spheres of life. Our passport being number one will help us to be on top of other things abroad. This will also help us promote Zayed’s humanitarian efforts outside the UAE and show people that we are children of Zayed, the father of our nation. When we travel overseas, we can share UAE culture and traditions with the outside world, boost relations with countries and promote people-to-people contacts. People will learn how different nationalities live together peacefully in our country.”