Dr. Ackerman, Board Chairman of Deutsche Bank, ladies and gentlemen;

First of all, I would like to thank the board members of the Institute of International Finance for inviting me to speak to you this morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all here to your country - the United Arab Emirates.

In Dubai, and the UAE as a whole, we consider these meetings, held under the umbrella of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, as a milestone in our economic development.

Since the birth of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has witnessed rapid development, which has transformed its economy from one completely dependent on oil and gas revenues to a diverse and vibrant market-based one.

This is the result of three decades of strenuous and wise effort to lay the foundations of a strong economy through intensive investment in education, transport, telecommunications, tourism, industry and, above all, a rock-solid infrastructure.

Today, the results of our development plan are obvious. The UAE's economy continues to be a regional leader in terms of reform and liberalism. The average income per capita now exceeds US$20,000.

It is worth noting that the policy of reducing the dependence on oil to the gross domestic product means it now represents just 30 percent of the GDP and has resulted in continual economic growth of at least 8 percent annually over the last ten years.

A large portion of that growth is due to a number of large international companies operating in our country, including those based in Dubai. These corporations chose Dubai as a base because it offers an exceptional business environment, characterized by diversity and social harmony, equipped with a strong infrastructure, and offering a multi-cultural, multi-talented, highly qualified workforce.

Our journey of development has broadened our horizons. We have endeavoured to diversify our economy and to put the resources bestowed upon our country to maximum use. Our country is blessed with a distinctive geographical location in the heart of this region with a combined income of US$1.5 trillion annually, where one third of the world's population live, forming the fastest growing market in the world. This region comprises Central and Eastern Africa, the Middle East, the Caspian Sea and the Indian Subcontinent. It encompasses a market whose potential has yet to be realized.

Here, let me share with you some of our achievements in real figures:

We recognised the increasing challenge of global competition and tried hard to meet that challenge with an original and creative strategy, making use of our resources to sustain growth and prosperity. We applied the private sector's best administrative practices to our government departments and institutions.

Our efforts were a success. We were able to establish Dubai as a regional hub for business, tourism, trade, IT and the media. Dubai, with the help of the world's fastest growing airline and one of the world's leading airports, now attracts more than five million tourists every year.

Dubai is a business centre of growing importance, providing an environment that encourages growth and prosperity. Dubai is a city that makes a solid commitment to its residents and visitors, and strives to offer a high standard of living.

Our vision for Dubai in this great region goes further than this. We recently announced the establishment of the Dubai International Financial Centre, in order to create a financial marketplace extending across the time zones between the international financial centres of London and Hong Kong. Among the main goals of Dubai International Finance Centre is to play an active part in the development process. For many years, the region has been an exporter of capital. Our intention is to create conditions in which local capital is retained and global investments are attracted to enhance the economic development of the region as a whole.

In the Dubai International Financial Centre we are in the process of creating a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework matching, or exceeding, the best practices and highest standards found in New York, London and other leading financial markets. A framework based on transparency and flexibility to create a trustworthy environment for the leading financial institutions.

Through extensive meetings with elite legislative experts and international legal advisers, we were able to decide on the best laws and regulations, which will be drafted in English.

Besides this, in the Dubai Stock Exchange we are creating a huge regional financial marketplace to provide investors and entrepreneurs with a larger, more efficient securities market, compared to the national ones. Dubai Stock Exchange is designed to meet the growing finance needs of governments and companies in the region, and to provide investors with a wealthy, trustworthy source of liquidity.

The Dubai International Financial Centre will be a global centre for Islamic finance - a rapidly growing market - and a regional hub for insurance and re-insurance to match London and other leading centres.

Much progress has been made over a very short time to realize our vision. During your visit to Dubai, you can observe the progress in the new financial district where the DIFC will be headquartered.

It gives us great pleasure to invite the world's leading financial institutions to apply for a licence to operate in the Dubai International Financial Centre. I invite all of you to participate in this journey, which is as breathtaking in reality as it is in vision.

With your participation and support, Dubai is destined to become the gateway for the flow of capital into and out of this vast region.  With your participation and support, we will remove one of the largest obstacles to the development of this great region: namely the absence of an efficient international financial centre. The DIFC will act as a catalyst to stimulate and fuel the region's development - just like Wall Street, the City of London, and other financial centres have contributed greatly to the growth of the US, European and Asian economies.

Our prime goal is to establish a solid platform for growth and make available employment opportunities not just for Dubai and the UAE, but for the third of the world's population and the countries which comprise the world's largest untapped emerging market.

I hope you will both understand our goals and see that we have the ability to achieve them. Having begun this historic journey, we are determined to see it through to completion.

In conclusion, I invite you to return to this city and country of which we are deeply proud in the future.  We are particularly proud of the fact that our progress has been achieved over such a short time.

I am certain that when you do return to Dubai, you will find further proof of our rapid progress.