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Cabinet shakeup: President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum laid out a federal cabinet reshuffle on Saturday, making a total of five new appointments and bringing three new faces to sit around the cabinet table.
#1- Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is now the deputy minister for financial and economic affairs, a role in which he will serve alongside his responsibilities as deputy ruler of Dubai, the deputy prime minister, and finance minister. The Dubai ruler’s third son has been the deputy ruler of Dubai since 1 February 2008, and the finance minister since 25 September, 2021.
Sheikh Maktoum also serves in various roles throughout Dubai’s financial landscape, including chairing the general budget committee, the federal tax authority board, and the Dubai markets supervisory committee. He also serves as the vice chairman of the Dubai investment corporation and chairman of the Dubai international financial center and the Dubai development authority.
#2- Cabinet newcomer Sultan Al Neyadi takes over as minister of state for youth from Shamma bint Suhail bin Faris. Al Neyadi, an astronaut with a PhD in Information Technology, made history as the first Arab astronaut to complete a six-month mission on the International Space Station and the first to perform a spacewalk. Al Neyadi joins the cabinet as minister of state for youth given his interest in advancing and promoting youth issues, according to a statement by the vice president.
#3- Fresh face Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak Al Shamsi (LinkedIn) assumed the role of environment minister, succeeding Mariam Almheiri. Al Shamsi previously served as the assistant undersecretary for care & capacity building at the Education Ministry since July 2016, as well as the director of the department of innovation and entrepreneurship at the same ministry. Al Shamsi also led several federal strategic projects and served as the official government spokesperson during the covid-19 pandemic.
#4- Following her near-three-year stint as environment minister, Mariam Almheiri (LinkedIn) has been appointed as head of the international affairs office at the presidential court.
Almheiri served as the climate change and environment minister since September 2021 and took on a leading role at last year’s COP28. Almheiri previously served as the minister of state for food and water security and represented the UAE at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture. She also chaired the boards of the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority and the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural, the Dubai Future Foundation, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Food Systems Innovation.
#5Mohammed Mubarak Al Mazrouei now sits at the cabinet table as the minister of state for defense affairs.Al Mazrouei previously served as the undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court from 2009-2022, and an advisor at the presidential court from 2022. Al Mazrouei was also a member of the Abu Dhabi Government Restructuring Committee and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority.
