From Dubai Loop to Blue Visa – How WGS 2025 is Shaping the UAE’s Future

Last week Dubai held one of the year's most prestigious events, the World Government Summit (WGS), an annual event that invites global leaders for an open dialogue about futurism, technological innovation, and other topics. Spanned over 3 days, the event had multiple attendees including 140 government delegations, over 30 heads of state, more than 80 regional and international organizations, and over 6,000 attendees.?

The highlights included a Saudi teacher winning the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, Elon Musk announcing the Dubai Loop project, and the Bangladeshi government adviser, economist, Nobel Peace Prize winner sharing his work reforming Bangladesh’s different economic institutions, and the launch of the Blue Visa which is a 10-year visa for environmental professionals.?

Among the other transportation projects discussed were the RAILBUS and Seaglider, the former will be solar-powered with a capacity of 40 passengers. It will produced using 3D printing technology and recyclable materials. The Seaglider project was unveiled by Billy Thalheimer, founder and CEO of Regent Craft, a passenger vehicles manufacturer.?

It uses wing-in-ground effect technology which has been around for 60 years and combines the speed of an aircraft and the accessibility of a boat. This will be optimal for travel between coastal cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, at a high speed of 290 kph it will cut down travel time and traffic congestion. The best bit is that it will be affordable at only AED 165.?

Indeed, the development of transportation and its infrastructure has become essential as road congestion continues to increase exponentially. Especially, the Dubai and Sharjah routes have faced worsening congestion and accidents, despite the temporary solution of increasing toll taxes, which has failed to improve traffic flow. Even non-toll routes have experienced increased traffic.

Consequently, this has affected workers’ productivity which prevents the economy from performing at its full potential. Further, transportation powered by renewable energy will improve the sustainability of the country since the main cause of air pollution in the country is vehicle emissions. This aligns with UAE Net Zero Strategy 2050 which aims to make 25% of all trips in Dubai autonomous by 2030.

Moreover, to further encourage sustainability the Blue Visa was launched, it will be granted to sustainability leaders including members of international organizations, companies, associations, and non-governmental organizations. Subsequently, attracting top talent from the global sustainability industry and progressing the green initiative of the UAE.

As mentioned earlier, Musk’s Dubai Loop will replicate the Las Vegas Loop built by his company, The Boring Company (TBC), which constructs underground tunnels. On the final day of WGS, Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, along with Elon Musk, who joined the session virtually, discussed the project, highlighting its capacity to transport 20,000 passengers per hour across 11 stations at a high speed of 160 km/h.

As a result, the UAE will emerge with a strong public transport system to not only improve workers’ productivity but also their standard of living with less time spent commuting. Given that the Etihad rail is in progress to open and ease regional goods and passenger travel, all the WGS transportation projects will better travel within the country. What do you think about public transport in the UAE?