President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her delegation, on a three-day Working Visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Friday, November 21, toured the massive facilities of Dubai Port World’s Jebel Ali facilities – the biggest man-made port in the world – and the President’s technical team continued discussions with its executives concerning investment opportunities in Liberian infrastructure, particularly its ports and roads, and on the country 25-year Master Plan for its four ports.

Members of the President’s technical team include: the Minister of Public Works, Dr. Antoinette Weeks; the Managing Director of the National Port Authority, Madam Matilda Wokie Parker; the Head of the President’s Delivery Unit (PDU), Mr. Gyude Moore; and the President’s Senior Economic Advisor, Dr. Mounir Siaplay.

The Liberian President, according to a dispatch from Dubai, is in the emirate at the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, with whom she held discussions on Thursday, where the focus was again on infrastructure.

Other activities of President Sirleaf on Friday included a meeting with the Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industries, H.E. Abdul Rahman Seif Al Ghurair, and the Vice President for International Relations, Mr. Hassan Al Hashemi. She asked how Liberia could work with the Chamber, and, referring to the very vibrant but unregistered trade between Liberian business people and Dubai, asked how such trade could be put on a formal level. They, in turn, suggested that Liberia should participate in the Gulf Food Fair; adopt an Open Skies policy to be competitive; and open a small office, in Dubai, to facilitate trade. They promised to assist Liberia and share information in the areas of interest.

Earlier President Sirleaf met with two officers of the Dubai Cares Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by the Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to provide children in developing countries with access to quality primary education.

Mr. Yousuf Cairas, Deputy Director of Programs, and Ms. Asma Abdulmalik, Country Program Officer, informed the President that the foundation is engaged in a de-worming project in Liberia, working through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. They said that a mission to Liberia was planned for 2014, in order to assess the current program and education components, because of the need for quality education. The foundation, he said, was also working in neighboring Sierra Leone, to provide water and sanitation for schools, as well as education programs in the West African countries of Mali, Chad and Niger.

President Sirleaf briefed the team on the state of education in Liberia since she came to office in 2006; of her own efforts to promote girls’ education by establishing the Liberian Education Trust (LET), whose goal was to provide scholarships for 5,000 girls, train 500 teachers and build 50 schools. Providing quality education remained a challenge, she said, and the government could not do it all. She hoped that with Dubai Cares getting started in Liberia, it would take a look at the various initiatives already under way, including the need for pre-school education. She welcomed the foundation to Liberia, and promised to send them all of the data, ahead of the visit, so that they would be well informed.