Sheikh Zayed Book Award Presentation Ceremony 2010

Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi has won the Cultural Personality of the year 2010 award, which is part of the fourth edition of Sheikh Zayed Book Award. The honour was conferred on Sheikh Sultan in recognition of his efforts in the academic and cultural movement for over three decades during which he ordered academic and cultural institutions to be set up in Sharjah. In his address he delivered to mark the occasion, Sheikh Sultan said: “I thank those in charge of the award for selecting me as the cultural personality of the year. I will not talk about the award but about the owner of the award. 40 years ago, the British foreign secretary of the Labour Party government came to the UAE saying that Britain will not pull out its bases beyond Suez Canal. Six months later, the same secretary and the same government came to announce the sudden pullout which caused a shock to everybody. Peaople were like sheep in a rainy night and split and all nations were against us when a star from this earth showed up who was the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God have mercy upon him. That star used to cut distances short, makes frightened people fell safe, feeds the hungry and get ignorant people educated in a bid to build a nation. Thus, Sheikh Zayed was able to turn this young state one of the leading countries of the world that commands the respect of all countries.” These were to be supported by academic and cultural activities in the UAE and all countries of the world and adopted a prominent cultural policy in all academic and knowledge-based fields. During the ceremony held in the Emirates Palace on Wednesday evening, Lieutenant Genral Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, honoured Sheikh Sultan with the award. The ceremony held to honnour the winners of Sheikh Zayed Book Award was attended among others by Sultan Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Mohammed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli, Minister of Energy, Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, and Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazroui, Director Geneal of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. The ceremony was also attended by a number of sheikhs, ambassadors of Arab and foreign countries and an elite group of writers and mass media representatives.