Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice-president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai, formally launched the new centre on Monday, which is to be named the Mohammad Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy (MBRGCEC).
The centre will provide free advice to organisations on setting up endowments in a bid to help revitalise the endowment system.
The ruler of Dubai also announced an endowment of AED5 bn (£900m, $1.3bn) to help kick start the new agency which will focus on a variety of causes, including innovation and knowledge projects, science, future research, as well as supporting reading and authorship.
“We [have] opened the doors to become the most supportive nation for endowment for the service of humanity. Many investors do good deeds in secrecy, and we need them to start committing these deeds in public,” Sheikh Mohammad said in a statement.
Dubai’s new endowment district will be the first real estate and social project that adopts the concept of innovative endowments and encourages the development of endowment banks in the UAE.
The project will be established on a plot of land donated by Sheikh Mohammad and will be divided into two areas. The first will host buildings dedicated to services for the UAE community, while the second part of the disctrict will host buildings for organisations serving the wider Arab world (see pictures below).
