<p>The United Arab Emirates, which already boasts the world's tallest skyscraper and has launched a bold Mars mission, now hopes to become a pioneer in the depths of the metaverse.</p>.<p>In a project launched at Dubai's gleaming Museum of the Future, it announced that the UAE's economy ministry was setting up shop inside the immersive virtual world that is now taking shape.</p>.<p>Those who don their virtual reality goggles or use other means to venture within will find a ministry open for business with companies and even ready to sign bilateral agreements with foreign governments, officials said.</p>.<p>The metaverse is an online world where users will eventually be able to game, work and study, its proponents say -- although it is still in a "test" phase, the UAE's economy minister conceded.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/supplements/dh-education/communication-in-the-age-of-metaverse-1136364.html" target="_blank">Communication in the age of Metaverse</a></strong></p>.<p>Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri was speaking at the inaugural Dubai Metaverse Assembly, held at the museum whose innovative ring shape decorated with Arabic calligraphy flanks the city's main thoroughfare.</p>.<p>Representatives of tech giants mingled with entrepreneurs and developers exploring the potential of the metaverse, a network of digital spaces intended as an extension of the physical world.</p>.<p>"In the last couple of years we've seen investments, we've seen companies move in, and with the changes of the (visa) regime... we see talent coming in," Al Marri told <em>AFP </em>in an interview.</p>.<p>"We trained our employees to really immerse themselves in the metaverse, use the metaverse and engage with the Generation Z that is going to come," he added.</p>.<p>The UAE, which has a history of bold projects including the 830-metre (2,723-foot) Burj Khalifa, hopes the metaverse can add $4 billion to annual GDP and 40,000 jobs to its workforce by 2030.</p>.<p>In its bid to become one of the world's top-10 metaverse economies, Dubai wants to attract 1,000 companies specialising in blockchain and related technologies, helped by eased visa rules for freelancers, entrepreneurs and creatives.</p>.<p>As the coronavirus pandemic pushed more people into the online world, "Covid really accelerated" the trend, Al Marri added.</p>.<p>"We thought the metaverse is a phase technology" that might take 10 to 20 years to emerge," he said. "Covid-19 really immersed us so fast and expedited the use of the metaverse."</p>.<p>Unlike the UAE's oil-rich capital, Abu Dhabi, crude represents just five per cent of Dubai's economy which has pivoted towards business, tourism, real estate and new technologies.</p>.<p>The UAE has already introduced a law governing virtual assets and a regulatory body for cryptocurrencies, while welcoming major crypto exchange platforms.</p>.<p>One of the UAE's early private-sector metaverse projects is called 2117, named after the dream of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to colonise Mars a century from now.</p>.<p>Metaverse users can now buy tickets to join a virtual shuttle carrying settlers to the red planet.</p>.<p>"A lot of us won't live long enough to see this mission with our own eyes," said Amin Al Zarouni, founder of the Bedu start-up behind the virtual Mars trip.</p>.<p>"We'll try to replicate this experience in the metaverse."</p>.<p>Until now, use of the metaverse is niche and even its architects say widespread adoption is years away. It remains unknown as to how it will develop.</p>.<p>According to Meta, which owns Facebook and other social media titans, Analysis Group research has shown that the metaverse could add $360 billion to GDP in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey in 10 years, if it follows the growth pattern of mobile technology.</p>.<p>"We also know that when policy supports innovation, it accelerates the adoption of new technologies," the company said, when asked about Dubai's prospects of becoming a metaverse hub.</p>.<p>"If we look at the context of Dubai, there's already a clear strategy and goals to accelerate metaverse adoption and investments in the building blocks of the metaverse."</p>
<p>The United Arab Emirates, which already boasts the world's tallest skyscraper and has launched a bold Mars mission, now hopes to become a pioneer in the depths of the metaverse.</p>.<p>In a project launched at Dubai's gleaming Museum of the Future, it announced that the UAE's economy ministry was setting up shop inside the immersive virtual world that is now taking shape.</p>.<p>Those who don their virtual reality goggles or use other means to venture within will find a ministry open for business with companies and even ready to sign bilateral agreements with foreign governments, officials said.</p>.<p>The metaverse is an online world where users will eventually be able to game, work and study, its proponents say -- although it is still in a "test" phase, the UAE's economy minister conceded.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/supplements/dh-education/communication-in-the-age-of-metaverse-1136364.html" target="_blank">Communication in the age of Metaverse</a></strong></p>.<p>Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri was speaking at the inaugural Dubai Metaverse Assembly, held at the museum whose innovative ring shape decorated with Arabic calligraphy flanks the city's main thoroughfare.</p>.<p>Representatives of tech giants mingled with entrepreneurs and developers exploring the potential of the metaverse, a network of digital spaces intended as an extension of the physical world.</p>.<p>"In the last couple of years we've seen investments, we've seen companies move in, and with the changes of the (visa) regime... we see talent coming in," Al Marri told <em>AFP </em>in an interview.</p>.<p>"We trained our employees to really immerse themselves in the metaverse, use the metaverse and engage with the Generation Z that is going to come," he added.</p>.<p>The UAE, which has a history of bold projects including the 830-metre (2,723-foot) Burj Khalifa, hopes the metaverse can add $4 billion to annual GDP and 40,000 jobs to its workforce by 2030.</p>.<p>In its bid to become one of the world's top-10 metaverse economies, Dubai wants to attract 1,000 companies specialising in blockchain and related technologies, helped by eased visa rules for freelancers, entrepreneurs and creatives.</p>.<p>As the coronavirus pandemic pushed more people into the online world, "Covid really accelerated" the trend, Al Marri added.</p>.<p>"We thought the metaverse is a phase technology" that might take 10 to 20 years to emerge," he said. "Covid-19 really immersed us so fast and expedited the use of the metaverse."</p>.<p>Unlike the UAE's oil-rich capital, Abu Dhabi, crude represents just five per cent of Dubai's economy which has pivoted towards business, tourism, real estate and new technologies.</p>.<p>The UAE has already introduced a law governing virtual assets and a regulatory body for cryptocurrencies, while welcoming major crypto exchange platforms.</p>.<p>One of the UAE's early private-sector metaverse projects is called 2117, named after the dream of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to colonise Mars a century from now.</p>.<p>Metaverse users can now buy tickets to join a virtual shuttle carrying settlers to the red planet.</p>.<p>"A lot of us won't live long enough to see this mission with our own eyes," said Amin Al Zarouni, founder of the Bedu start-up behind the virtual Mars trip.</p>.<p>"We'll try to replicate this experience in the metaverse."</p>.<p>Until now, use of the metaverse is niche and even its architects say widespread adoption is years away. It remains unknown as to how it will develop.</p>.<p>According to Meta, which owns Facebook and other social media titans, Analysis Group research has shown that the metaverse could add $360 billion to GDP in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey in 10 years, if it follows the growth pattern of mobile technology.</p>.<p>"We also know that when policy supports innovation, it accelerates the adoption of new technologies," the company said, when asked about Dubai's prospects of becoming a metaverse hub.</p>.<p>"If we look at the context of Dubai, there's already a clear strategy and goals to accelerate metaverse adoption and investments in the building blocks of the metaverse."</p>