No massive foreign evacuation happens in Dubai despite regional tensions

Dubai has not witnessed a large-scale departure of foreign residents despite the ongoing regional tensions since Israel and the United States started military strikes on Iran on February 28, a senior Dubai official said in an exclusive interview with the China Media Group (CMG).

The crisis, which has persisted for a month across the Gulf region, has raised concerns about the impact on Dubai -- a major tourism hub and global social media sensation.

Lieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai, confirmed in the interview with CMG that while travels have declined, there has been no massive exodus of foreigners seen in the city.

"Currently, Dubai is able to ensure the normal movement of travelers, but there is still a difference compared with the period [before the conflict]. Overall numbers are not as high as before. The current number of travelers is about 60 percent of previous levels," said Marri.

Marri said that Dubai, as an international metropolis, has over 90 percent of its population made up of foreign residents. Although crisis occurred in neighboring countries, there has been no panic or large-scale evacuation of people in Dubai, he said.

He stressed that the GDRFA is operating normally in its services and management of foreigners, and that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is fully capable of handling this crisis and protecting people's safety.

Marri also expressed his optimism about the future.

"The UAE always aspires for a better, more stable, and safer future. Crisis is a part of life, and we have already been tested many times," said Marri.

No massive foreign evacuation happens in Dubai despite regional tensions

No massive foreign evacuation happens in Dubai despite regional tensions

A total of 12 group standards for connected vehicles in two areas -- collaborative intelligent connected vehicles based on advanced mobile telecommunication" and "intelligent driving on complex roads" -- were officially released at an industry conference in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, on Saturday.

The standards were issued by the China Association of Automation in collaboration with Central South University and 10 other universities and research institutions. These standards convert achievements from national key research and development programs, including "vehicle-road-cloud integration," into a series of group standards. This initiative fills critical gaps in standards for cooperative driving testing and decision-making on complex roads.

"First, we standardize industry order and unify technology and testing standards to break the bottleneck of enterprises competing individually, promoting orderly development of the industry. Second, we accelerate technology transformation by creating bridges for innovation and implementation, which will lower R and D costs for enterprises and consolidate the foundation for industry growth. Third, we empower new quality productive forces, promote the integration of multiple industries, drive upgrades in the industrial chain, and support the construction of a modern industrial system. In the meantime, we also improve the standard collaboration framework to help the industry engage in international competition," said Hou Zengguang, vice president of the Chinese Association of Automation and professor at the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The two-day national conference on new quality productive forces and intelligent industry development concluded on Saturday.

China releases group standards for intelligent connected vehicles