IN FULL: Sir Tim Clark’s speech at Gulf Business Awards 2023

Sir Tim Clark — the president of Emirates — is a titan in the business world and when he speaks on stage, listeners get a unique insight into just how rapidly and successfully Dubai has established itself on the global stage.

After winning both the Business Leader of the Year and Transport and Logistics Leader of the Year at the 2023 Gulf Business Awards in Dubai this week on November 28, Clark addressed the over 250 guests at the Palazzo Versace hotel.

READ MORE: Winners of the Gulf Business Awards 2023

Clark was one of the first ten members of the airline’s small management team back in 1985. He would go on to become president of Emirates in 2003. And in the 38 years since its founding, Emirates has expanded into one of the world’s biggest airlines, with flights to over 135 destinations and a fleet size of over 260 aircraft.

READ MORE: Listen to what Sir Tim Clark has to say about the ‘third era’ for Emirates

You can watch his speech below and read the full transcript as well:

Transcript of Sir Tim Clark’s speech:

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m greatly honoured to be up here and to have been given this fantastic award.

I have to say, and I always say this when I’m lucky enough to be awarded these kind of accolades that it’s it’s something that is a true team effort. The formation of the airline 38 years ago was basically ten people. And those of you who remember him, Sir Maurice Flanagan, and of course, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who is still our chairman and a very hands on manager of the business.

So it’s to all of these people and the many thousands of people who’ve come through Emirates, the Emirates Group over these 38 years that have built it into the entity that is today, in a startlingly amazing country and city, these being the UAE and Dubai. And I was looking as I came in [to the Palazzo Versace Hotel] to my right at the Al Garhoud Bridge. When I first came here, that was a two lane bridge in each direction, and the police used to park on either either end of the bridge, because if you went over it more than about 40 miles an hour, you got fined. And it was not because of the speed [you were travelling], but it was because the bridge was in an imminent state of collapse. And when my boss told me: “You know, Tim, they they’re going to build a 14 lane bridge in the place of this one, I couldn’t really believe my ears.

But then, yes, I could, because I was already part of what was going to be the the the Dubai of 2023 and the journey that it’s been on, which is truly amazing Emirates is a brand that has harnessed itself to Dubai.

We got the bit between our teeth in the early years and we decided that we really wanted to build something really good. Frankly, it wasn’t difficult in those days simply because our competitor aviation group wasn’t really up to much.

But with the drive and vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, now the ruler of Dubai, he was instrumental in driving a lot of this. And I can say today that I was honoured to receive in my office the astronauts of the Mohammed bin Rashid Center Astronaut Program.

These were the astronauts, of course, who went up into the International Space Station. And I thought to myself: what a what a wonderful country this has become and how how capable is the indigenous population, the locals themselves are hugely versatile, have turned them their skills, and their education into things that have produced wonderful things here. And that includes, of course, a lot of ladies, which Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid unleashed on society when he introduced the the ladies in the workplace [initiative].

And we have many ladies who are extremely good, and who are local by origin. So I’m very proud of all of that. And I hope that the the airline continues to excel, continues to propel the brand Dubai, and I’m sure it will. And we’re getting to the stage now where there aren’t many people in the world who can say that they don’t where in the world Dubai is now.

And I hope we can say the same for the airline. Thank you very much for this. And I wish you the very best.