almotamar-net - ABU DHABI � The new UAE Cabinet was announced yesterday. Four new ministries have been carved out and eight new posts have been created. The new Cabinet, the 7th since the inception of the UAE federation in 1971, now has one more woman minister. Four ministries, of Information and Culture, Agriculture and Fisheries, Communications and Supreme Council and AGCC Affairs, have been scrapped. New ministries will take up some responsibilities of the old ministries.


The Cabinet was approved by the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, after it was proposed by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in the old Cabinet has been bifurcated into two separate ministries: labour and social affairs. While the former is headed by Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi, the latter is headed by the second UAE woman minister to join the Cabinet, Dr Mariam Mohammed Khalfan Al Roumi, who held the post of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs since February 1999. Other new entities include the Ministry of Government Sector Development, the post of the Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment and Water, and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

In the new Cabinet, the Auqaf (Islamic endowments) and Islamic Affairs are no longer part of the Ministry of Justice.

source:Khaleej Times