UAE: Mirza Hussain Al Sayegh, the man who shares a profound bond with late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid

UAE: Mirza Hussain Al Sayegh, the man who shares a profound bond with late Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid

The career diplomat, who traded a promising career to manage the world’s longest-serving finance minister’s diverse commercial pursuits and charities, looks back in wonder about a symbiotic relationship that blossomed since their childhood days

KT photos by Neeraj Murali

By Joydeep Sen Gupta, Leslie Wilson Jr Published: Fri 9 Dec 2022, 6:49 PM Last updated: Fri 9 Dec 2022, 7:01 PM

Mirza Hussain Al Sayegh, a diplomat-turned-member, Board of Trustees, Al Maktoum Foundation, was the alter ego of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the world’s longest-serving finance minister, since 1983, who passed away in March 2021.

Al Sayegh traded a promising diplomatic career that he had embarked upon during the foundation of the UAE on December 2, 1971, while paying heed to the call of the Founding Father of the country, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in nation building.

History shows that Al Sayegh was only one of the 25 Emirati graduates during the time of unification, and he had “an undergraduate degree from the University of Jordan in business administration”.

“The next few years were a breeze as I made steady progress in my diplomatic career,” reminisced Al Sayegh about his salad days while ensconced in his office on Sheikh Zayed Tower.

“In 1971,