UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, attended the Prince Agha Khan Award for Engineering and Architecture ceremony, which was held on Sunday in Al Ain.

Prince Agha Khan thanked the organising committee for the selection of this heritage and historical landmark. He referred to the role of the UAE and its leadership in supporting and encouraging the authentic heritage, especially the Islamic architecture, according to UAE News Agency (WAM).

Shaikh Mohammed watched the documentary film about the award founded in 1977. It aims to honour the owners of creative ideas and special pilot projects in the field of Architecture, construction, with the aim to serve humanity. 

A $1 million award is celebrated in every three years and it is one of the largest awards in the world in the field of engineering and architecture.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid flanked by Prince Aga Khan presented the appreciation certificates to six winners out of 19 candidates for the prize. The event was attended by about 500 cultural, artistic and economic personalities from various countries.

The winning projects included Bait Raouf Mosque and Friendship Project Centre in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, Super Clean Park in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, Nature Pedestrian Bridge in the Iranian capital, Tehran, Issam Fares Institute project in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and Small Yuan'er Library in the Chinese capital, Beijing.

Shaikh Mohammed congratulated the winners including engineers, masons, technicians and consultants involved in the implementation of these unique projects in terms of designs. He also thanked Prince Aga Khan and his team for choosing the Jahili Fort to host this great event, held for the first time in an Arab country.

He noted the choice reflects the fort's historical and architectural importance, and added that it was a milestone fortress of grandparents in the city of Al Ain, and still remains with its tall walls, buildings and towers to this day, thanks to the wise policy of the late Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who had been keen to preserve the legacy of the ancestors.

Shaikh Mohammed also referred to the keenness of UAE President HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, to sustain the heritage of the forefathers.

"We want our beloved country to outperform in all arts and be a state of love and peace as well as encourage and spread poetry, literature, sculpture, music, engineering, architecture and other arts that make people happy, serve humanity and converge with the various cultures of the world," he concluded.