His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi was appointed Minister of Education in May 2022. He oversees the process of developing the educational system in the UAE, increasing its efficiency, and enhancing educational outputs, to meet the nation’s future developmental, economic and social needs. His Excellency has also been the Chairman of the General Authority of Sports since 2021, responsible for setting plans, programmes, systems, and regulations to ensure the organisation and development of the sports sector in the country. Through his position, His Excellency has contributed to implementing numerous strategic initiatives like the National Sports Strategy 2031, and the launch of the Emirates Committee for Elite and High-Level Sports. The committee is one of the most significant initiatives resulting from the strategy, aiming to increase the likelihood that talented Emirati athletes will represent the UAE at the Paris 2024 Olympics. In June 2021, His Excellency Al Falasi was also appointed as First Deputy President of the UAE National Olympic Committee, aiming to improve the technical and administrative skills of the Olympic teams and enhance the UAE's standing in regional and international sporting events.
In 2024, His Excellency Dr. Al Falasi has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UAE Space Agency. Through his position, His Excellency oversees the Agency’s mandate of guiding the space sector, ensuring its contribution to the national economy. Since 2020, His Excellency has been the Deputy Chairman of the Emirates Development Bank, which is a key enabler of the UAE's economic transformation and provides financial support to businesses in key strategic sectors.
In 2021, His Excellency Dr. Al Falasi served as the Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs. He was responsible for strengthening the role of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector as one of the engines of the national economy, and for boosting the national entrepreneurship model across various economic sectors in line with the best international practices. In his role, he also contributed to strengthening the UAE’s standing and competitiveness as an attractive regional and global investment hub for SMEs, entrepreneurial projects, and emerging companies with promising growth prospects, aimed at becoming large enterprises based in the UAE.
From February 2016 until July 2020, His Excellency served as the Minister of State for Higher Education. During his tenure, he supervised the development of higher education and scientific research in the UAE, formulated new policies for the sector and streamlined the work of higher education institutions to ensure high-calibre outputs meeting the needs of the labour market. Besides, in October 2017, pursuant to the ministerial amendment to the UAE Government, Dr. Al Falasi took on the responsibility of equipping UAE nationals with future-orientated skills.
From 2017 to 2021, Dr. Al Falasi chaired the Board of Directors of the UAE Space Agency. During his tenure, the country witnessed the launch of the UAE Astronaut Programme, the first of its kind in the Arab region. As part of the programme, the first Emirati went on a space mission on September 25, 2019. Additionally, KhalifaSat was launched, being the first Arabic satellite to be 100 percent developed by Emirati engineers. The launch of the satellite was a historic achievement that contributed to cementing the UAE’s global position in the space science sector. Furthermore, the "Probe of Hope" to Mars, lifted off on July 20, 2020, and reached the Red Planet in 2021.
Moreover, His Excellency is the former Chairman of the Federal Authority for Human Resources and the UAE Tourism Council. Prior to pursuing a career in the federal government, Dr. Al Falasi was the CEO of Masdar Company, the Executive Director of Strategy and Tourism Sector Development at Dubai Tourism, the Vice President of the Mubadala Industry Unit, as well as a Consultant for the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. He started his career as an Assistant Professor at Khalifa University.
His Excellency Dr. Al Falasi holds a PhD from Monash University, a master’s degree from the University of Melbourne in Australia, and a bachelor’s degree in Communication Engineering from Khalifa University in the UAE.