Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, entered the list of hundreds of the most influential people on the planet according to Forbes magazine and "took" the 53rd place in the list for 2011. Last year, in the same list, he was assigned the 56th position.
The magazine notes the outstanding contribution of Sheikh Khalifa to the development of the UAE since he became president seven years ago, and adds that the Emirates owns one of the largest oil reserves in the world - approximately 97.8 billion barrels. In addition, Forbes Magazine notes the creation by Sheikh Khalifa of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which today is one of the world's largest National Wealth Funds. One of the main objectives of this Fund is to reduce income from the sale of oil, diversify the economy of the country and provide sufficient financial resources to future generations of the emirates. In one of his recent articles, Forbes called Sheikh Khalifa "a man to solve difficult situations."
The head of the list of hundreds of the most influential people on the planet this year is US President Barack Obama. Next in the top five are: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Microsoft owner and one of the richest people in the world - Bill Gates.
In sixth place - the king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah ibn Abdel Aziz Al Saud; on the seventh - Pope Benedict XVI; on the eighth, Ben Shalom Bernanke, chairman of the US Federal Reserve; on the ninth, Mark Zuckerberg, developer and founder of the social network Facebook; on the tenth - David Cameron, British Prime Minister. The list also included leaders of the Middle East region such as former Iranian President Ali Khameneni, who took 26th place, Saudi Arabian Minister of Oil Reserves Ali Al Neymi, who took 31st place.
