UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Visits Thumbay Medicity in Ajman

Ajman, UAE: Thumbay Medicity welcomed His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, UAE to its Ajman campus on Friday. It marked the Minister’s first visit to one of the region’s largest integrated hubs for medical education, healthcare, and research, and it set the tone for a closer conversation between the country’s trade agenda and the work happening inside Thumbay’s classrooms, laboratories and hospitals.

His Excellency was received by Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group, and Mr. Akbar Moideen Thumbay, Vice President – Healthcare Division, along with the senior academic and clinical leaders. The reception reflected the importance Thumbay attaches to a visit from a Minister whose portfolio sits at the heart of the UAE’s push to grow its non-oil economy.

During the visit, His Excellency toured various facilities across the campus, led by Gulf Medical University, the region’s leading and No. 1 private medical university, along with Thumbay’s academic hospitals. He saw firsthand how teaching, patient care and research run side by side under one roof, and how the institution has grown from a single college in 1998 into a destination that today draws students from more than 111 countries.

The Minister then met with Dr. Thumbay Moideen at the President’s office inside Thumbay University Hospital. Their discussion centred on the role that private healthcare and education institutions can play in strengthening the UAE’s knowledge economy, advancing medical research and life sciences, and supporting the nation’s ambition to position itself as a global destination for talent and investment. The visit closed with the presentation of a memento and a group photograph with the leadership team.

The timing carries weight. As Minister responsible for the country’s foreign trade and a driving force behind its Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, His Excellency has helped shape the policies pulling international talent, partners and investment into the UAE. Thumbay’s ecosystem, which trains the region’s healthcare workforce and runs research programmes in precision medicine and population health, sits squarely within that vision. This visit signals a shared belief that healthcare, education and research are not separate from the trade and investment story, but central to it.

“It is an honour to welcome His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi to Thumbay Medicity. When we established Gulf Medical University in 1998, our goal was to build something that would serve the UAE for generations. A visit like this affirms that the work of educating healthcare professionals and investing in medical research is part of the nation’s wider economic journey. We are grateful for the government’s continued faith in the private sector and look forward to contributing even more to the country we are proud to call home.”
— Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President, Thumbay Group

“The UAE’s strength has always come from the ambition of its people and the quality of its institutions. Thumbay Group continues to make a significant contribution to the delivery of world-class healthcare services in the country – and to development of the UAE as a center for medical education and clinical research. Thumbay Medicity is an outstanding demonstration of this commitment to healthcare excellence, and is very much aligned with the goals of We the UAE 2031, which seeks to elevate the UAE into the world’s top ten for quality of healthcare services, and to our national ambition to become a trusted global partner for healthcare partnerships, innovation and collaboration.”
— H. E. Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Foreign Trade, UAE

Thumbay Group, founded in 1997 by Dr. Thumbay Moideen, is an international business conglomerate headquartered in the UAE, with operations spanning education, healthcare, medical research, diagnostics, retail pharmacy, hospitality and real estate. Thumbay Medicity in Al Jurf, Ajman, is home to Gulf Medical University – the region’s biggest and No. 1 private medical university – Thumbay University Hospital, Thumbay Dental Hospital, and the Thumbay Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital. For more information, visit https://thumbay.com.