A Geneva-based human rights official has praised the United Arab Emirates, UAE, for playing a vital role in economic growth and flourishing trade thanks to its unique geographical location at the crossroads of civilisations.

Historical discoveries revealed that what is now known as the UAE and the wider Gulf region played an effective role, even in the centuries before Christ, Dr. Hanif Al Qasim, Chairman of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, said during a seminar convened by the Dubai Cultural Council.

"The history of the UAE represents one of the most ancient records in the region in which the renaissance reflected positively on its openness to the rest of the world through forging trade and economic relations," he said.

The development, he noted, had a direct impact on the exchange of social and life experiences that ancestors promoted and were later incorporated into the vision of the wise leadership of the UAE, earning the country its outstanding global cultural and humanistic status.