Date: 27/2/2007 In a Prestigious Ceremony Organized by Dubai Chamber at Madinat Jumaierah Mohammed bin Rashid Honors 13 Winners of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2006 His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday (Tuesday) honored 13 companies and establishments that won the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award 2006 organized by Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) for the second successive year in the line of its strategy that aims at enhancing the business community competitiveness, and its policy in supporting and appreciating the outstanding activities of corporations which have largely contributed to the development of UAE business sectors. The list of MRM Business Award 2006 winners included 13 companies from different economic sectors all over the UAE. The Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julfar), Neopharma and National Flour Mills Company, were crowned winners of the MRM Business Award 2006 under the Manufacturing category, while Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Emirates Bank International and Oman Insurance Company were also declared winners of the Award under the Finance category. The New Medical Center Trading was the only company that won the Award under the Re-export category, whereas Al Futtaim Carillion, National Petroleum Construction Company and Dutco Balfour Beatty LLC went home with an Award which they earned under the Construction category. As far as the companies operating in the free zones, National Fire Fighting Manufacturing (Naffco), Master Foods Middle East and Gulf Food Industries-California Garden have also won the Award under the Manufacturing category. His Excellency Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Chairman of Dubai Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, highlighted in his welcoming speech Sheikh Mohammed s continuous support to the Award and the Dubai Chamber as well. He talked about Dubai Strategic Plan which was announced by Sheikh Mohammed a few weeks ago. Al Tayer illustrated some aspects of the plan highlighting the developing economic infrastructure of the emirate which helped raise the real GDP in the past few years to rates higher than those recorded by the GCC countries, thanks to Dubai Government s support which underlined the emirate s excellent economic performance, as well as its effort in building an encouraging business environment, developing new economic sectors and continually reacting with the private sector. Coping with the perspectives of Dubai Strategic Plan, Dubai Chamber is ready to spare no effort for the sake of keeping Dubai s outstanding future on the track. In the line of its own strategy, Dubai Chamber will focus on the initiatives meant to develop business sectors and enhance its competitiveness in order to enable the private sector to cope with Dubai s future vision, said Al Tayer. The Chairman of Dubai Chamber underlined the importance of the Award as an active means to encourage corporate competitiveness, and a unique experience that provides applicants with an opportunity to evaluate and analyze their performance to identify the points of strength and improve the areas of weakness in their establishments. The Award, he added, has reported a vast response from the UAE business communities, as the number of applicants increased by 50% in the second session of the Award in 2006, compared to 2005 when the Award was first launched. Al Tayer stressed the significant role played by the Award in improving the commercial activities of economic sectors it covers. He added that the Award was basically initiated in the line of Dubai Chamber s strategy and its mission in enhancing the business community competitiveness, as well as in appreciating the efforts of corporations in developing business sectors with their outstanding performance. Following the success the Award has gained in its first session in 2005 when 10 companies were declared winners under four main categories: Manufacturing, Export, Re-export and Finance, Dubai Chamber decided to
expand the scope of the Award by giving a chance for the companies operating in the UAE free zones to participate in the Award and be able to estimate their performance and competitiveness. Al Tayer explained that the MRM Award 2006 underwent some changes such as extending the Finance category to include the companies dealing with insurance services, merging the Export category into the Manufacturing category, and introducing a new category for Construction due to the importance and huge contributions of this sector to the national economy. The Award s administration at Dubai Chamber is planning to expand the scope of the Award in the next few years to include companies in the GCC countries and other Arab countries to help further introduce the best practices in business and widely enhance business competitiveness throughout the whole region, he added. Al Tayer praised the initiatives launched by Sheikh Mohammed to help better instill Dubai s position on the international economic map as the emirate enjoys a free open market policy which requires the reconsideration of a number of federal and local legislations that ensure a balance between liberating trade, accessing into global markets, moving capitals and working freely on one hand, and preserving the national interests and ensuring censorship to activate ethical principles in administrative and financial businesses on the other hand. His Excellency Sultan Saeed Al Mansoori, Chairman of the MRM Award s Panel of Judges, hailed the efforts of Dubai Chamber in extending the scope of the Award to cover all the emirates. He stressed the importance of the Award for covering the most significant economic sectors in the country and enabling the applying companies to learn about and benefit from the outstanding business practices of other companies, in addition to getting certified reports that identify the points of strength and the areas that need to be upgraded and developed in their companies. Al Mansoori pointed out that the criteria of the Award have been developed derived from the Business High Performance Model which is a robust model that covers all aspects of management in firms, as well as their business
performances. This model was quite important and unique for it was developed and reconfigured within the UAE to cope with local requirements and other international standards of criteria. Members of the Award judging panel admired this model which is committed to the basic criteria that include the establishment s strategy, productivity, areas of innovation, leadership, the establishment s social role and commitment to quality, said Al Mansoori. Any licensed establishment or company that has been operating in the UAE and registered at any of the UAE chambers of commerce and industry for two years at least is eligible to apply under any one of the four MRM Business Award categories. Firms operating as representative offices were not allowed to apply for the Award this year. The assessment criteria of the Award include Management Criteria and Performance Criteria. The management criteria includes strategic initiatives such as tracking the changing needs of customers, leadership perspectives through enhancing communication and motivation, quality imperatives through strict adherence to systematic procedures, corporate culture like defining organizational values and corporate social responsibility. The performance criteria of the Award includes the output through knowing the actual quantity of products and services produced by the firm, the outcome which includes the achievements derived from the output of products and services and the impact of the firm towards the nation and society such as the success rate of the Emiratization program. Upon conducting a film on MRM Business Award, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, handed over the awards to the winning companies, and took pictures with the chairman and members of the judging panel. The MRM Business Award 2006 ceremony was attended by a large number of economic figures and dignitaries, ministers, undersecretaries, ambassadors and consuls to the UAE, as well as heads of local government departments,
members of Dubai s economic and executives councils, a number of DCCI Board of Directors, representatives of business councils and trading centers registered at the DCCI and a number of businessmen, CEOs and people of the press. This press release is issued by Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It is a non-profit, semi-government establishment that was set up in 1965 by a virtue of late Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Dubai Chamber aims to be recognized as an indispensable source of competitive advantage for the business community in Dubai. It also looks for being the chosen institution that represents, protects and promotes the interests of the Dubai business community through providing value-added services that create new business opportunities, and promoting global competitiveness of Dubai-based businesses