National Day

With its 38^th National Day on its way, UAE has already pulled up its socks to celebrate its National Day on 2^nd December. The hearts of every emerati are filled with the overwhelming memories of 2^nd December 1971 when UAE made a history by acquiring independence from the British Colonial Rule. The Al-Eid Al Watani (in Arabic) is celebrated with great zeal all over UAE with splendid aura of triumph.

UAE has trampled long strides since its birth 38 years ago. With the proud maturity in its infrastructures, trade, economy or tourism, UAE has been an object of wonder. Since the day it attained independence in the leadership of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, UAE has never looked behind in any of its developing areas. The country proudly rests in the list of most relished tourist places of the world. The day is a national holiday but the major monuments are open to the public.

UAE National Day 2009 will take pleasure in comprising 61 events in all by the ministry of culture in union with other state bodies under the chairmanship of Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Owais, minister of culture, youth and community development. According to him the logo will act as an official element for all the communication across the seven emirates which is a pleasant brush stroke this year.

With its concrete social, cultural and religious values in addition to the vision and wisdom of its leaders, the country promises to exercise harmonious environment in this cosmopolitan society in future as well.

Dubai Airshow

Dubai Airshow is the global and the fastest growing event attracting large masses from mall over the world. Being a trade only business-to-business exhibition, it will have no public days. The event will start from 15^th November ’09 and go on till 19^th November’09 at giant Dubai World Central Aviation Community in Jebel Ali. The benchmark for world-class aerospace show facilities will be lifted up by this new site. It will cover 425,000 square meters-double the size of Airport Expo Dubai-with 42,000 square meters of exhibition space having 130 chalets and car parking for 7,000 vehicles.

Schedule:

Sun, 15^th Nov ‘ 09                                                 10 AM to 5:30 PM

Mon, 16^thNov’09                                                    9 AM to 5:30 PM

Tue, 17^thNov’09                                                     9 AM to 5:30 PM

Wed, 18^th Nov’09                                                   9 AM to 5:30 PM

Thur, 19^th Nov’09                                                  9 AM to 5:30 PM

How to Reach:

Taxi

Official taxis operated by RTA can be recognized by their livery-beige with different colored roofs. Visitors can easily get it by the side of the road or even through phone booking by calling- 04 208 0808.

Park and Ride:

This facility will be available at the Dubai Airshow. The shuttle buses will drop the visitors to the registration building.

Hire of car and driver

Visitors can also arrange the hire of a car and driver to drop off and pick up from the Airshow. This facility can be availed through the hotel he is staying in.

Metro

The Red line runs past the Dubai Airshow site at Airport Expo and stops at nearby Rashidiya Station, which is in walking/shuttle bus distance of Airport expo.

Shuttle buses

The organizers have arranged complimentary shuttle buses sponsored by “ADNOC” for all exhibitors and visitors attending the show. The shuttle buses will run from various hotels in Dubai to and from the show site each day.

Tips and Advice:

Meetings and Negotiations

The key requisites to do business in UAE are building trust and compatibility with the prospects. For this, it is necessary not to expect immediate results and strongly follow up the clients.

Hospitality

An appropriate dress code should be followed on the stand. Less the flesh is shown the better impression the local visitor carries both for women and men. And if one desires to serve anything to the visitors then alcohol can be a simple turn-off. So, one can go for Arabic coffee and Dates to welcome them.

Arabic vs. English

Though for the Airshow the official language is English but it would be a good gesture to have some Arabic translated business cards.

The Dubai Airshow is being organized by F&E Aerospace in association with Dubai Airports, the Government of Dubai and in collaboration with the UAE Armed Forces.

Mercedes E-Class Coupe

Mercedes –The end to the search of a ‘Luxurious Drive’. The vehicle that proves that art can be worked upon automobiles as well. Mercedes is the name which believes on quality over quantity. If one is looking forward for a Mercedes in Dubai, then the destination arrives at the sight of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe.

Desirable Edifice:

The brawny side, pillar-less windows and long slender deportment gives the new E-Class Coupe a must-drive attribute. With the twin headlamps and LED driving lights, its V-shaped front end gives it an expressive look. The style is further added by the two-louver radiator framework with the high-flying Mercedes Star.

The Coupe doesn’t even lag behind in portraying its sparkling back with the striking beltline and rear wheel hollows. At the rear, also rests a diffuser-look rear bumper snuggling beneath typical LED taillights. The vibrant sporty appearance of the car is completed by the chrome twin-tailpipes individually designed distinctively for V6 or V8 models and twin-spoke alloy wheels.

Organizing the roads:

The E-Class Coupe perfectly adapts shock absorption, due to the Agility Control suspension, giving it an inspiring handling. In addition to it, one can choose from the Comfort or the Sport mode for a luxury or a firm ride respectively. Drivers get the opportunity to enjoy the drive with accelerator response, shift speeds and suspension characteristics, adjusting accordingly.

The new E-Class Coupé is initially available with a choice of two petrol engines – the E 350 CGI Blue EFFICIENCY and the E 500.

The electronic safety is not far from the list of its unique features. This includes an ‘Attention Assist’ to literally wake up the sleeping drivers, ‘Pre-Safe’ to prepare seat-belts and airbags to set out at the time of crash, ‘Adaptive Main Beam Assist’ that keeps re-adjusting the headlights based on lighting and oncoming traffic and nine airbags that include a knee-bag.

Game Expo in Dubai

The Second Dubai World Game Expo (DWGE) started from 27^th Oct’09 and lasted for 3 days. The Expo was a unique blend of entertainment, fun, sports, business opportunity and what not that an entertainment hunter would have been looking for. The Expo introduced a wide range of entertaining video games, online gaming, mobile games, edutainment & infotainment software, game related hardware, and next-generation platforms and steps ahead to make one feel it all. The Expo comprised of two mega-events to elate the visitors.

Dubai World Game Summit:

The Summit brought forward the technicians of various gaming companies to share the latest technologies and the strategy to expand the industry with higher zeal in their workshops. The event ran for 2 full days to ensure the success of the industry as well as the satisfaction of the entertainment hunters.

Dubai World Game Championship 2009:

The Championship congregated the gamers from the entire region to quench their thirst of digital games, unconventional sports, arcade and many more. The searing event ended on 29^th Oct with the Award Function Ceremony from 4-8 pm.

The Exhibitor’s profile was another luscious attribute of the Expo. The exhibitors displayed various developments and unique trends to nullify the prolonged search for the gaming enthusiasts. The list of the exhibitors included the proud Software Developers, people from the world of Edutainment, Infotainment, Hardware Developers, E-Sports, Arcade Games, Mobile Games Amusement, Networks / Telecommunications /Internet, Entertainment Professionals, Merchandising and Licensing / Agencies, Industry Partners and Retailers, Media, Music, Academia, Programmers, Distributors, Game Consoles and many more.

The show was exclusively held in alliance with the ‘Dubai International Character & Licensing Fair “Character Dubai”’ to attract trade visitors and public visitors.

Call Center in Dubai

The customer relationship has become an integral part of every business venture today. With the convergence of highly developed computing and internet technologies, not only the expectations of the customers but also the scope of far-flung interactions has gone high. As per the observation, the companies need to evolve their sales and customer service strategies in order to satisfy the well-informed customer of today. The threat of pushing away the customers becomes high as the competition within the companies lays just a click away. The reason is the expectation of ever-increasing level of service.

The only choice left with the companies is to offer the customer service in the most proficient way. The call centers need to overcome this challenge with new and improved functionality and applicability. To ease the struggle MECC’10 brings “Middle East Call Center’10 Conference and Exhibition” in May 2010 by Insights. The event will delineate the solution to the same. It will speak for how the issues are handled with respect to the organization’s goals and strategies. This would be followed by the discussion of the implementation effectively thereafter. This determines the ultimate success of the call centers.

The Conference has the following lead agenda:

· Doing More With Less

· Emerging Stronger From The Downturn

· Keeping Your Sales Pipeline Filled–

· Managing By The (Right) Numbers

· Levering Your Key Asset, People (& Not Just Paying Lip-Service To The Concept)

· Creating Powerful Customer Experiences

· Increasing Your Call Centre’s Value Proposition

· Getting The Budget You Need

Specialties of the event include:

· The Place To Be

· Addresses Regional Issues

· Multiple Learning Interventions

· Premier Networking

· Is Driving Region Growth

The event, in other words, is surely a ‘must-attend affair’ for the Contact Centre , Managers/Senior Staff , CRM Decision Makers, Business Development Managers , Corporate Management (CEO, MD, Director) , Customer Service, Sales, Marketing Directors/Managers, E-Commerce Strategists, HR/Training Managers, Brand/Loyalty Managers, Telecom/IT Managers ,Communications/Voice Specialists , Internet Professionals , Project & Network Planners and Developer/Systems Integrator.

Business in UAE

Foreigners of any nationalities can actively participate in various available business activities in the UAE. Under the Federal Law No.8, business organizations may take any one of the seven mentioned forms:

•  Limited Liability companies

•  Public shareholding companies

•  Private shareholding companies

•  Partnerships limited by shares

•  General partnerships

•  Limited partnerships

•  Shareholding companies

Business Structure in UAE

The company which does take any of these forms is considered as an illegal company and the person running it will severally liable for the obligations arising from these kind of contracts. An exception applies only to the companies that are operating in a Free Trade Zone. Dubai is favored for its liberal approach to business and commerce as the liberal regulations and laws attract millions. Each business entity big or small must be registered and licensed with the Federal Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the country. Moreover, there is a law set that the participation of the UAE nationals should never be less than 51 percent in any of the commercial enterprises.

Private Shareholding Companies: This company must have at least three shareholders and the minimum capital which one has to invest in Dh 2 million. The shares of the company may not be offered to the public. The incorporating documents of these companies must preclude public offering of shares.

Limited Partnership: This kind of partnership may comprise of one or more general partners who are severally and jointly liable to all its debts. A limited partner may not participate in the management and his name may not appear in the name of partnership. Moreover, all the general partners must be UAE nationals.

Joint Ventures: If we talk about joint ventures, these are formed by the agreement between two or more legal entities or natural persons. Moreover, the terms and objectives of these ventures are governed by the joint venture contract. It may be carried out in private name of one of the UAE national partners.

These are few legal structures for performing business in the country.

Arab Health

Arab Health is the most prestigious and largest healthcare event in the Middle East and is the second largest in the world. This is a very important and a must attend event in the healthcare calendar. This event was established 35 years ago and since then, the glory and importance of this event is increasing day by day. It basically provides a platform to the world’s top most manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers in order to meet the demands and requirements of the medical community not only in the Middle East but even beyond that. It is now going to held in January from 25 – 28 January 2010.

At the 2009 event, exhibitors from 59 countries have participated and there were around 2205 exhibitors. They showcased their products and services all related to the healthcare industry. A team of over 56,000 professionals from 145 countries joined the Arab Healthcare event last year. The professionals comprising of 85% visitors and around 70% decision makers were directly involved in the event. Moreover, the upcoming Arab Health event in the year 2010 will be addressed by 400 internationally known speakers and hosting more than 5500 delegates and conference attendees.

Busy Arab Health Show

This event is organized at a very large scale and it not only involves meetings and conferences, but various other educational activities are involved. There are free accredited education and strategic tie ups with other regional institutes. Moreover, Arab Health provides the best interactive opportunities and an ideal B2B environment is being created for the audiences. In the past two years the organizers have witnessed a massive growth in the UK pavilion as its now more than double in size and continue to keep on growing in terms of both exhibitors and visitors every year.

A comprehensive exhibition services are being provided throughout the event to both member and non-member companies. Thus, it is an ideal opportunity for industry professionals and all other related associates.

Awareness on Diabetes

Diabetes is rising globally, due to inadequate knowledge and improper lifestyles thus, the Ministry of Health is supporting a nationwide campaign The Diabetes Event – UAE to know more about diabetes. This is a month long campaign which will start on 15th October. The awareness campaign includes on the house health check-ups, series of presentations and awareness talks and various educative activities across the country. The event will be recognized as World Diabetes Day on 14th November 2009 as the event will conclude on that day. This has been initiated by ExHealth and is supported by Commercial Bank of Dubai, Green Crescent Insurance Company, IBN Battuta Mall and Novo Nordisk.

Various social clubs, educational institutions, IBN Battuta mall and organizations within the emirates are getting prepared for this grand event as activities will take place through the emirates at these places. During the campaign the Jebel Ali Hospital will also take initiative in providing health checkups at no cost. Diabetes is often left unnoticed, thus the campaign will help in educating people about the disease which can be prevented and cured by following a proper lifestyle. The Green Crescent stands closely by the residents of the UAE in order to reduce the instance of the disease through various preventive actions and close monitoring.

According to a recent study one out of every five people has diabetes in the UAE and has started developing diabetes related heart problems. The basic motive of organizing this campaign is to outline different strategies to the general population. Various healthcare professionals are also participating for giving consultations and free check-ups. Such series of medical education programs across seven emirates will educate all medical providers about the latest trends in management of the disease. The IBN Battuta Mall will host a number of educational shows and interactive games for mall visitors during the final week of the campaign.

A massive fire broke out on Friday night at Sharjah’s Port Khalid area. The fire broke out at a depot of the Emirates Lube Oil Company at the Sharjah port. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, civil defense brigades are putting in their best efforts in order to prevent the flames. Civil defense team battled the fire and has confirmed that there are no signs of any one dead. These are acting und0er his instructions and following the same to prevent the flames from creeping into nearby fuel tanks.

Fire at Sharjah Port

Various naval units and tugboats were called for help and a huge oil tanker that was loaded with inflammable materials was towed to a remote safe marine zone. The Zulal water station was temporarily closed in order to avoid any kind of water contamination of drinking water, thus immediately after the fire report on Friday, the port was evacuated by Sharjah police from employees and workers working on the port and they also discontinued the electricity to prevent the fire spreading to other areas.

Three workers have suffered from slight injuries and all of them were rushed to the Kuwaiti hospital for necessary treatment. As it was a huge fire, the civil defense of Sharjah had to take assistance from sister fire fighting brigades in Dubai, Al Ain, Ajman and Abu Dhabi. Besides fire extinguishers, fire fighters have also used sand to put down the blaze. Sharjah Municipality and Department bulldozers carried sands and poured them onto the fire. Moreover, still some cooling operations are being carried of by fire fighters.

UAE comprises of many Free Trade Zones (FTZ’s) which is always an attractive option for foreign investors. Thus, these business entities are growing in number as now more and more investors are getting involved in it. To date various free trade zones in the UAE have been successful in attracting large number of companies, foreign investors and foreign direct investment. Moreover, the net non-oil exports are expanding. Setting up these free zones are quiet advantageous as you are entitled to various options:

Jebel Ali Free Zone

Advantages of Free Trade Zones:

•  No personal income taxes

•  100 percent foreign ownership

•  No corporate taxes for 15 years, renewable for additional 15 years

•  100 percent export and import tax exemptions

•  100 percent repatriation of profits and capital

•  Assistance with additional support services, such as housing and sponsorship

There is an independent Free Zone Authority which governs each of the free zones within the country and it is the agency that issues FTZ operating licenses. Moreover, they assist companies with establishing their business in these free zones and avail the upper mentioned advantages.

Emirates Free Zones:

As far establishing a company is concerned, they can either register a new company in the form of Free Zone Establishment or they can just set up a branch of their existing parent company. Each emirate has their pre-defined free zones. Few of them are mentioned below:

•  Dubai International Financial Centre

•  Jebel Ali Free Zone

•  Industrial City of Abu Dhabi

•  Ajman Free Zone

•  RAK Free Zone

•  Dubai Silicon Oasis

•  Techno Park

•  Dubai Media City

Free Trade Zone

These are the names of few important free trade zones; however, the list is endless. Thus, people invest more in these zones to get the additional remunerations and to increase the efficiency and quality of work.