Dubai Business Events (DBE), a division of Dubai Tourism which serves as the city’s official convention bureau, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zayed University, one of the UAE’s leading educational institutions, to increase the number of international academic conferences hosted in the emirate every year.

Under the terms of the MoU, DBE will encourage Zayed University’s professors and senior academics to approach the respective international academic associations they are affiliated with and support them in bidding for major international conferences in their disciplines to be held in Dubai, said a statement.     

Hamad bin Mejren, executive director for business tourism from Dubai Tourism, said: “Dubai already hosts 50 per cent of the wider region’s conferences and exhibitions, and we are looking to boost the emirate’s status as a leading host city for international events by leveraging our world-class infrastructure to position the city as a global hub for knowledge exchange.

“By capitalising on our transportation links, hotels and meetings venues, we are keen for global experts and thought leaders to congregate in the emirate to debate cutting edge topics in their respective fields,” he said.

“Hosting such conferences boost Dubai’s economy by attracting global delegates and increasing bookings for flights, hotels and conference venues, but more importantly, allows the local and regional academic community to access the very latest intellectual capital and engage in educational exchange that can spur grass-roots development across the UAE and the wider Middle East,” he added.    

The agreement is an initiative by Dubai Business Events’ Al Safeer Congress Ambassadors Programme, which maintains ongoing engagement with individuals from academia, government, and other business sectors across Dubai and the region to assist them in attracting international events hosted by their respective associations to the emirate, it added.

In 2014 alone, Al Safeer ambassadors hosted dozens of international conferences which brought together experts and thought leaders from a variety of industries, including experts from the fields of business, sports, education and medicine.

Major conferences hosted in Dubai last year include the L'Oreal Business Forum, the Family Business Network International (FBN) Global Summit, the International Tennis Federation's Annual General Meeting, the Asia Pacific Dental Congress and the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF).

Dr Marilyn Roberts, acting provost, said: “We are very happy to be partnering with Dubai Tourism to give our faculty a platform to engage with global academic bodies, and achieve our goal of being a leading source of knowledge in the region.

“Academics conduct important and relevant research that is presented to experts through international conferences, and we are happy to help bring these meetings to Dubai whenever possible,” she said.
        
“Our mission is to prepare qualified bilingual graduates who are able to contribute to building the nation. By partnering with DBE to host leading academic conferences, renowned experts and thought leaders will share their experiences and findings in Dubai, and help to develop the UAE as a knowledge hub,” she added. – TradeArabia News Service