Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces General Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will be the patron for the first regional Crisis and Emergency Management Conference (CEMC).

The conference will be held in Abu Dhabi on March 3 and 4 2008, and feature leading international experts and a wide range of topics and issues related to crisis and emergency management.

Announcing this at a Press conference, general manager of National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithy said the conference is designed to benefit the UAE in particular as well as other countries in the Middle East. 

He said Shaikh Mohammed's patronage of the conference underlines the importance with which the UAE's national leadership is treating crisis and emergency management. 

CEMC would be the first event of its kind in the region in terms of the scale of attendance and the diversity, depth and relevance of topics, Al Romaithy added.

The objectives of the conference are to enable the region to gain from the international pool of knowledge, expertise and experience in coordinating and managing crises and to raise local and regional awareness about the need for a coordinated approach to crisis and emergency management.

Al Romaithy said the conference will tackle a diverse range of issues broadly categorised under seven major topics:  preparedness, environment, industry, counter terrorism, cyber security/technology/telecommuncations/media, developments and construction, and medicine and health. 

The conference is expected to provide countries and organisations in the region innovative and practical ideas about coordinating local, national and regional responses to crises and emergencies.

Asserting that the UAE and other countries in the Middle East have considerable expertise and are well equipped to tackle crises and emergencies, Al Romaithy explained: 'Our gaps are primarily in coordinating large-scale responses, and I believe that this NCEMA initiative will result in strengthening awareness in the region about crisis and emergency management and in new national and cross-border efforts to define and formulate coordinated approaches to disasters, both natural and man-made.'

The NCEMA chief emphasised that crisis preparedness cannot be achieved without the close cooperation between government bodies, the public and private sector, and individuals and NGOs. 

CEMC will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre. The conference is expected to feature delegates and guests from the UAE and Middle East, including government and private organisations. – TradeArabia News Service