Day: July 1, 2021

DUBAI, During his visit to the Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage, Bakhtiyor Ibrahimov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to the UAE, discussed ways of strengthening the cooperation between the centre and cultural organisations in Uzbekistan.

Ibrahimov met with Dr. Mohammed Kamel Jad, Director-General of the Centre, Dr. Ezzedin bin Zagheeba, Head of Studies, Publishing and Foreign Relations, and Anwar Al Dhaheri, Head of Public Relations.

Ibrahimov was accompanied by Dr. Jad during his tour of the centre, starting with the “Journey of Giving” exhibition, where he viewed photos highlighting the figures who have visited the centre, as well as documented agreements signed by the centre with international libraries.

The tour also included special libraries and digital labs, where Ibrahimov was briefed about the methods for digitising materials to enable easy storage and facilitate access to researchers and scholars.

Ibrahimov also toured the transcripts section, where he learnt about the method used for indexing manuscripts. He then visited the heritage section, which showcases original manuscripts.

Ibrahimov commended the centre’s efforts to serve writers and scholars.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Emirates and Worldwide leader in travel retail, Travelport, today announced they have reached a commercial agreement that will allow Travelport-connected travel agencies to avoid the airline’s surcharge on bookings via Global Distribution Systems (GDS) that will be introduced from 01 July 2021. Furthermore, the companies announced a new long-term agreement to enable the distribution of Emirates NDC content via Travelport’s next-generation platform, Travelport+, and an extension to its longstanding IT agreement.

Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates, said: “We are pleased to have reached key agreements with Travelport that take our decades-long partnership to the next level. Supported by the recent launch of Travelport+, these new deals will further cement Emirates as the airline of choice for travellers that want highly personalized offers and access to the world’s best destinations. Emirates and Travelport will continue to work jointly on future travel retail solutions that will offer our travel community partners even better and more bespoke services.”

As of 01 July 2021, Travelport’s global network of travel agency partners will automatically be upgraded to a dedicated channel that provides access to un-surcharged content. These agencies will also continue to benefit from a graphically rich experience when searching for and booking Emirates branded fares, as well as greater access to its ancillary offers, thanks to a long-term extension of the airline’s existing agreement to use Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding merchandising tool.

As part of the deal, Travelport-connected agencies will be able to gain simplified access to Emirates’ NDC content and services via Travelport Smartpoint and the company’s enhanced RESTful / JSON APIs once the agencies sign new NDC specific agreements with both companies. Travelport and Emirates continue to progress the NDC technical solution for travel retailers worldwide and are now in the process of developing enhanced features and functionality that will, when complete, be gradually rolled out.

Travelport will also continue to provide Emirates with its industry-leading pricing, shopping and ticket rebooking technology as part of the agreement, to support the airline in the delivery of advanced shopping and rebooking options within its own internal sales channels, including its NDC channel and www.emirates.com.

Jason Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer, Travel Partners at Travelport, said: “This series of agreements highlights the determination of both Travelport and Emirates to re-invent travel retailing and push the boundaries of what’s possible. With a shared vision for the future, our long-standing collaboration will continue to go from strength-to-strength. Together, we look forward to giving the many travelers returning to the skies this summer and beyond the best possible offers and experiences.”

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, The International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain have joined forces to enhance institutional capacities in integrated water resources management in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The ICBA and NOGA inked an agreement to this effect during a virtual meeting hosted by NOGA on 24th June, 2021.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Tarifa Alzaabi, Acting Director-General of ICBA, and Nasser Sultan Al-Suwaidi, CEO of NOGA, in the presence of various partners and stakeholders.

Under the agreement, the ICBA will provide technical support for ongoing activities to strengthen the Water Resources Council (WRC). Chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the WRC is a Cabinet-level inter-ministerial organ of the government responsible for coordinating water policy formulation and implementation. The activities under the agreement will broaden the WRC’s functions and enhance its role in climate risk management and wastewater recycling, treatment and reuse.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Alzaabi said, “Improving water accountability, water-use efficiency and water conservation are necessary conditions for achieving water security. A key entry point is applying the principles of integrated water resources management to holistically balance competing demands for water. This forms the basis for sustainable utilisation of water resources for both current and future needs.”

Dr. Alzaabi added, “The particular component on capacity development in integrated water resources management plays to our strengths as an organisation.”

Al-Suwaidi said, “This agreement was signed in the context of the Kingdom’s water sector development, with the project’s scope including the development of institutional capacities of government sector employees in integrated water resource management (IWRM) that will aid in the management of water resources as a whole, which is considered one integrated network.”

The agreement was signed in the context of strengthening the institutional capacities of Bahrain’s government departments to implement climate change adaptation strategies across the water sector.

The overarching goal is to equip relevant institutions with the means to conduct water resources monitoring and assessments; generate information and knowledge using relevant analytical tools and models, and provide evidence to support decision-making processes.

The partnership between ICBA and NOGA is part of the project titled “Development of an Enabling Environment for Water Demand Management”, which is supported by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and is implemented by the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain through NOGA.

Source: Emirates News Agency