Day: November 14, 2021

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Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre signs MoU with Volga-Dnepr Group to provide logistics services, air cargo solutions for UAE satellite programme

DUBAI, The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has signed a MoU with Volga-Dnepr Group, a Russian airline holding company, to provide logistics services and air cargo solutions for the UAE satellite programme.

Headquartered in Moscow, Volga-Dnepr is a world leader in the global market for the movement of oversize, unique and heavy air cargo. Its core business activities are charter cargo operations using Antonov An-124 and IL-76TD-90VD heavy transporters and scheduled cargo operations using Boeing 747 and Boeing 737 freighters.

The deal was signed by Salem AlMarri, Deputy Director General, MBRSC and Artemiy Ivanovskiy, General Manager, Volga-Dnepr Group, Dubai Office in the presence of Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, Director General, MBRSC at the Dubai Airshow 2021.

Founded in 2006, MBRSC is home to the UAE National Space Programme. The Centre builds and operates earth observation satellites, offering imaging and data analysis services.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Government of Dubai Media Office launches Dubai Edition podcast programme

DUBAI, The Government of Dubai Media Office (GDMO) today announced the launch of Dubai Edition, a podcast programme focused on sharing compelling stories from Dubai.

The initiative was announced on the sidelines of Dubai PodFest, the first event of its kind dedicated to podcasting in the region, held at the Dubai Press Club.

Dubai Edition will host officials from the Government of Dubai as well as various figures from the cultural and creative sectors who will share inspirational stories and discuss Dubai’s aspirations for the future. The show will feature short episodes and discuss issues that are of interest to society members.

Dubai Edition, which was conceived as part of GDMO’s efforts to embrace the latest advancements in the media sector, aims to share the unique stories of achievement, innovation and creativity emerging from the emirate with a global audience.

Mona Al Marri, Director General of the Government of Dubai Media Office, said: “The launch of Dubai Edition reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to embrace the latest digital advancements. The programme will serve as a key platform for knowledge-sharing and open dialogue while also communicating Dubai’s inspirational stories to a wide range of podcast listeners.”

In the coming period, Dubai Edition will feature a variety of interviews and talk shows with prominent figures in the Dubai community, organised by Dubai Press Club and Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Dubai Press Club collaborates with Spotify to empower region’s creators to reach global audiences

DUBAI, The Dubai Press Club (DPC) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with leading global audio streaming platform Spotify to give region’s audio content creators a platform to connect with global audiences.

The agreement was signed by Mona Al Marri, President of DPC, and Claudius Boller, Spotify’s Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, on the sidelines of the first edition of Dubai PodFest, which was held at DPC.

The collaboration will seek to promote podcasters in different streams both regionally and globally and nurture the development of talent and content creators in the region’s podcast industry. It also aims to provide podcasters with knowledge on best global practices in the industry.

The singing of the MoU with Spotify has come in light of the significant growth of the MENA podcast market and an increase in the consumption of audio content across the region.

Mona Al Marri said: “We are very happy to combine our strengths with Spotify to give local stories and voices a platform to connect with a global audience on the leading audio streaming platform. This strategic collaboration seeks to further enhance creativity in the Arab world and highlight the potential of various podcasters, while also accelerating the development of the podcasting sector.

Buhumaid highlighted the significance of the podcasting sector, which has allowed people to interact at a larger scale and share their perspectives on numerous topics.

She added that Dubai Press Club and Spotify will reveal further details of their collaboration at a later stage.

Claudius Boller said: “We are excited to join forces with Dubai Press Club on their audio journey to empower the region’s creators to reach new audiences on a global scale. Spotify is home to over 3.2 million podcasts and we are dedicated to building the world’s largest audio network and enabling everyone to create audio.”

Boller highlighted that Spotify transformed music listening when it first launched in 2008. Today, Spotify is the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 381 million users, including 172 million subscribers, across 178 markets. The platform has allowed listeners to discover, manage and share over 70 million tracks, including more than 3.2 million podcast titles.

The first event of its kind dedicated to podcasting in the region, Dubai PodFest brought together more than 200 prominent podcasters and audio content creators, in addition to leading organisations in the sector, to explore growth opportunities and the future of podcasting in the region.

The inaugural edition of the event examined the various challenges facing audio content creators in terms of marketing their podcasts and attracting listeners. The event also highlighted the experiences of various podcasters from across the Arab world and discussed their roles in promoting positive content and inspirational stories.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Dubai PodFest explores future of podcasting in Arab world

DUBAI, Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council, Dubai PodFest, the first event of its kind dedicated to podcasting in the region, today discussed the future of podcasting in the Arab world and the massive opportunities in the sector.

Held at the Dubai Press Club, the event brought together more than 200 prominent podcasters and audio content creators, in addition to leading organisations in the sector.

The inaugural edition of the event, which was organised by DPC, tackled a range of topics including engaging and attracting subscribers, measuring performance, challenges and opportunities for content creators and the growth of the MENA podcast market. Dubai PodFest 2021 also highlighted the experiences of various podcasters from across the Arab world and discussed their roles in promoting positive content and inspirational stories.

During her opening speech, Mona Al Marri, President of Dubai Press Club, welcomed the participants to the event and said: “The Dubai PodFest reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, over two decades ago to establish DPC as a platform for advancing Arab media development.”

She added: “As part of our efforts to support Dubai’s vision to embrace the latest advancements in the media sector, DPC is keen to support the development of the Arab podcasting sector and enhance its reach and impact globally. Events like these are critical for generating new insights on accelerating the sector’s growth in the region.” Al Marri stressed the importance of strengthening the growth of the sector and further enhancing the quality of podcasting content in the region.

During the event, she announced the launch of Dubai Edition, a podcast programme which will host officials from the Government of Dubai as well as various figures from the cultural and creative sectors who will share inspirational stories from Dubai.

Maitha Buhumaid, Director of DPC, also delivered a speech during which she expressed her appreciation to the participants and said that Dubai PodFest has been able to provide an enriching platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences between participants on the podcasting industry. She expressed the hope that these discussions can continue in the future in order to support the digital transformation of the Arab media industry. DPC is committed to working with leading organisations and platforms to support the development of audio content on podcast platforms, she added.

Participants in the first session of the event, titled ‘The Future of Podcasting’, discussed ways to widen the audience for podcasting and the challenges facing podcasting in the region, such as being able to monetise podcasts.

During the session, speakers highlighted the importance of using the right tools when producing podcasts and keeping the content fresh in each episode in order to keep attracting more listeners. Participants also pointed out the need for podcasters to develop their storytelling skills, focus on quality and share insightful information from credible sources.

During a second panel discussion titled ‘New Avenues for Content Creators’, participants shared their insights on the opportunities available for content creators in the MENA region, enhancing the diversity of music content on podcast platforms, as well as the impact of the global pandemic on the consumption of digital music and entertainment.

The session shed light on how companies can take advantage of massive growth opportunities in the podcasting sector and how content creators can increase their subscribers and monetise their podcasts.

The third session titled ‘Podcast Platforms’ discussed the distribution of ad revenues among podcasters and podcast platforms and the key marketing tools available to maximise reach and income. The session also examined what podcast platforms offer content creators.

Participants in the session pointed out that the Arab podcast industry has great potential for growth and that investing in good content and understanding the needs of audiences is crucial in order to succeed in podcasting.

On the sidelines of the event, podcast network and cultural consultancy Dukkan Media announced the launch of a podcast about Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) titled ‘Show Me Your Wallet’. To be hosted by Co-founder of Dukkan Media Reem Hameed, the first of its kind podcast in the MENA region will share weekly highlights of the NFT world in a short and fast format.

As part of event, several leading organisations and content creators set up their equipment to podcast live from Dubai PodFest. Al Arabiya and Sky News Arabia were among the prominent media companies that podcast from DPC.

Dubai Press Club also organised different activities related to podcasting on the sidelines of the event.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Tawazun and Airbus to expand their partnership with potential establishment of a new Abu Dhabi subsidiary

ABU DHABI, Tawazun Economic Council (Tawazun) and Airbus, a pioneer in the aerospace industry, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under which the latter will establish a wholly owned facility in Abu Dhabi.

The MoU comes as part of Tawazun’s endeavors to attract and promote long-term partnerships with leading defense & security, aviation and aerospace manufacturing companies.

The signing took place during the Dubai Air Show, in the presence of Tareq Abdulraheem al Hosani, Chief Executive Officer of Tawazun, Michael Schoellhorn, CEO Airbus Defence and Space, Bruno Even, CEO Airbus Helicopters, Matthieu Louvot EVP Programmes Airbus Helicopters and Mikail Houari, President Airbus Africa & Middle East.

Matar Ali Al Romaithi, Chief Economic Development Officer of Tawazun, and Mikail Houari, President of Airbus Africa & Middle East, and Michel Carzan VP Airbus Helicopters Industrial Cooperation signed, the MoU at Tawazun’s stand in the Dubai Air Show.

According to the MoU, Tawazun and Airbus will explore potential cooperation opportunities in the areas of refueling solutions for Military Air Systems, Unmanned Aerial Systems, Helicopter Flight Lab and R&D for UAS/VSR-700, as well as other potential cooperation opportunities of mutual interest.

Following the signing, Tareq Al Hosani expressed his pleasure over the partnership with Airbus. “Part of Tawazun’s role is to invest in key social infrastructure and create globally integrated industry sectors for the benefit of the UAE through local and global partnerships. We are very happy that our partnership with Airbus will serve our shared interests and potentially help position the UAE as a hub within the sector,” he said.

Al Hosani said the partnership comes under the umbrella of the Tawazun Economic Program which develops and manages industrial partnerships for the benefit of the UAE’s sovereignty and wider economic impact and prosperity.

Mikail Houari added: “Tawazun is a long-term strategic partner for Airbus in the region and we have collaborated for many years on projects that drive innovation and help develop local skills and capabilities. This agreement is another important milestone in our partnership as we remain committed to advancing the UAE’s aerospace and space sectors by providing global expertise and technology to create sustainable industries for years to come.”

Matar Al Romaithi said the Council will continue working with strategic partners to promote the investment climate in the UAE and to contribute to furthering strategic investments in defense, security, aerospace and technology.

“The UAE has a robust competitive position as a destination of choice for strategic investments, including its strategic geographical location, modern infrastructure, social and economic stability and favorable legislation,” he added.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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EDGE, China’s CATIC open first regional distribution hub for aircraft logistics

DUBAI, EDGE Group entity, GAL, a leading regional provider of integrated aircraft sustainment solutions for military and civilian customers, today announced the opening of the first regional distribution hub for aircraft logistics in Abu Dhabi in partnership with Chinese state-backed defence contractor, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC). The new Middle East & Africa Distribution Center (MEADC) will significantly improve the availability of aircraft spare parts in the UAE and the wider MENA region.

Khalid Al Breiki, President of Mission Support at EDGE and Managing Director of GAL, and Li Pei, Vice President of CATIC, made the announcement together at Dubai Airshow 2021, which is underway until 18 November at Dubai World Central (DWC). Accompanying the announcement, the two organisations performed a signing ceremony to mark the occasion.

The establishment of the MEADC was announced at the Dubai Airshow in November 2019 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Vice Chairman of GAL, and Mr. Liu Yu, Chairman of CATIC.

Speaking at the signing, Al Breiki said: “We are extremely delighted to complete this joint project with the leading aviation technology service providers in China. This collaboration is a testament to GAL’s competitive efforts to expand our presence and provide streamlined solutions to complex supply chain and MRO requirements. As a leading regional MRO services provider, we understand the challenges posed by spare parts distribution in the MENA region. The MEADC will significantly improve access to these essential elements, as well as increase productivity and reduce complicated logistics which arise when coordinating with international vendors. We look forward to assisting our customers’ needs through the MEADC, ensuring they are fit to fly.”

Li said: “CATIC is thrilled to have worked with GAL over past years and feels a great sense of pride and accomplishment at the MEADC’s realisation. We are excited to see how the first regional aviation distribution hub will benefit the UAE and feel this endeavour has solidified our place in the MENA region. CATIC will continuously work together with GAL to explore more possibilities in the future.”

Now operational, the 1,440-square-meter facility, located in ADAFZ near Abu Dhabi International Airport, is expected to reduce the aircraft spares delivery period from weeks to fewer than 48 hours.

CATIC is China’s premier defence contractor with a core focus on aviation products and technology. The company is the exclusive representative of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) in the global market.

GAL helps its clients achieve exceptional fleet readiness in partnership with the world’s largest original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) service providers, such as AAR, Airbus Helicopters, Bell and Boeing. The company is part of the Mission Support cluster of EDGE, an advanced technology group that ranks among the top 25 military suppliers in the world.

Source: Emirates News Agency