Emirates Press

DUBAI, The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment, and the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) held a symposium on Monday at the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai entitled: ‘Women in Conservation: let’s get to work’.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, commended the role of women around the world in the areas of environmental care. She spoke about many Emirati women who have made global achievements in the field of environment, including Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary-General of EAD.

Almheiri called for joint action to enhance the potential of women, through education and training, and to create opportunities for women to realise their ambitions in this field.

In a recorded message broadcasted during the symposium, which introduced the attendees to the women working to advance the concept of environmental and climate conservation, Almheiri said, “It is clear that there is no shortage of role models for wildlife conservation, and it is up to us to ensure that this trend will continue into the future.”

For her part, Dr. Shaikha Al Dhaheri said, “For many years women have been actively involved in conservation to the extent that they are now eulogised as symbols of nature as ‘Mother Earth.’ Many women have made a noticeable impact on the environment within their own communities and beyond.”

She elaborated that the UAE has stepped up its ambition to expand its mangrove cover to reach 100 million trees by 2030 and to lead and coordinate efforts to execute the UAE Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative. The UAE will also continue to develop plans, strategies and policies related to the environment, agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries.

She also stressed on the fact that as an Emirati woman, she has always looked to the example set by the wise leadership of the UAE. “The leadership has always empowered women and provided us all with the support and resources to help build our beloved country, protect our natural heritage and fulfil our ambitions and aspirations,” she added.

The IFAW event at the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, was organised to showcase and amplify the efforts of women in the region, from the highest level of government and international organisations to current influencers who are engaging new generations of young women to follow the path of environmental conservation. Attending from IFAW was Azzedine Downes, President and CEO of the organisation.

In 1969, IFAW was founded by Brian Davies with a goal to stop the commercial hunt for whitecoat seals on the east coast of Canada and in 2019, it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Organisers of the 2022 edition of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) have announced a star-studded line-up of speakers composed of Ministers, Ambassadors, senior government officials and leading industry professionals.

The exciting three-day event, which will be held from 29th to 31st March, 2022, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020 Dubai, will be highlighted with strategic talks, roundtable discussions, key presentations and workshops that are all aimed with the primary goal of how to attract new investments, the creation and maintenance of future cities and how to further encourage and empower youth entrepreneurship.

According to the show’s organisers, speakers for the event have been broken into key groups–the global leaders debate and opening ceremony speakers; foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment speakers; start-up pillar speakers; future cities pillar speakers; small and medium enterprises speakers and the 50 projects initiative speakers.

The global leaders debate and opening ceremony list features a powerhouse cast of top government officials, which include Rustam Minnikhanov, President, Republic of Tatarstan; Gilmar Pisas, Prime Minister of Curacao; Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy; Rebecca Grynspan, Secretary-General, UNCTAD; Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman, Eurasian Economic Commission; Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary General, UN and Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa; Shinta Widjaja Kamdami, CEO, Sintesa Group and Chair, B20 Indonesia; Dr. Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO, Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation and Lorraine Mackin, Partner, Head of Global Government, KPMG.

Dawood Al Shezawi, President of AIM Organising Committee said, “We are excited and honored to see the participation of this year’s speakers–widely composed of leading government officials and industry professionals. We are humbled by their decisions to come be a part of AIM to share their experiences, insights and opinions across some of the world’s most pressing issues on FDI and other economic challenges.”

Speakers under the FDI pillar include Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Andres Valenciano Yumuni, Costa Rican Minister of Fotreign Trade, and Tatiana Clouthier, Mexican Secretary of Economy, to name a few. For the start-up pillar list, speakers to be featured include Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs; Farida Al Awahdi, Chair, Emirates Business Women Council; and Mario Garcia Davila, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Angelhub Ventures, to name a few. The future cities pillar speakers include Abdulla Al Saleh, Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade and Industry, UAE Ministry of Economy; Jawad Abbassi, Head, MENA, GSMA and Khaled El Shabrawy, Government and Small Cities Lead, Microsoft UAE, among others.

Meanwhile, the SME speakers list features Mohammed Bin Obaid Al Mazrooei, President and Chair, Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID); Ayman Al Hout, CEO, Marsh UAE and Dima Al Ashram, Chief Impact Officer, Tidal impact, to name a few. Lastly, for the 50 projects initiative, speakers will include Abdul Mohsin Mubarak Al Katheeri, Projects and Facilities Director, Abu Dhabi Waste Management Center – Tadweer; Adel Omrani, CEO for Services, GE Gas Power MENA and Bradley Jones, Executive Director, UAE-UK Business Council, among others.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Dubai Airports today confirmed plans to close Dubai International’s (DXB) northern runway for a 45-day period between 9th May and 22nd June, 2022 to carry out complete refurbishment that will ensure continued safety and efficient operations.

While regular runway maintenance is scheduled on a weekly basis, more extensive upgrades such as the one planned require a complete closure of the runway. The last time this level of work was carried out on the northern runway was in 2014, while the southern runway underwent similar improvements in 2019. Dubai Airports continues to invest in developing and maintaining its world class infrastructure to enhance customer service quality and capacity and maintain its position as the world’s busiest international airport.

As DXB is a dual runway operation, the hub will continue to welcome guests throughout this period. A number of flights will however be redirected to Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai’s second airport, to limit the impact on service during the closure period. Dubai Airports has provided advance notice to all airlines to plan for flight reductions and schedule planning accordingly.

Dubai Airports has also advised passengers who are due to travel into or out of Dubai during the closure period to check with their respective airlines the airport and/or terminal of arrival/departure ahead of their journeys.

More information will be made available as plans develop and as flight schedules are finalised.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, articulated the importance of taking urgent and effective steps to ensure sustainable water management, noting that water security a top priority for the UAE government and an integral part of the development drive.

The minister made the remarks during his inaugural speech of the Water Forum, held as part of the Water Week at Expo 2020 Dubai.

“The UAE is fully aware that water security is the cornerstone of the national security, and it’s of a central importance to our future goals and development path. Therefore, the UAE has launched its Water Security Strategy 2036 which aims to ensure sustainability and continuous access to water during normal and extreme emergency conditions, covering all elements of the water supply chain in the country for the next twenty years.”

He added: “The strategy was developed from a comprehensive national perspective to cover all elements of the water supply chain in the country with the participation of all entities and authorities concerned with water resources in the country. It focuses on three main programmes: the Water Demand Management Program, the Water Supply Management Program and the Emergency Production and Distribution Programme. The strategy also tackles policy development, legislation, water conservation awareness campaigns, use of advanced technologies, innovation, and building national capabilities in the field of water security.”

In the meantime, Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment addressed a plenary session organised at Expo 2020 to observe the World Water Day as part of the Water Week. She noted that the overall objectives of the Water Security Strategy 2036 are to reduce total demand for water resources by 21 percent, increase the water productivity index to USD 110 per cubic meter, reduce the water scarcity index by three degrees, increase the reuse of treated water to 95 percent and increase national water storage capacity up to two days.

The UAE minister attended the session along with Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands, Mark Harbers, and Rajendra Singh, a water conservationist and environmentalist.

The discussions highlighted the measures that world countries can collaboratively take to address the water challenge, noting that the issue is not isolated from the energy file, so plans must be developed in a way that meets the overall development goals.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, flydubai has announced today that it will operate flights to select destinations from Dubai World Central (DWC) in order to provide more travel options to passengers during the northern runway refurbishment project announced by Dubai Airports. The rehabilitation project is scheduled to take place from 09 May to 22 June 2022.

flydubai will operate flights to 34 destinations from DWC during the period of the refurbishment project to ensure minimum disruption to passengers’ travel plans. At DWC, passengers will continue to benefit from all the convenient travel services offered by flydubai. During this period flights to five of these destinations will also be available from DXB. Flights to all other flydubai destinations will continue to operate from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB).

Commenting on the announcement, flydubai’s Chief Executive Officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: “as we saw in 2019, runway enhancement programmes continue to support the long-term vision for Dubai as it reinforces its position as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs. We look forward to the completion of the northern runway refurbishment programme and the efficiencies it will bring to our home at Dubai International (DXB). With flydubai flights operating to select destinations from DWC, we aim to provide our passengers with as much choice as possible to travel across our network with minimum disruption as more countries open up for travel.”

Flights to 34 destinations from flydubai’s network of more than 90 destinations will operate from DWC during the runway refurbishment project including flights to Addis Ababa, Bahrain, Delhi, Jeddah, Kuwait, Mumbai, Muscat and Riyadh. Following the completion of the runway refurbishment project on 22 June 2022, flydubai will resume its flights to all destinations from Dubai International (DXB).

Passengers are advised to check their departure and arrival airports in advance of travel to ensure they have the correct information. This information is available on flydubai.com, the Manage Booking Section on flydubai.com and will be clearly mentioned on the booking confirmations. Passengers who hold bookings that are affected will be contacted by the airline with more details.

Passengers travelling from DWC will enjoy complimentary parking at the airport. In addition, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will provide a complimentary bus service between all terminals at DXB and DWC every 30 minutes.

Passengers are required to make sure that they are up to date with the regulations from the IATA Travel Centre and the IATA destination tracker for their whole journey, and follow the guidance issued by the authorities and the airline. They can also visit the COVID-19 information hub on flydubai.com for more information.

Flights are available to book on flydubai.com, the official flydubai App, the Call Centre in Dubai on (+971) 600 54 44 45, flydubai travel shops or through our travel partners.

Source: Emirates News Agency