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ARAB LEAGUE CALLS FOR END TO OCCUPATIONOF UAE ISLANDS
The Arab League has called on the Iranian governmentto end its occupation of the three UAE islands of Abu Musa and the Greaterand Lesser Tunb and halt its policy of fait accompli. The Arab League Councilended its 115th session here last night and reiterated all its resolutionsconcerning Iran's occupation of the UAE islands. The council re-affirmedthe UAE sovereignty on the three islands and supported all peaceful meansadopted by the UAE to solve the dispute peacefully. The council denouncedthe Iranian Government's persistence in occupying the islands and consolidatingits occupation, warning that such actions threaten the security and stabilityof the region. The council blamed Iran for carrying out military manoeuvresin the three UAE islands and in its regional waters and called on Tehranto halt such provocative behaviour. The council called on Iran's currentgovernment under the leadership of Khatami to translate its desire to developTehran's relations with Arab countries and to respond favourably to thenumerous appeals from UAE President H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan,GCC countries and the Damascus Declaration states to find a peaceful solutionto the dispute through negotiations or referring the issue to the InternationalCourt of Justice. (The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
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UAE ECONOMY RECORDS GOOD GROWTH: HAMDANBIN RASHID
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai DeputyRuler and Minister of Finance and Industry, said that the UAE economy hasrecorded noticeable growth in all fields in the year 2000. In an interviewwith Dubai-based Arabic newspaper 'Al Bayan' published yesterday, SheikhHamdan said that the policy of diversification of sources of income whichthe UAE is pursuing has begun to bear fruits and that non-oil sectors havebegun to play a bigger role in the national economy. Sheikh Hamdan expecteda new start to the national economy this year, pointing out that the industrialsector has witnessed remarkable growth due to the existence of a modernisedinfrastructure. Sheikh Hamdan said that the number of industrial plantshas increased to 2,513 by the end of last year with investment capacityreaching Dh 23.6 billion and manpower reaching over 176,000 employees.(The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
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PAKISTANI FIRMS TO PARTICIPATE IN IDEX2001
Pakistan has expressed its desire to participatein the International Defence Exhibition, IDEX 2001, which will be heldin Abu Dhabi from March 18 to 22. In meetings with the correspondent ofthe Emirates News Agency, WAM, in Islamabad, Pakistani defence industryofficials described IDEX as one of the most important events in the world.Lt. General Abdul Qayoum, Chairman of the Pakistani Arms complex describedIDEX 2001 as one of the greatest arms shows in the world and expressedthe keen desire of his country to take part in the event by displayingPakistan's latest arms production. He added that the show is a real opportunityto get acquainted with the latest inventions in the defence industry andto exchange views with other arms producing countries. Abdul Qayoum saidthat around 20 Pakistani arms factories will take part in IDEX 2001. Headded that Pakistan's production of conventional arms found markets in30 Asian and Western countries, pointing out that the total volume of Pakistan'sexports reached around 30 million U.S. Dollars. Major General Hamed Ali,head of defence export encouragement institution told WAM that Pakistanhas come a long way in the defence industry and that it has entered theinternational arms market, pointing out some of those products will bedisplayed in IDEX 2001. He added that Pakistan's participation in the showreflects the firm relations with the UAE and other GCC states and willbe an opportunity to further consolidate co-operation in various fields.(The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
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UK LARGEST EXHIBITOR AT IDEX 2001
The United Kingdom is once again the largest exhibitorat IDEX 2001, with more than 100 companies participating, demonstratingthe UK's interest in doing business in the UAE and the importance its placeson this significant event in the defence calendar, according to a statementissued today by the British Embassy. The British Government is fully supportingthe event, emphasising the importance that the UK attaches to its relationshipwith the UAE and the GCC states, the embassy statement said. The officialUK delegation will be headed by the Minister of State for Defence ProcurementBaroness Symons and will include the Head of Defence Exports Tony Edwards,his military deputy Rear Admiral John Tolburst and a number of senior UKmilitary personnel. A modern Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate, HMS Lancaster,will be berthed at Mina Zayed during the exhibition. A demonstration teamfrom the British Army will take a stand at the British Partnership pavilionin Hall 7 to demonstrate UK made equipment, including state of the artbattle simulation equipment, the embassy said. While some of the most famousUK company names of previous IDEX exhibitions have disappeared in the world-widewelter of defence company mergers - among them Marconi into BAE Systemsand Shorts into Thales, some 50 others are maintaining stands at the event,'the statement said. In total, around 100 UK companies are participatingincluding those represented on the Army demonstration area, it added. TonyEdwards, Head of Defence Exports said: ³IDEX 2001 is the major exhibitionin the Middle East defence calendar. We see it as a way of further promotingthe quality of UK defence exports and our desire to work together to meetdefence requirements with our friends and partners in the UAE, the GCCand the rest of the world,² according to the statement. ³The IDEX seriesof exhibitions has become most important. The unparalleled excellence ofvisiting delegations enables the UK industry to promote its products tothe best possible audience," Edwards added. Major General (retd) AlanSharman, Director General of the UK defence trade body, the Defence ManufacturersAssociation, pointed out that the UK defence industry, the largest in Europeand second only to America in the world, has developed close links throughpartnerships, joint ventures and acquisitions with defence industries world-wide.³It is for this reason that the DMA has launched, for the first time atIDEX, the Partnership Pavilion concept, so that not only UK companies,but their international partners can exhibit comfortably together,"the embassy statement added. Robert Anderson, defence expert at the InternationalInstitute for Strategic Studies in London, said IDEX has become one ofthe UAE's civilisation landmarks and a global defence show. He said thatthe event, which bring together defence officials of super powers, CEOsof major companies in global weapons industry and defence experts and strategists,is gaining increasing importance not only to the UAE only but also to theexhibitors. Anderson, an ex-advisor at the British Defence Department,said the largest participation of Britain reflects London's growing interestin deepening its relations with the UAE, taking into account the latestdevelopments in the Gulf country. (The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
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ZAYED HOSPITAL IN PALESTINE OPENED
A Palestinian senior official praised today PresidentH.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan for his firm stances towards Arabissues and support for the Palestinian cause '' Sheikh Zayed acts as thevoice and conscience of the nation,'' said Yasser Abdu Rabbo, PalestinianInformation Minister, at a ceremony held today to mark the inaugurationof the Sheikh Zayed hospital at Ramallah. Speaking on behalf of PalestinianPresident Yasser Arafat, the minister the political, financial and moralsupport lent by the UAE is a real contribution to the Aqsa uprising andthe struggle for liberating Jerusalem. He also hailed the UAE's strongcriticism of remarks made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell about Jerusalem.The modern surgical hospital, financed by Sheikh Zayed, will take careof Palestinians wounded during the uprising and families of martyrs. KhalifaNasser Al Suwaidi, board Chairman of the UAE Red Crescent Society (RCS),conveyed to Palestinian people the appreciation of Sheikh Hamdan bin ZayedAl Nahyan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and RCS President, fortheir struggle to defend Islamic holy shrines. '' The hospital is a livingexample of Sheikh Zayed's support for humanitarian works which serve Araband Muslim causes,'' he said. (The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
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LAW TO REGULATE UNSKILLED EMPLOYEESIN PUBLIC SECTOR
The Federal National Council (FNC) has approveda draft federal law setting up the Emirates Services Corporation (ESC),which will offer services to federal and local departments as well as theprivate sector. The ESC will handle services currently offered to federaland local departments such as security services, office attendance, andcleaning. Jobs of drivers, cooks, office caretakers and other manual jobswill be brought under the proposed corporation. If the Council of Ministersapprove of the ESC, around 11,699 workers currently working in the manualsector of the federal and local government departments are likely to bephased out. The corporation will not completely do away with the expatriateworkforce. The workers in the local and federal departments would be recruitedfrom the services sector where they are presently employed. They have onlyto transfer from government to the corporation. In cases where the corporationcannot render the services, it may assign such work to other companiesto do the service on its behalf, provided that the new companies are owned100 per cent by nationals. Minister of State for Finance Dr Mohammed KhalfanBin Kherbash told the FNC that there was a need to bring such manual jobsunder one umbrella organisation to improve the services and at the sametime reduce government spending on these services. The manual workers includeoffice boys, security guards, cleaning workers and cooks. In his presentation,Kherbash said that the federal government's Dh650,000,000 annual wage billin this sector represented 20 per cent of the budget. This is in additionto Dh65,504,000 being spent annually on daily wages to workers of the constructionand cleaning sector. Kherbash said that there was an increase in the numberof workers and overtime wages because of mismanagement of surplus manualworkers. (The Gulf Today)
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TERMS SET FOR TRANSFER OF SPONSORSHIP
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Matar HumaidAl Tayer has issued an order banning workers sponsored by closed or bankruptcompanies to transfer their sponsorships to other companies after a periodof six months from the closure or bankruptcy of such firms. The order,Number 123 of 2001, gave workers sponsored by closed, bankrupt and liquidatedcompanies or those closed because of the death of their sponsors a maximumgrace period of six months during which they may apply for a sponsorshiptransfer. Sources at the ministry said the order is in line with the ministry'ssteps to regulate the local labour market considering that workers sponsoredby such companies could earlier transfer their sponsorships any time theywished. (The Gulf Today)
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EMIRATES BANK TO SPEND DH10M ON EMIRATISATION
The Emirates Bank group will spend Dh10 millionto create "meaningful" job opportunities for UAE nationals. Theannouncement which comes ahead of the Third National Career Exhibitionfor the Banking and Financial Sector was made at a press conference inSharjah by Preetam Nathan, staff development manager, Emirates Bank. Thecareer fair is scheduled to be held at the Expo Centre Sharjah from March18 to 20. A Human Resource Development (HRD) team of headed by Nathan outlinedthe introduction of a sustained programme to attract and retain nationalsin the banking sector and to boost the government's Emiratisation programme.The increase in the bank's HRD this year comes close on the heels of thelaunch of the institution's Mebank initiative - a futuristic Internet-basedonline banking service, he said. The Emirates Bank group rates fourth amongall the banks in the UAE in its Emiratisation efforts with its nationalworkforce at 21.6 per cent. Last year the group recruited 62 nationalsat different levels of its hierarchy, taking its national workforce tomore than 300. The bank which already has a 80 per cent national workforceat the senior managerial level is now seeking to recruit more nationals,university and school graduates, at its clerical and supervisory levelsto ensure a steady stream of young nationals going up the bank hierarchy.(The Gulf Today)
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FIRST DRAFT LAW ON PERSONAL STATUSREADY
A specialised legislative committee has finalisedthe first draft law for personal status in the UAE and it will be presentedfor a wide scale public debate to ensure satisfaction of all groups inthe community, according to Minister of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf Mohammedbin Nakhira Al Dhahiri. The committee which comprised the country¹s elitein legal and legislative sciences had started its preparation of the draftin May 1999 and finalised it but the ministry asked them to hold anothermeeting in the near future to introduce the final proposals. Dhahiri explainedthe law would have several social effects due to its relations with marriage,divorce and the future of children in addition to financial issues amongmarried persons so the whole community should participate in the framingof the law in keeping with Islamic teachings. ³At the current stage, thereis no obligatory legislation for judges enforcing them to give unifiedrulings in personal status cases. The judges are ruling according to themain four Islamic Mazhabs (sects) and although the slight differences amongthe Mazhabs, there were differences in rulings of similar cases so theministry was keen to introduce a unified personal status law to streamlinethe legal process. (The Khaleej Times)
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DDF DAILY SALES HIT $1 MILLION ON MARCH2
A staggering 26,457 sales transactions on March2 signalled yet another record breaking achievement for Dubai Duty Free,when the day's shopfloor sales registered Dh 3.68 million (one millionUS dollars). The previous record was set on December 21 last year, accordingto reports in the UAE's dailies. Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director, DDF,said that sales trends since December last year have been extremely encouraging,with January 2001 topping the previous record and then the daily salesrecord on March 2. He said that since the opening of the Sheikh Rashidterminal last April, passengers have more time to shop and that shoppingis becoming part of the overall travel experience, according to the reports.
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Department External Information Ministry of Information and CultureP.O. Box 17, Abu Dhabi E-Mail: mininfex@emirates.net.ae Tel: 009712-4452922Fax: >009712-4450458
PLEASE NOTE: The items covered in this bulletin do not necessarilyreflect the official view of the UAE Government. Rather, they form a UAE-relateddigest of reports from the local press and publication
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