DED, SIBA join hands to help businesses

The Business Excellence Department at the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) and the Sharjah Islamic Bank Academy (SIBA) under the Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) have signed an agreement to jointly launch a series of conferences, seminars and workshops related to regional and international business issues. The agreement reflects a growing belief that closer co-operation between all stakeholders in economic development is essential to support businesses in the region overcome current and future global economic challenges. The partnership will see Sharjah Islamic Bank Academy, which is the Training Department of SIB, working closely with the Business Excellence Department to leverage DED’s capabilities in initiating and nurturing businesses to promote best practices and capacity-building within the business community. The first of the partnership initiatives will be a conference titled ‘Vision2Reality,’ to be held on May 2,  2012 at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai. The conference will feature key note speakers in the financial domain and presentations from frontline financial organisations on the various aspects and best practices of business excellence. Prominent attendees will include leaders from the financial and related industries in the UAE. Khalid Al Kassim, Deputy Director General for Executive Affairs, DED, remarked that the agreement reflects a new phase of cooperation between the various emirates in the UAE, which involves different departments supporting each other to help the business community and encouraging new enterprise. “DED has a wealth of experience and an extensive database of clients while Sharjah Islamic Bank has a solid reputation in Islamic banking. Co-operation between the two entities will be beneficial for the economic sector and the business community in the region. Creating more such partnerships is essential to counter any adverse impact from global economic trends,” added Al Kassim. Sami Al Qamzi, DED Director General honored Mohammed Abdullah, CEO of Sharjah Islamic Bank, in the presence of Khalid Al Kassim, DED Deputy Director General for Executive Affairs, and Mohammed Bushanain, Executive Director, Corporate Quality & Management Excellence. Mohammed Abdulla, CEO of SIB, said: “We are very excited to collaborate with the Dubai Department of Economic Development as they have a strong track record in pursuing innovations, initiating and promoting successful businesses, and contributing to make Dubai a regional business hub.”