Dubai 2003 delegation brings Dubai Airport 'Smart Card' technology to US meetings

Representatives of the Naturalisation and Immigration Department are with the Dubai 2003 delegation in Washington and have taken equipment with them to prepare the innovative cards, register participants at next year's meeting and forward these revolutionary cards to delegates attending from the United States next year.

Dubai 2003 General Coordinator, Ibrahim Belselah, who is leading the delegation to Washington, said: "Bringing this technology to Washington and starting the registration process already is a tremendous way to promote the UAE and its position as a technology and business leader and the modern innovation that we will bring to hosting the 58th Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund in 2003.

"Our whole team has been working flat out since our arrival in Washington and we have already benefited from meeting our counterparts organising the event here to help us ensure that the meetings in Dubai are a resounding success.

"It is vital for our team to see for themselves the logistics here on the ground that are required to efficiently organise and host an event of this international scale and importance."

Mr Belselah added that Dubai 2003 has also commenced an advertising campaign in the US to start the promotional and awareness campaign for the event in Dubai. Advertisements have already appeared in a number of leading US newspapers including the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

"Our delegation here has already developed a fantastic team spirit that is working as one to demonstrate through our promotional stand and information on how to book and register accommodation in Dubai exactly what the United Arab Emirates will have to offer delegates when they attend the 2003 event.

"We are already receiving a hugely positive response to our work and representation here in Washington as we go about demonstrating the UAE's ability to host and organise one of the world's biggest events," he added.

The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund began in Washington DC in 1946. They are hosted by an international city one year in three. Dubai and the UAE was selected because of its highly developed transportation and logistics infrastructure and growing importance as a financial hub and its established position as the Crossroads for the New Global Economy.

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