Dubai 2003 organising committee meets to discuss event progress

Committee members were assured that all work is on schedule and Dubai 2003 General Coordinator, Mr. Ibrahim Belselah, presented a comprehensive report updating the committee on the current status of the arrangements for the annual meetings.

Mr Belselah led a discussion on the latest in the highly complex arrangements being made to ensure accommodation for delegates and visitors and transportation plus the cultural programme that is being developed to be undertaken during the meetings.

The committee also assigned representatives of the 10 committees to coordinate with colleagues on the other committees to ensure the most effective cooperation and partnership. It also discussed arrangements for a forthcoming visit to Dubai and the UAE by representatives of the General Secretariat of the World Bank Group and IMF.

Mr. Mattar Al Tayer, Head of the Venues and Facilities Committee, presented a report on the progress of the Dubai International Convention Centre that will host the event. He said the project was on schedule and that work on the main hall was 90 per cent complete, and 57 per cent of the work on the new entrance concourse and other meeting rooms with 95 per cent of the new car park is now built.

He added that 90 per cent of the office tower and the structure of the meetings rooms were complete and 50 per cent of the electro-mechanical work was complete. All the roads and landscaping work was now completed with 60 per cent of the bridging work completed.

Mr Al Tayer added that the Memorial Structure plan to commemorate Dubai 2003 was to be put to Dubai Municipality for approval. The memorial would include the flags of every participating country in Dubai 2003, the event logo, a globe highlighting the location of the UAE and coins that signify the purpose of the Annual Meetings.

The members of the Organising Committee who attended the meeting were Major General Adbulaziz Al Bannai, Mr. Mohammed Al Gergawi, Mr Mattar Al Tayer, Mr. Ahmed Al Banna, Mr. Ibrahim Belselah, Mr Obaid Al Shamsi, Mr. Abdulla bin Souqat and Mr. Saeed Mohammed Al Sharid.

The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund were first held in Washington DC in 1946. They are hosted by an international city one year in three. Dubai and the UAE were selected because of its highly developed transportation and logistics infrastructure, growing importance as a financial hub and its established position as an oasis of opportunity.

ENDS