International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition 2007 prepares for launch in October

The event will be organized by UAE Falconers Club in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.

Mr. Abdullah Al-Qubaisi, Member of ADIHEX Organizational Committee, and Director of Exhibition Department in Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, explained that this important event is one of the most significant events organized by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, with an international high-profile reputation as a social, heritage and cultural occasion of high interest to all nations and peoples.

Abu Dhabi Exhibition sheds light upon the genuine heritage values of the region and has actively contributed over the past years to promoting and highlighting the time-honored heritage of the United Arab Emirates, particularly the sport of falconry practiced under the principle of sustainable hunting, equestrian sports for which the UAE enjoys international reputation, various heritage arts as well as the handicrafts that record the history and heritage of the region.

The Exhibition will also include extraordinary auctions for camels and horses, cultural competitions and other artistic contests in drawing and photography, Arabian Saluki hunting dog races, not to mention many innovative events to be announced soon under the organization and supervision of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.

He also pointed out that the Exhibition this year is going to be held in the new location of Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center, with an allocated area 25% larger than its area in last year's session so as to become 25 thousand sq. m. occupied by over 500 businesses from over 40 countries including the USA, Germany, Italy, France, UK and all GCC countries, exhibiting latest equipment of hunting and equestrian sports.

Mr. Qubaisi expressed his thankfulness and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and head of UAE Falconers Club for his kind patronage of this event from its inception up to its current world-class status; it is now considered the greatest exhibition in the Middle East and the most important specialized exhibition of its kind in the world organized outside Europe. He expected this significant event in its awaited session to attract dozens of thousands of visitors from the countries of the region and other parts of the world, who are interested in watching and following up the various events of equitation, falconry and all kinds of hunting as well as water sports and innovations of safaris and desert adventures.

Mr. Al-Qubaisi stressed that ADIHEX provides a significant opportunity to highlight the great effort exerted by the UAE in the field of environmental conservation, programs for proliferation of endangered bustards and falcons, and endeavors to raise world awareness of the sustainable development issues, and to shed light on the efforts of the UAE represented by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage in its attempt to register the heritage of falconry at UNESCO as an international human heritage of interest to all nations. A great part was completed with regards to the documentation and registration stages of this time-honored world heritage of falconry that is practiced in over 70 countries around the world.