First Middle East and North Africa Public Transport Congress opens today in Dubai

The Congress, which is organized by Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in collaboration with the UITP, features extensive participation from a number of leading world-class companies & establishments engaged in this field.

The opening session of this important gathering, which lasts through 27th November, will be attended by H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of the RTA, H.E. Roberto Cavalieri, UITP President, H.E. Hans Rat, UITP Secretary General, and H.E. Dr. Ali Bin Abood, Executive Director of the UAE Public Sector Development Ministry. The session will also be attended by a number of chairpersons of authorities & presidents of companies operating public transport sector, as well as experts from the region & the world over, and a host of media representatives.

Engineer Essa Abdul Rahman Al Dossari, CEO of RTA Public Transport Agency & Chairperson of the Organizing Committee of UITP 1st MENA Congress & Showcase, stated that a number of leading businesses and establishments in the UAE are sponsoring the activities of this important event. Among them is the exclusive promoter of the Congress; Eye of Dubai, which is a leading media establishment that provides online media services covering a number of economic activities & vital sectors such as exhibitions, conventions, finance, business, marketing & other activities. Other leading companies & businesses are also supporting this Congress such as Sistra, MAN, Gargash Enterprises, Salini Costruttorti, Solaris, and Faith & Right Angle.

"This event is an ideal opportunity for decision makers and public transport executives in Middle East & North Africa to get together with their counterparts in countries which made substantial development in this vital field so as to make use of their expertise. Additionally, they can have access to researches & work papers to be presented in this Congress, and benefit from the products and services which will be exhibited by global companies in the accompanying Showcase,"

said Al Dossari.

He elaborated that RTA opted to take the initiative in staging this UITP 1st Congress for MENA countries; which extend from Iran up to Morocco, considering the massive urban and economic expansion witnessed by these two regions; where growth rate is in excess of 5.1% per annum.

Moreover the number of population in these countries, which is over 300 million, created huge challenges, which led to adopting policies that laid the foundation for developing long-term ambitious plans to expand and develop public transport sector. Such policies also aim at forging some sort of integration between transport modes and key components of this sector. Necessary infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges & tunnels, have to be constructed as this service sector has become testament to the growth made at various fields, and a key indicator of progress made in all other vital sectors.

Dubai was awarded the privilege of organizing the 59th World Public Transport Congress in 2011, following a fierce competition with Melbourne and Singapore. The UITP opted to select Dubai, thanks to the worldwide reputation enjoyed by the emirate as a global economic & commercial hub. Moreover, it has extensive experience & impressive record in holding international expos & conventions, representing a wide spectrum of commercial, economic and services sectors.