MRM Business Award gains popularity

With its message of rewarding the best in the business, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MRM) Business Award, a Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry initiative, is growing from strength to strength. Now, in its third year the prestigious award is receiving good response from businesses vying for their space of recognition under the sun.

Also, the extension of the applications submission date from November 15 to December 15 is helping more local economic corporations, trade centers, free zone companies and business groups to file in their entries in time for the award on the relevant forms in accordance with the Award's criteria and assessment mechanism set up by the Steering Committee of the Dubai Chamber Award Unit.

HE Engineer Hamad Mubarak Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber and Chairman of MRM Steering Committee said: "The MRM Business Award 2007 is expected to be a bigger success as it's attracting a larger number of companies operating in Dubai and other emirates. Last year, the number of companies applying for the Awards increased by 49% comparing to its launch year in 2005," he said adding, "The inclusion of new categories of the MRM Finance Award and the MRM Real Estate Development Award goes in line with Dubai Chamber's vision and policy that complements the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015.

"On its part, the Chamber is keen to adopt all initiatives that help improve businesses in the emirate by supporting the business community and enhancing their competitiveness, besides providing the opportunity to the establishments to improve their business performance and augment their contributions to the overall economic development of the country. This third round of the Award would help more establishments to develop their performance and capability to deal with the new regional and global changes and challenges taking place in the rapidly-growing world of business. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry invites you to join its commitment towards making the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2007 a resounding success all over again," he said.

The Director General of Dubai Chamber pointed out that a new fifth category of "Real Estate Development" was added to the MRM Business Awards' four main categories which include Manufacturing, Finance, Re-Export, and Construction. The Real Estate Development category has been added due to its importance as one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the UAE, as well as the sector's great contribution to the country's economy. Moreover, the companies operating under the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) will also be entitled to apply for the MRM Business Award for Free Zones under the new category of "Finance". The Finance category did not cover the free zone companies during the Award's second round in 2006.

Created with the intention of improving the quality of business through the sharing of knowledge and sound business practices, the Award honours businesses which exemplify the qualities of dedication, courage and ambition. In turn, they motivate other businesses to believe in themselves and aspire to be better. The Award provides objective evaluation to identify the gaps in their operations and take remedial actions, and at the same time, to reinforce their noticeable strengths and give a chance to the establishments to exhibit their achievements and celebrate their success.

Presently, the Award covers businesses which fall under the following categories: All firms licensed, registered with any UAE Emirate Chamber Of Commerce and Industry and are operating in the UAE, are eligible to apply under any one of the five MRM Business Award categories. Firms operating only as representative offices may not apply for the Award. However, companies operating in UAE Free Zones may apply for the (Free Zones) categories of the MRM Business Award including Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Manufacturing Award; Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Re-Export Award and Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Finance Award. Firms that won the Award in 2006 are not eligible to apply for the Award for this year as well as the following year.

According to the Business High Performance Model, the assessment criteria of the Award include Management Criteria and Performance Criteria, which takes 70% of the total evaluation weight. The management criteria include five elements which are the leadership perspectives, the strategic initiatives, quality imperatives, corporate culture and corporate social responsibility.

The assessors, who are made up of practicing businessmen selected for their professional qualifications and business experience and who have been trained on the assessment methodology and on the detailed aspects of the Award criteria, will present their nominations to the panel of five Award judges who will endorse the same. The judging team includes a distinguished business practitioner and an eminent political person from the UAE, a prominent business practitioner from the greater Arab region and two leading global business personalities.