UD's CMPD and TAGITraining sign strategic MoU

As part of its effort to realize the Strategic Plan 2007-2015 envisioned by His Highness Shaikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of U.A.E and Ruler of Dubai, that calls for total manpower development and the education of nationals, the Center for Management and Professional Development (CMPD) of the University of Dubai (UD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Professional Training Group (TAGITraining) at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).

Courses are expected to commence at the end of March 2008.

The Memorandum was signed by Dr. Omar Hefni, UD president, on behalf of the CMPD, and Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh in his capacity as the chairman of the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGorg) and TAGITraining.

Dr. Hefni said: "The University of Dubai has a long standing and established relationship with industry and has always encouraged academia and industry to collaborate for mutual benefit. As a university, it has worked with companies from all sectors, including local, national and international. Through CMPD and CBA's commercial work, we have built up a good network of clients and have gained a reputation for providing 'real business solutions' whilst taking an innovative and enterprising approach to today's changing business environment.

"As a university, we value the commercial knowledge and relationships we build as this enables us to combine practical business knowledge with the theory taught to our students. In this context, our alliance with Talal Abu Ghazaleh group fits in well with our strategic mission of being the "Business University in Dubai." I feel that such an alliance will add value at all levels, be it offering training programs or seeking placements for our students or revising curriculum content for our undergraduate programs.

"Moreover, both organizations have been working closely with the business community and most importantly, possess expertise and intellectual resources in the form of trained and skilled manpower. It therefore makes perfect business sense to pool our expertise and emerge as a market leader and training provider not only in Dubai, but the entire Middle East."

Dr Hefni added that the university intended to extend its cooperation to areas of Joint Consultancy and Applied research and also aimed to contextualize it to the UAE and the region so that there is greater benefit for the business community and investors. "We value the partnerships we develop and believe in investing time and effort to strengthen these relationships, turning them to long-term strategic alliances. This is how we see the UD -TAGO alliance and we intend to work hard to realise the goals and objectives we have set out for ourselves," he disclosed.

On the occasion, Mr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Chairman of the TAGORG said: "We aim to prepare students and professionals in Dubai to realize their full potential and participate constructively in civil society and the global marketplace, so the Arab region will benefit significantly from the experiences of Dubai as the emirate creates its own educational and business frameworks for the 21st. century."

CMPD is the community outreach arm of UD which provides professional training and executive development programs to the business community in Dubai. The CMPD's activities include the design and delivery of professional courses and organizing seminars and conferences for public/private sector institutional interface. The center also works closely with various business groups and overseas bodies in bringing relevant and practical programs that benefit the business community.

TAGITraining is a member of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGorg), the largest group of professional service firms in the Arab world in the fields of accounting, management consulting, training, intellectual property, legal services, information technology, capacity building, credit information and legal translation, in addition to being an affiliate of the World Bank, the Register of Accountants and Auditors (Washington) and the UN Center for Transnational Corporations (N.Y.).

It provides total training solutions and professional training in over 20 sectors and through 300 plus training programs. These flexible and business-oriented executive programs are held in cooperation with leading governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations from around the globe. TAGITraining also offers contractual programs that are designed to meet the training needs of specific institutions.

UD, the "Business University" of Dubai, is located in the heart of the city. It provides academic degree programs through the College of Business Administration and College of Information Technology and professional programs, short courses, seminars, workshops and conferences through the CMPD.