Sorouh honoured to support 2008 Liwa Dates Festival

The festival attracted 75,000 people over the past two weeks.

Abubaker Seddiq Al Khouri, Managing Director, Sorouh Real Estate PJSC, said:

"Sorouh is honoured to support the Liwa Dates Festival, a significant event for the agricultural industry in the whole Emirates Palms and Dates are part of our daily culture.

Our contribution to such event is an integral part of our social responsibilities to our country, and being asked to contribute and take part in an important event such as this effectively embodies our work in all areas of the culture and community of the UAE."

The festival, which ran from 17 July to 2 August, celebrates the UAE's historical date industry, highlighting its continued agricultural and financial importance to the people of the Emirates and encouraging citizens to continue to invest in the cultivation of date palms.

The festival includes a major date tender process which this year raised Dhs2m, of which Dhs500,000 was distributed to different charities. The date farmers who participated in the festival tender received Dhs1.5m between them.

A special session was held to educate children on how to care for date-palms and foreign workers took part in two workshops on safety and pesticides, and the efficient use of water during irrigation, both in Urdu.

More than 170 local families participated in the crafts market, displaying and selling their own wares to visitors, an activity which has always been of prime interest to H.H. the President of the United Arab Emirates and H.H. the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. A special session for local women on crafts was very well received and crafts competitions were held throughout the festival.

The festival also included the largest plate of dates, which is now being recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. A group wedding brought together 340 young couples, considered the biggest ever in the UAE. Evenings of poetry and religious lectures were well attended.

As a national company, Sorouh not only has a responsibility to its employees and tenants but to the residents of the entire United Arab Emirates. Through its multi-million dollar sponsorship and corporate social responsibility efforts, it supports events which contribute to the well-being of those residents, including the Red Crescent Sorouh Faces campaign, which raised $1million for the charity, and the recently announced sponsorship of the UAE Equestrian and Racing Federation Arabian Purebred series.