Dubai, Arizona discuss ways to boost ties

The delegation included Donald L Maxwell, Director, Community and Economic Development Department, City of Phoenix, the capital of Arizona state, Rodrick T Miller, Vice President, International Economic Development, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Mark Winkleman, State Land Commissioner, Arizona State Land Department, Anthony Rock, Vice President for Global Engagement, Arizona State University, Dennis K Burke, Attorney At Law, and Elissa Mullany of Mullany Wunder Works.

The meeting discussed ways of strengthening mutual cooperation and expanding bilateral relations in various fields between Dubai and Arizona.

Mr. Lootah briefed the Arizona delegation on Dubai Municipality's major tasks such as urban planning, supervision of building and construction activities in the city, undertaking landscaping and city greening projects, environment conservation, providing adequate drainage and irrigation network, overseeing public health and safety, food control, and the green building initiative among other things.

Lootah said:

"One of our recent accomplishments is in the field of e-Governance as we have transferred more than 90 per cent of civic services to e-Services with a total of 520 e-services on offer and we are aiming for zero visits of the customers to the municipal offices, which we hope will be accomplished very soon."

He also recalled the twinning agreement signed between the American city of Detroit and Dubai that seeks to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two cities in various fields and exchange expertise to improve civic work.

"The agreement includes various clauses that aim at reinforcing the cooperation between the two cities and exchanging expertise in economic and commercial fields. We also guide business people on various opportunities," Lootah said.

The Arizona delegation, which thanked Dubai Municipality for hosting the delegation, expressed its interest to explore Arizona involvement in Dubai's healthcare sector.

It also wanted to know how Dubai was facing the challenges of creating sustainable development by coordinating different services on the face of the development boom. The members of the delegation also asked about the impact of the expansion of Dubai on Municipal services.

Eng. Abdullah Al Shaibani, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Technical Services Affairs, Eng. Salem Bin Mesmar, Assistant Director General for Health, Safety and Environmental Control Sector and Eng, Salah Amiri, Assistant Director General for Corporate Support Service Sector, Ismail Al Banna, Director of International Organizations and Bodies Department and Khalid Mohammed Badri, Director of Corporate Marketing and Relations Department were also present during the meeting.