Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad patron of Garden and land-scaping Middle East

Dr. Rashid Ahmad is the UAE Minister of Environment and Water.

His Excellency will also inaugurate the exhibition, and address the visitors and exhibitors during the event with his opening speech.

H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad said:

"By accepting to be a Patron of this exhibition, I wish to encourage cooperation between the government and private sector in helping to conserve the environment, by bringing the latest technologies in this part of the world."

He added: "The Garden and Landscaping Middle East exhibition boosts the government efforts in protecting the environment since gardens serve as a favorite place for individuals and families. Gardens increase greenness and play a leading role in reducing side effects of climate change. This exhibition along with several other large scale developments that are progressing, mark the UAE's leadership in advancing its beautification drive. In presence of an economic downturn, it becomes even more necessary to build a clean and beautiful environment for all residents of the UAE."

Elisabeth Brehl, Managing Director of Epoc Messe Frankfurt, organ-izers of the Garden and Landscaping Middle East event, said: "We are delighted to have H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad as our patron. Although the current global economic downturn is affecting development in the world, industry research suggests that construction in neighboring Emirates and countries such as the Saudi Arabia and Qatar will boom, while the developments in the U.A.E have a long term positive outlook."

Ms. Brehl added, "The hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on building and construction would require hundreds of square kilome-ters of landscaping and thousands of gardens. Recent estimates suggest the spend on landscaping and gardening to be worth Dhs28.5bn ($7.77bn)"

Garden and Landscaping Middle East is the region's largest exhibition focused on landscaping and outdoor living. Now in its sixth year, it is the leading exhibition for the respective industry, and has had long-standing support from the Road and Transport Authority of Dubai, and the Dubai Municipality.