'The UAE is ready to receive the world's biggest financial gathering in 50 days' says His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Reviewing progress of the work undertaken by different committees in the run up to the Annual Meetings, Sheikh Hamdan said the accomplishments already achieved demonstrated the confidence and ability of the UAE to host an international conference of this scale that will have enormous international impact. "The UAE is proud and honoured to be the first Arab country to host this event," he said.

Sheikh Hamdan appealed to the local media to come forward and outshine the coverage of international media giants who will converge on the UAE for the event in order to showcase the professionalism of the UAE's media to the outside world.

He was briefed by members of the Dubai 2003 Steering Committee on the wide-ranging activities of various committees and their progress to date in meeting the challenging requirements of the Dubai 2003 secretariat. His Highness also gave the necessary instructions to complete all preparations of the conference in the most effective manner to portray a truly modern and progressive image of the country.

The venue for the Annual Meetings, the Dubai International Convention Centre, is now fully operational to meet the demands of the estimated 16,000-plus participants at the event.

Heads of the various Dubai 2003 specialist committees also made presentations on the wide-ranging facilities that would be available to delegates, the media and other participants.
Mr. Qassim Sultan, Director General of Dubai Municipality and Head of the Dubai 2003 Organising Committee, said the following days should see more local media attention on the event to familiarise the residents of the UAE with the significance of this event and the role played by the World Bank and IMF in the world.

The Domestic Transportation Committee reported that it has now completed 80 per cent of the arrangements for the conference and this will rise to 95 per cent by the end of August. The Public Relations Committee said that it has already made the basic steps for receiving, hosting, and seeing off the delegations in coordination with the country's airports. An image of the specially created entry visas to be issued to the delegates has been uploaded on the website of Dubai 2003. Security arrangements for the conference were also reviewed.

The Annual Meetings will also enjoy one of the highest quality and highly sophisticated telecommunication networks in terms of the equipment to be used and the speed in which the communication takes place, as well as the cost.

A state of the art media centre, covering 3600 square metres, has been established for the international news corps inside the Convention Centre. It includes areas for press conferences for up to 225 journalists, 400 workstations, editorial offices and production studios for local, regional and international broadcasters. A smaller press conference room can accommodate up to 75 seats.

The Steering Committee also reviewed progress made in the field of marketing of the conference.

The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund were first held in Washington DC in 1946. They are hosted by an international city one year in three. The UAE and Dubai were selected because of their highly developed transportation and logistics infrastructure, growing importance as a financial hub and its established position as an oasis of opportunity.