Winners of Dubai Economic Research Award to be honoured on April 3rd

HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minster of Higher Education and Scientific Research and President of ZU, will be the keynote speaker at the event which will be held on April 3rd, 2006, at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

The DED launched DERA in cooperation with Zayed University, in late 2004, in a step to promote research that supports economic development in the country, in addition to establishing a good economic research data base. The awards which will be presented in two categories including professionals/academics and students are open to all nationalities resident in the UAE at the time of submission of the research papers.

The ceremony will be preceded by a day-long conference where the finalists for the award will present their research papers to an audience of more than 600 invited guests from both public and private sector organizations as well as academic institutions. More than 10 research papers expected to be presented at the conference, will cover the various economic sectors crucial to the development of the UAE and represent the original work of UAE-based researchers.

"The economic growth of any nation can only be sustained if it is supported by strong and robust policies based on a dynamic and multi-disciplinary research-enabled database. Economic Research must draw upon academics and market knowledge to provide practical solutions in line with global market requirements in order to establish a reliable knowledge database," said Mr. Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Director General, DED.
Sulieman Al Jassim, Vice President of Zayed University, said: ""The focus of the award is on original, applied economic research that makes recommendations for the future development of the UAE. The tie-up with the DED to initiate this award is reflective of our strategy of promoting partnership with government departments to maximize the benefits of the existing knowledge and experience to sustain our development and progress."

The DERA received research papers in oil and gas, real estate and construction, education, transport and storage, human resources and health sectors. General economic issues such as the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's), investment climate in the UAE, re-engineering the Dubai government, the potential for privatization of government services and improving the economic efficiency of the public sector were also part of the subjects attempted by researchers.