H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Board of Dubai World Trade Centre, announced a record performance for Dubai World Trade Centre in 2012, with more than 1.85 million visitors and around 37,000 companies using the events as a trading, promotional and sales platform for the MENASA region.

 

The announcement followed H.H. Sheikh Hamdan's chairmanship of Dubai World Trade Centre 's Annual Board Meeting. The meeting included detailed reviews of the organization's 2012 performance results, the historic performance from 2008 to 2012 and plans for DWTC 's future growth.

 

Addressing the Board, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: "Dubai World Trade Centre continues to be a pillar of prosperity and growth for Dubai. It is highly encouraging to see that the strategy to grow the scale and diversity of events on the annual calendar has had the desired impact on substantially increasing the number of visitors and exhibitors.

 

Even more positive is the strong performance throughout the last five years. During a period when the global exhibitions industry experienced difficulty prior to its more recent stabilization, Dubai World Trade Centre has delivered year on year growth. The 2012 results affirm DWTC 's position as the Middle East's premier platform for business networking and international trade. I commend the Board, the management and the staff for the organization's fundamental role in positioning Dubai as a business and trading hub of the region, and its contribution to the Dubai economy. Our strategic priority is to continue to grow this contribution."

 

The Board Members in attendance included His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman; Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre, Mr. Butti Saeed Al Ghandi; Mr. Ziad Abdulla Galadari; Mr. Abdulla Mohammed Rafia; Mr. Khalifa Saeed Al Zaffin; Mr. Saoud Ibrahim Obaidalla and Mr. Abdulrahman Mohammed Rashid Al Sharid.