UAE -Bahrain MoU for telecom cooperation Regulatory authorities agree to exchange know-how, resources and personnel March 19, 2006 The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA-UAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Bahrain (TRA-Bahrain) recently formalising cooperation between the two independent regulatory organisations. The MoU was signed between Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General and Board Member of TRA-UAE and A. Andreas Avgousti, General Director of TRA-Bahrain, at Le Royal Meridian in Abu Dhabi, UAE, during the third Arab Regulators meetings in Abu Dhabi, which is hosted by UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.\ Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General of TRA-UAE said: “The MoU ushers in a welcome era of co-operation between UAE and Bahrain, in the increasingly competitive world of telecommunications. In a globally interlinked world, communication technology is crucial to economic development and public governance. This MoU will go a long way in strengthening the regional telecommunications sector and will result in better services for the regional consumer.” The memorandum sets the grounds for TRA-UAE and TRA-Bahrain to exchange operational expertise and also share the use of each other’s regulatory instruments. Andreas Avgousti, General Director of TRA-Bahrain said: “The telecommunications industry is increasingly vital to the Middle East’s rapidly expanding economies and techno-savvy society. As regulators we aim to establish a regulatory framework that is robust and addresses the needs of the industry. The MoU is a progressive initiative that complements the already strong ties between Bahrain and UAE and will allow our two authorities to benefit from each other’s regulatory know-how and resources.” Through the MoU, the two agencies have agreed to cooperate in areas such as licensing; Internet; telecommunications spectrum management; dealing with competition in fix net, mobile and Internet services markets; promotion of infrastructure development; laying down procedures for rules and the public process; determining regulatory approaches to anti-competitive behaviour in the marketplace; universal services; policies and interconnection. The MoU states that representatives of TRA-UAE and TRA-Bahrain will meet regularly and at least once a year in order to exchange data, research findings and technical information. These meetings will be held alternately in the UAE and in Bahrain. Under the terms of the MoU, the two authorities may exchange specialist staff and conduct training and development programmes for enhancing the level of expertise and skills of personnel from their respective organisations. Additionally, both the agencies have agreed to liaise with each other in their day-to-day operations. The UAE Web Awards Committee and BSA honor winners of first UAE Web Awards March 18, 2006 Business Software Alliance (BSA), the foremost organization dedicated to promoting a safe and legal digital world, and the UAE Web Awards Committee, honored the winners of the inaugural UAE Web Awards at a grand ceremony held at the Morouj Rotana Hotel in Dubai. Jawad Al Redha, Co-Chairman of BSA Middle East, presented the awards to the winners, in the presence of dignitaries and senior government officials. The Mercedes Benz Middle East website won the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award, the highest honor at the UAE Web Awards. The UAE Web Awards is a first-of-its-kind award dedicated to honor talented web developers and designers in the UAE and to safeguard the integrity of their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, the awards were organized jointly by BSA and UAE Web Awards Committee, in cooperation with The Lebanese Canadian bank, Microsoft Corporation and with the support of Dubai Internet City. The winners of the award have all qualified for the Pan Arab Web Awards 2006 to be held during April in Jordan, and will represent UAE at the event. The Pan Arab Web Awards 2006, held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan which will host the winners from the various Arab countries in each of the categories. “The UAE Web Awards were initiated with the objective of providing an avenue for creative _expression for web developers and web designers in the UAE. In the technology-driven world of today, it is important that outstanding talents in web development and design are duly recognized, so it would inspire them to strive for greater levels of excellence,” said Pierre Moukarzel, Chairman, Pan Arab Web Awards Committee. “Besides being a source of motivation to upcoming designers and developers, such competitions serve to popularize technology and contribute towards the evolution of a digital society.” “An important aspect of this award is that the winners will have an opportunity to showcase their creativity to a wider audience, as they will be participating at the prestigious Pan Arab Web Awards 2006. If their performance at the UAE Web Awards is any indication, the national winners are sure to put on a creditable show at the Pan Arab Awards,” Moukarzel added. Entries for the competition, which was open to all companies, web designers and developers across the country, were received from early October to November 31, 2005. The winners were announced following a comprehensive evaluation of the entries by a panel comprising a host of experts in web development and web design. The Awards comprised of various categories such as, Best Bank and Financial Institution Website, Best Corporate Website, Best Art and Design, Best Cultural and Education Website, Best Government Organisation Website, Best Media and Press Website, Best Non-Governmental Organisation Website, Best Personal Website, Best Real Estate Website, Best Consulate Website, Best Media and Advertising Website, Best Student Website, Best Travel, Tourism and Transportation Website, Best Strategy Website and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award (Web of the Year).

RTA to expand, develop Al Ittihad Road Estimated cost of the expansion project to ease the traffic flow between Dubai and Sharjah is around AED 700 million March, 19, 2006 The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai announced today (Sunday, March 19, 2006), a comprehensive plan for the expansion and development of the Al Ittihad Road which links Dubai and Sharjah and a few commercial and residential areas within Dubai. The estimated cost of the expansion project is around AED 700 million. The entire project will include the expansion of the 7.5 kilometer area from Sheikh Rashid road through Al Garhoud, towards Al Shoula Intersection, heading to Al Ittihad road adjacent to the airport, crossing the Headquarters Roundabout (Galadari). This development will continue throughout Al Ittihad street till the border of Sharjah as it passes through the Al Nahda Intersection. Speaking at the conference, H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Executive Director and Chairman, Board of Directors, Roads and Transport Authority, said, "We are committed to the development and research to devise the best ways to improve the roads and transport system in Dubai and ensure that all roads leading to the emirate are of the highest standards. We are keen on adopting best global practices to develop and enhance the traffic in the city. Our comprehensive plan to extend the Al Ittihad Road is part of an integrated project that H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai approved recently, to develop the transport infrastructure in Dubai.” “Such projects will complement the growth and development which Dubai has been witnessing and will provide solutions to the current and future traffic and transport requirements,” he added. "The development plan will include two kinds of roads comprising of a highway and a side road of four lanes each in both directions. A new tunnel with four lanes will be constructed at the Dubai Airport Intersection to assist the flow of traffic towards Sharjah, which is an addition to the existing tunnel," said Engineer Maitha Bin Adi, Director of Roads Department at RTA. The addition of the tunnel will facilitate the smooth distribution of traffic thereby easing traffic congestion from Sharjah towards the Garhoud Bridge. A new bridge will be constructed with two lanes, to ease traffic flow from Sharjah, Al Nahda and Al Mamzar areas towards Dubai International Airport, "she added. Other developments include the construction of a two-lane bridge from Port Saeed and Garhoud areas towards the Clock Tower. Two tunnels will be added to the existing one at the Qiyada Roundabout and a new bridge comprising of two lanes will be constructed to aid the traffic coming from Abu Hail and Salahuddin road towards Sharjah, without disrupting the existing traffic flow and signals. In addition to the existing tunnel at the Al Nahda Interchange (Al Mulla Plaza), another tunnel with three lanes will be constructed at the same interchange to help the flow of traffic from Dubai to Sharjah, by increasing the number of lanes to six.To aid the traffic from Al Mamzar and Al Nahda to Dubai, a new tunnel of two lanes will be built. A new bridge comprising of three lanes will be constructed to aid the traffic flow towards Al Waheeda and Deira from Al Nahda Street. The expansion program will eventually include a new bridge linking Al Mamzar with Al Nahda area to facilitate free traffic movement from Al Mamzar and Al Nahda towards Dubai. Mueller standardises on Cognos for business intelligence Leading steel builder expands deployment with Cognos 8 solution to provide business managers with better decision-making insights Dubai -Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN; TSX: CSN), the world leader in business intelligence and corporate performance management (CPM), has announced that Mueller Inc., a leading manufacturer of steel building and metal roofing solutions, has selected Cognos 8 Business Intelligence as its enterprise-wide business intelligence (BI) standard. Previously, Mueller deployed Cognos planning, reporting and performance applications to track key performance indicators and share its balanced scorecard with business managers. As a result, Mueller gained deeper insight into finances, customers, and internal processes and was able to evaluate market strategies to make more informed business decisions. “With Cognos 8 BI, Mueller will benefit from having the complete range of BI capabilities, from analysis, scorecarding, and reporting, on a single, proven architecture. In addition to delivering a single point of entry for business managers to access information, Cognos 8 BI will simplify deployment and administration for the IT department. As a result, Mueller plans to standardise on Cognos 8 BI and deploy the product to a wider audience, bringing more people into its management reporting structure and allowing for even greater visibility and insight into business performance,” said David Brierley, regional manager, Cognos Middle East and Africa. Strong Sales during International Boat Show Over 140 Boats and Luxury Yachts Sold, Breaking Show Record of USD100 Million Sales with Day to Spare Dubai -Despite blustery conditions at the Dubai International Boat Show (DIBS), exhibitors are reporting high sales, with 140 boats – including at least 25 luxury yachts – sold already, breaking the previous year’s record on the fourth day of the show. Sales of marine equipment, fishing gear and accessories have also significantly surpassed previous years’ figures, underlining the major growth which the Middle East marine leisure market is currently experiencing. Although deals are still being closed on the final day, data already gathered confirms that sales have already broken through the USD100 million total sales recorded in 2005. Middle East companies in particular have created a splash at the event, with companies from the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait all registering significant sales. The UAE’s Gulf Craft Inc. saw high sales levels, selling over USD10 million worth of boats in the first three days, including a record number of its Majesty Yachts class vessels. Sunseeker Middle East also achieved strong results, selling a Predator luxury yacht and a Manhattan 50 craft on the first day, in addition to lining up a significant number of orders. Another company seeing major success is Bahrain’s Al Dhaen Craft, which manufactures high quality leisure craft using innovative techniques and the finest materials. The company has already secured sales of eight of the eleven craft they brought in for the show, including two 43 foot craft for Dh. 1.5 million each, and was finalizing sales on others today. “We came here with high expectations because of the strong reputation of DIBS and our experience justified our optimism. In addition to our sales at this year’s show, we anticipate further developments will follow because of the high level customers we have spent time with,” said Ali Hassan Al Dhaen, Director, Al Dhaen. One of the largest exhibitors at the show, ART Marine, brought a total of 19 boats to this year’s show, in addition to running 9 stands representing 14 brands. Sales have been extremely strong, with particularly high interest in the wide range of yachts on offer. “We are extremely happy with our performance at this year’s Boat Show, where we have benefited from the booming interest in marine leisure in the Middle East. We are already planning to come back next year with a significantly enhanced level of involvement,” said Celine Weber, Marketing and PR Director, ART Marine. Other international groups also saw strong early returns from their presence at this year’s show. Veteran Italian boat builder, Primatist, which had specially-modified Aero Top Evolution 41 and 57 boats on show, successfully sold two models valued at over USD 1.5 million each, and was optimistic of further sales before the close. “We began exhibiting at last year’s show and have found that this year has been a remarkable success. The quality of customers and the interest level was impressive. Primatist has been building boats since 1873, and the company believes there has never been a more exciting time to be selling boats in the Middle East,” said Livinio Gioffredi, Managing Partner, Al Wasata, Primatist’s partner in the region. Executives at DIBS 2006 are delighted at exhibitors’ success at this year’s show, and are already dealing with a high volume of requests from new and existing companies interested in exhibiting at next year’s show. “Dubai International Boat Show is designed to provide more people with access to marine leisure in the Middle East and also to build a strong platform for companies to do business here. We're excited to celebrate the success of so many of our exhibitors, and look forward to working with them for an ever better show next year,” said Trixee Loh, General Manager – Exhibitions, Dubai World Trade Centre.