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Mohammed Bin Rashid Attends DED Business Excellence Awards ceremony

Dubai, 5 April 2011 (WAM): His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended today the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) Business Excellence Awards ceremony.

Also present were H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group, H.H. Sheikh Hasher bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, Director of Dubai Department of Information, Reem Al Hashemi, Minister of State, and chairmen of government departments and CEOs.

The Business Excellence Awards include the 2010 cycle of the Dubai Quality Award, Dubai Human Development Award (DHDA) and the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme (DSES).

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, honoured five winners of Dubai Human Development Award and 18 winners of the Dubai Quality Award. H.H. Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, honoured twelve winners of the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme.

At a ceremony held at Grand Hyatt Dubai, the winners in the 2010 cycle of the Dubai Quality Award were honoured in two categories - the Dubai Quality Award and the DQAP.

Hilton Dubai Jumeirah (tourism), Jebel Ali Free Zone – Jafza (service), and Al Fara'a General Contracting Company (construction) were the winners of the Dubai Quality Award.

The winners of the Dubai Quality Appreciation Programme were Mawarid Finance (finance), Al Yousuf Electronics , LULU Hypermarkets (trade), Emirates Gas (manufacturing), Dubai Taxi Corporation, wasl, Noor Takaful, Imdaad, Bahri and Mazroei Technical System Company (services), Al Sabbah Electro-Mechanical Contracting, Voltas Ltd (Construction), The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management (education), SEHA - Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, Belhoul Speciality Hospital, and Belhoul European Hospital (healthcare).

The winners in the 2010 cycle of the Dubai Human Development Award were honoured in two categories – The Dubai Human Development Award and the Dubai Human Development Appreciation Programme (DHDAP).

The Dubai Human Development Award was presented to Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (manufacturing sector), Dubai Airport Free Zone (service), and Sharjah Islamic Bank (finance) while Ministry of Finance (finance sector) and Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (du) (semi government sector) were awarded the Dubai Human Development Appreciation Programme for their contribution to national human development within their organisations.

The recognition of Dubai Service Excellence Scheme winners included best service performing outlets and brands, selected from over 1,000 DSES members for exceptional service performance levels.

The retail outlets selected for excellence in service included branches of Giordano – Burjuman, Al Yousuf Electronics - Dubai Mall, MARINA Exotic Home Interiors - Souk Madinat Jumeirah , THE FACE SHOP - Century Mall, Pure Gold Jewellers - Souk Madinat Jumeirah , UAE Exchange Center - Naif Area, Aster MEDSAVE pharmacy - Uptown Mirdiff, and HRG - Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority DAFZA .

The four winners of the Best Service Performance Brand included Al Jaber Optical (Special Business Category), Cold Stone Creamery (Large Business Category), The Athlete's Foot (Medium Business Category) and Dockers (Small Business Category).

Quality and excellence will continue to be the strong focal areas for the Department of Economic Development. The winners of the Business Excellence Awards have proved to us that excellence is indeed a part of their DNA. Their success has inspired more businesses to come forward and thus add to the overall excellence that one associates with Dubai today," said Mr Sami Al Qamzi, Director General, DED.

Sheikh Mohammed said he was pleased with the wide participation from the private sector and semi-government sector.

''Excellence should be consolidated amongst the community and business as a culture, behaviour and practice that reflect positively on the work environment in terms of development, flourishing and confidence-building between companies and consumers and activation of trade, tourist, urban and cultural movement,'' Sheikh Mohammed stressed.

''His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has always envisaged an economy shaped using the building blocks of quality and excellence. We will remain committed to our basic ideals of creating a robust economic environment that promotes innovation, boosts creativity and inspires businesses to further grow and prosper," added Mr Al Qamzi.

The total number of organisations that have registered and trained for the Business Excellence Awards now stands at over 4,000. The number of members in the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme has more than doubled to about 1,400 since its inception. The Dubai Human Development Awards have also grown over the past years with the number of interested applicants nearly doubling since 2010.

To date, more than 2,000 organisations have applied for our Business Excellence Awards, and more than 300 organisations have won the honours, underscoring the steady growth in the culture of excellence across our businesses. DED plans to sign an agreement with key private and public sector institutions to further promote the Dubai Human Development Award that complements our Emiratisation goals.

DED has now initiated the Best Practice and Benchmark Study, a first of its kind initiative in the entire Middle East. Through the study, DED is benchmarking the performance of DQA winners against international organisations to ensure that we are on par with global best practices. Undertaking a benchmarking study is critical and is aligned with the goals of the Dubai Government to ensure that our businesses are globally competitive.

Each submission for the DQA was reviewed by assessors according to procedures laid down by the Business Excellence Centre at DED that are modelled on the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence. After the entries were reviewed, a panel of jury members interviewed the teams that assess the applicant companies to select potential winners.

Applications for Dubai Human Development Award were evaluated by a team of assessors who conducted site visits and prepared detailed assessment reports highlighting existing best practices and areas for improvement in each company.

The Department of Economic Development launched the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme to raise the standards of customer service and business ethics, and to set new levels of excellence in the UAE’s fast-expanding retail sector. This is an important initiative to further reiterate Dubai’s global image as the world’s foremost lifestyle and retail destination.

© Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.