Dubai: Four organisations from around the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were awarded the Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award 2014 for their outstanding achievements on Wednesday.
It is the first time the award has opened its door to GCC-based companies, due to the Dubai Chamber’s efforts to support institutional excellence in the region.
The award ceremony was held at the Dubai Chamber in Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai and attended by Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, and top government officials.
The GCC companies receiving the awards were Saudi Arabia-based KiCE Manufacturing and Bahrain-based Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company in the manufacturing category, and Oman-based Gulf Energy and Saudi Arabia’s Innovative Solutions in the services category.
Benchmark
“This prestigious award will enhance our confidence and test the benchmark of our business excellence model,” Saleh Al Katheer, CEO of KiCE, told Gulf News.
For a family corporation, sustainability is essential for the businesses performance and this can be done by achieving excellence along all business aspects, he said.
“Trying to meet the criterion for this award is a very good self check as well as comprehensive assessment to the business performance,” he said.
The Most Outstanding Performance Award in the UAE went to Arabian Automobiles Co. L.L.C. in the Trade category and to Bahrain-based Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company in the region in manufacturing category.
Majed Al Shamsi, First Vice-Chairman of the Dubai Chamber, said the excellence award attracted 27 per cent of participants from the GCC.
The winners of the eighth cycle of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award come from a cross-section of business establishments. Twenty were honoured for their exceptional performance in fostering growth and innovation and a culture of excellence in the country and the region.
The award in the finance category went to Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Union National Bank and Sharjah Islamic Bank.
Shayne Nelson, Group CEO of Emirates NBD, said: “Being recognised by the government of Dubai at the MRM Business Excellence Awards reflects Emirates NBD’s growing strengths as a service-oriented organisation.
“In a highly competitive environment, service excellence is the keystone of our customer offering, evidenced in our mission statement that states every day we make our customers lives simpler by providing solutions that help them fulfil their financial aspirations, “ he said.
The awards in the services category were presented to World Security, du-Emirates
Integrated Telecommunications Company, RAK Hospital, and British Orchard Nursery.
The trade category awards were presented to Arabian Automobiles Co. L.L.C., Union Cooperative Society, EPPCO Lubricants, and Aster Pharmacy Group L.L.C.,
Awards in the manufacturing category were presented to Drydocks World — Dubai, and Kimoha Entrepreneurs Ltd.
The award in the transport and logistics category was received by School Transport Services LLC while the award in the construction category was received by NPCC — National Petroleum Construction Company.
Al Shamsi said that 80 per cent of the pool of participants are new, representing 56 sectors particularly manufacturing, services, trade, construction and finance.
Al Shamsi said the award since its inception has honoured 129 companies from various economic sectors in the UAE and has now taken GCC companies into its fold before becoming an international award by 2020.
