Emirates

Bodour Al Qasimi calls on Italian publishers to cooperate on building industry resilience

ROME, 7th December, 2021 (WAM) — Continuing her in-person assessments of pandemic-hit publishing markets worldwide, Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), was in Rome to meet with members of the Italian Publishers Association.

While there, she learned more about their challenges and offered an overview of the IPA initiatives designed to empower global industry stakeholders, putting them on a planned and collaborative path to post-COVID recovery.

Bodour's visit began with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Piu libri piu liberi Book Fair (National Fair of Small and Medium Publishing) led by the Italian Minister of Cultural Affairs, Dario Franceschini, followed by a tour of the book fair, which runs from 4th to 8th December in Rome. It is the first Italian fair dedicated exclusively to independent publishing and approximately 500 publishers from all over Italy convene there each year to share news of their latest catalogues with the public.

In her meeting with the Italian publishers, she took the opportunity to hear from them about the on-ground challenges the pandemic has presented, and to learn about their plans for the future. Bodour commended the Italian publishing community for their united efforts, which boosted sales of trade titles this year by almost 16.3 percent compared to 2020.

She noted that challenges remain despite these positive signs, and asserted that collaborative action will be key to rebuilding publishing businesses and the industry as a whole. She called on the meeting’s attendees to build resilience by working together adding that this was the inspiration behind the IPA’s recently launched International Sustainable Publishing and Industry Resilience (InSPIRe) Plan.

This plan has been joined by the Federation of the European Publishers along with 50 other organisations. Bodour said that she looks forward to more Italian publishers and industry stakeholders endorsing the Inspire Plan.

Strategies like this are crucial in taking a solidarity driven approach to addressing common sectoral challenges such as the recent supply chain crisis and the emergence of the new COVID variant, Omicron, she added.

The IPA President’s trip to Italy follows visits to other publishing capitals including Greece, the UAE, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Georgia earlier this year. During these visits she has been assessing the challenges of pandemic-hit publishing markets and sharing the IPA’s plans to help bring global publishing back to full strength.

On the side-lines of her meetings, Bodour Al Qasimi also took the opportunity to tour the historic Biblioteca Angelica – a public library in Rome established in 1604, which boasts a collection of 200,000 works in Italian literature, theatre and literary criticism and other priceless works.

Emirates

Integrated Transport Centre introduces smart Taxi-Top Billboard Initiative

ABU DHABI, 8th June, 2023 (WAM) — The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) in Abu Dhabi has announced the launch of the Smart Billboard project for taxi vehicles in collaboration with operating companies and the relevant strategic stakeholders.

This step is in line with the ITC’s efforts to deliver innovative and high-quality advertising content to the public. The initiative entails smart advertising billboards being planted on taxi rooftops to market products and services in collaboration with advertisers from local companies and businesses in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The ITC said that the project started with 50 taxi vehicles from the Tawasul Transport company, and intends to reach 100 taxi vehicles from the same company after the trial period is over. It is worth noting that the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is operating 6,400 taxis in total.

The Integrated Transport Centre explained that the initiative is in line with its commitment towards reinforcing digital transformation in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, and improving public access to its digital services system.

The ITC strives to fulfil future requirements and promote the vision of Abu Dhabi through investing in modern technologies that serve the community and create smarter cities in the Emirate, in terms of services and commercial practices. The project also aims to use new marketing and digital promotional strategies for these services, and to use cutting-edge technology to strengthen the digital marketing field by reaching various segments of society with efficient and creative marketing messages.

According to the ITC, setting up advertising billboards on taxi rooftops contributes to delivering diversified and engaging advertising content to passengers and pedestrians in accordance with the innovative advancements in the digital marketing field.

Furthermore, it improves the city's marketing communications and helps raise community awareness on various services, events, and activities. It also provides local businesses with the opportunity to promote and market their products and services.

Moreover, the digital billboards can be used to broadcast useful traffic safety tips to a large audience in a creative manner, as they use innovative technology to display content clearly in all kinds of weather conditions without distracting other drivers.

On the other hand, the initiative strengthens the collaboration with the private sector by creating new investment opportunities to promote the products and services of local businesses. It also helps the taxi industry utilise asset and diversifying revenue, thereby supporting local economy by enhancing the economic development in the Emirate.

Emirates

Saned urges entities in Sharjah to install ‘Aman’ safety system

SHARJAH, 8th June, 2023 (WAM) — Saned Integrated Facilities Management has urged all government and private entities, industrial and commercial facilities and residential buildings to install the early warning ‘Aman’ system, based on its objectives to provide the highest levels of safety in Sharjah,

The new system and device, implemented by Saned, is supervised by the Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority. The device links fire systems in the facilities to the General Directorate of Civil Defense and Saned, with the goal to reduce response times to combat with fire hazards and emergencies.

Sultan Al Ketbi, CEO of Saned Facilities Management, stressed the need to install the early warning system ‘Aman’, which plays a great role in reducing response times for fire-related emergencies. The system works to monitor the validity of alarm and fire systems in facilities and ensure their effectiveness, which contributes to protecting lives and property and provides the highest levels of protection and safety in Sharjah.

Al Ketbi highlighted that the system has been successfully employed to aid in the early detection of fires; a tower in the Emirate of Sharjah recently benefited from the ‘Aman’ system and suffered no losses due to a recent fire emergency.

Al Ketbi added, "More than 7,753 Aman devices have been installed in various areas of Sharjah since the programme began. We are working diligently to ensure that all residential, commercial, and industrial facilities and areas in the Emirate are covered by the Aman programme, as it is mandatory for public safety."

He further explained, "We seek to reach 100% compliance from owners of real estate, facilities and amenities in Sharjah, to which the decision to install and connect a safety system to protect buildings from fires and accidents is in line with our goal to enhance the overall well being of all residing in the Emirate.”

Aman is an early warning system adopted in the Emirate of Sharjah to protect community members from fire hazards. The system is in direct contact with the Sharjah Civil Defense Authority and links to a control room that operates according to the highest international safety standards. In cooperation with the Sharjah Prevention and Safety Authority, the system strengthens the security and safety strategy of the Emirate of Sharjah and helps spread awareness of best practices in accident and fire prevention.

The system is managed by Saned Integrated Facilities Management, which is one of the projects of Sharjah Asset Management, the investment arm of the Government of Sharjah. Saned provides integrated facilities management, building maintenance and related technical services to commercial and government entities, in addition to energy management and sustainable initiatives. The Saned team also provides technical services specialised in the security and safety of facilities and amenities.

Emirates

UAE and Peru sign air services agreement

Lima, Peru, 8th June, 2023 (WAM) — The UAE and the Republic of Peru signed an air services agreement, with Mohammed Abdullah Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Peru, signing on behalf of the UAE and Gervasi Díaz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, representing Peru.

This agreement will open new horizons for cooperation between the two countries and promote intra-trade.

Al Shamsi pointed out that non-oil bilateral trade with Peru for 2022 amounted to US$800 million, and UAE investments in Peru over the last five years exceeded US$700 million, while intra-trade reached US$4.4 billion in the same period.

He added, "The Memorandum of Understanding for political consultations in 2009 and the visa waiver agreement between the two countries in 2019 have already been signed, and today we are signing the air services agreement. In the near future, we hope to sign an agreement to protect and promote investment and avoid double taxation, in addition to other agreements that are expected to be in the interest of our two peoples and in line with our common aspirations for further development and prosperity.”

Al Shamsi stressed that this agreement will contribute to the growth of trade exchange in a manner that supports the development agenda of the two countries, promotes the sustainability of their economies, and bolsters bilateral aviation ties.

He added, "This comes as part of efforts to reinforce bilateral relations with the Republic of Peru and will also benefit our national airlines and several other sectors in the country, directly affecting the growth of air traffic between the airports of the UAE and Peru, which will help strengthen trade, economic, and tourism relations between the two countries.”

For her part, Díaz said that the UAE is an important partner, as it is the largest Arab country investing in Peru, stressing that the UAE is the first nation in the Middle East to sign an agreement on air services with the South American country.

She stressed that the signing of the air services agreement with the UAE will enable Peru to act as a communication center for the networks of airlines in Latin America, highlighting that the signing of the agreement is a significant achievement and a milestone in the strong relations between Peru and the UAE.

Díaz stated that the signing of the agreement will allow the establishment of new air routes that will promote travel for tourism and business purposes between Peru and Arab countries, as well as Asian and Pacific countries.