Wednesday, 06 June, 2012

Academy of International Business - Middle East North Africa (AIB-MENA) was presented an award of recognition at the second "Congress Ambassadors" Annual Recognition Event. The award was presented by Hamad M. Bin Mejren, Executive Director of Business Tourism and Dubai Conventions Bureau (DCB) at Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM).AIB-MENA was started in 2009 and is housed by the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD). The Founder and President is Dr Melodena S. Balakrishnan, an Associate Professor at UOWD. The VP Operations is Dr Ian Michael, an Associate Professor at Zayed University, Dubai. Both the University of Wollongong in Dubai and Zayed University, College of Business have received awards by Academy of International Business - a 53 year old USA based association of 3500+ scholars.AIB-MENA in collaboration with the UOWD Business Case Study Centre has published through Emerald Group Publishing (UK) two volumes of business cases of Dubai-based companies like the Jumeriah Group, Abraaj Capital Limited, Enviroserve, Aquachemie, University of Wollongong in Dubai, Haier (Hafet Electrical LLC), Fortune Promoseven Sports Marketing and Economic Zones World. The organisation has also hosted two conferences in Dubai bringing in academics from across the world.The AIB-MENA committee members come from various universities across the MENA region. The Advisory Board is represented by Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Frederic Sicre, Abraaj Capital Ltd; Professor Rob Whelan, Deputy-Provost, UAE University; Professor Ghassan Aouad, President, University of Wollongong in Dubai, and Professor Stephen J. Mezias, Academic Director, INSEAD, Abu Dhabi Campus.In 2012, AIB-MENA instituted two awards - the AIB-MENA Ghaf Tree Award (which recognises an organisation’s commitment to community engagement and development) and AIB-MENA Windtower Award (for Inspirational Leadership).AIB-MENA is working on their third volume of the book “Actions and Insights” and the third Annual conference will be held in Cairo in 2013. Dr Balakrishnan said, “we are thrilled to be recognised for all the years of hard work. We are a group of dedicated volunteers who want to make a difference to education, research and industry in this region. We work to educate not just our region but the international communities of the huge opportunities present in this very dynamic region and help future managers understand the ways business can operate in this region. We hope we can help redefine western based management models through research, education and partnership with industry, government and academic establishments.”Hamad M Bin Mejren said, “we pride ourselves on offering unparalleled service, infrastructure and opportunities to meeting planners. Attracting congresses to any destination is very competitive, we must continue to prove our value to our customers and remain committed to their success. The strong network of local ambassadors is a great strength for Dubai, we must continue to expand this network. These events provide a strong economic impact and will continue to support the city’s growth.”