59th UITP World Congress & Exhibition Attracts Global & Local Sponsors

DUBAI, UAE, February 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has almost completed the sale of its sponsorship programme for the 59th World Congress & Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), a global industry event for the international transport community, taking place in Dubai from April 10-14. The RTA, who is the host of the prestigious event, has already secured 60% of the sponsorships for the event at a value of over two million dollars. The handful of remaining packages including a Cultural Evening and Audiovisual sponsorship are currently being negotiated.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, will officially open the Exhibition "Mobility & City Transport Exhibition" and the Congress taking place under the theme "Boosting public transport: Action!". The opening and closing ceremonies are presented by the event's main sponsor, Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (DoT).

In addition to the industry delegates, trade media from around the world will attend the event, also sponsored by the Dubai Driving Center and the Al-Futtaim Group, the most respected corporations in the lower Gulf Region as platinum partners.

Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's largest automaker, is the gold partner, sponsoring the "Dubai City Tour" on Sunday April 10, which includes visits for registered event participants to the iconic Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Mosque.

Global industry leaders such as Energy International Corporation (EIC), a full-service engineering, procurement and construction company; Thales, a major electronic systems company acting in various areas including transportation; Bombardier, a global transportation company in aerospace and rail; Alstom, a world leader in transport infrastructure, power generation and transmission; Arabian Automobiles Company (AAC), one of the leading automotive distributors in the Emirate, and Swaidan Trading Co LLC - Al Naboodah have come on board as silver partners for the highly anticipated international event.

Other event sponsors in the bronze category include ETA Ascon Group, a UAE-based contracting firm; Voith, a supplier of drive and braking systems; Kenkart, a Turkish automatic fare collection and vehicle tracking system producer, Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company; SECURITAS, a knowledge leader and service provider in security; NAVTEQ an IT provider; and DEPA, a designer of train interiors.

Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the partner of Expo Forum sessions that will take place in the exhibition halls.

Union Railway, the agency responsible for managing the development, construction and operation of the UAE's national railway, is the main sponsor of UITP and RTA welcome reception, one of the many social activities organized on the sidelines of the event.

The event is on course to be a great success as 29,400msquared of the floor space has already been sold, hence 98% of the total space available. Dubai has already exceeded the size of the previous two UITP Congress & Exhibition events in Helsinki and Vienna respectively.

The 59th UITP World Congress and Exhibition hosted by RTA will promote, discuss and debate UITP's PTx2 strategy of doubling public transport market share worldwide by 2025. The event will be the first important milestone for UITP to assess what has been achieved and what is still needed in order to achieve its vision: doubling the public transport market share worldwide by 2025. The event will offer the opportunity to gauge the capacity of the sector to grow rapidly and will showcase the latest innovations in vehicles, information technologies, equipment and services. UITP is the global advocate for public transport and sustainable mobility, and the promoter of innovations in the sector.

For more information, please contact Noha Habib or Hala Sarieddine, Weber Shandwick MENA, Phone: +971-4-321-0077, Fax: +971-4-32-11-711, Email: [email protected], [email protected]

SOURCE Dubai?s Road and Transport Authority (RTA)