Time will not wait for us, Mohammad tells young graduates at career fair

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, called for employing the largest number of Emirati citizens while opening the eighth UAE Careers Exhibition 2008 on Tuesday.

Shaikh Mohammad toured the exhibition, which is the largest recruitment, training and education event, organised exclusively for UAE nationals, where he was accompanied by Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and senior officials.

Shaikh Mohammad toured the exhibition's various pavilions and was briefed by exhibitors from public and private sectors on the job opportunities they can offer to national job-seekers.

Shaikh Mohammad assured graduates that the local labour market has the capacity to accommodate all specialisations and offer opportunities for young men and woman to join the national productivity process, economically, socially, culturally and technologically.

Grab opportunity

Shaikh Mohammad urged the graduates he met during his tour to match and boost their knowledge with experience, for a productive, well-educated and experienced generation.

"What is the use of education if a person does not benefit himself first, and then his homeland?" he asked. "Time will not wait for us. We have to exploit every hour in work and creativity. We have to seize every opportunity which comes only once," he added.

During his visit to the DP World pavilion, Shaikh Mohammad instructed senior officials and employees of the leading company to employ the largest possible number of Emiratis and qualify them through training programmes to enable them to occupy high-profile positions in local departments.

Shaikh Mohammad stressed the necessity to highly qualify and promote the skills of UAE citizens to take leading posts in their country's private and public sectors.

He issued instructions to DP World officials to develop national human cadres through training programmes in the company's various departments and sections.

The show registered over 31 per cent growth in gross exhibition space to reach 13,200 square metres, with 215 exhibitors.

The UAE Careers Exhibition 2008 is hosted by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from 15-17 April at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC).

Contest: Projects invited

Shaikh Majid Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, inaugurated the concurrent Young Entrepreneurs Competition in coordination with the Mohammad Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders.

The contest invited groups of students from various schools to present their entrepreneurial projects in the hope of setting up their own private business in the future and teaching them to be productive and self-reliant. Winners of the competition will be announced next month.

Asma Mohammad Al Sharif, Projects Manager of Careers UAE 2008, said: "The exhibition aspires to achieve the Emiratisation target set by the government, which has already started in some sectors, such as banking, insurance, public relations and human resources.

- Maysam Ali, Staff Reporter