DEWA signs MoU with MBRF to support the positive events and activities of ‘Year of Reading’

Sunday 17 January 2016
HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA and HE Jamal bin Huwaireb Managing Director of MBRF

Dubai - MENA Herald: As part of strengthening and supporting strategic partnerships and combining efforts among local government departments to encourage and consolidate the culture of reading in implementation of the directives of His Highness the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who announced the 2016 as "The Year of Reading" and in line with the launch of "Arab Reading Challenge" by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to encourage more than one million of students in the Arab world to read 50 million books during their academic year, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. This MoU, which was signed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA and HE Jamal bin Huwaireb Managing Director of MBRF in the press conference held at Burj Al Arab – Dubai, aims to strengthen collaboration in terms of organizing varied activities that promote positive reading and disseminate knowledge and culture.
Also, during the press conference, DEWA launched, in collaboration with MBRF, its three initiatives to encourage reading and knowledge. The first initiative is "Reading is Positive Energy", which organizes cultural activities that promotes the year of positive reading; the second initiative is to set up a book fair at Zaabeel Park during 2016 and dedicate a pavilion for Emirati publishers; the third one is sponsoring some units of "Knowledge Chair”, which is a small library containing some books and useful publications and will have some quotes of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on the importance of science and knowledge.
On this occasion, HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA said: “In this regard, DEWA established key pillars to materialize its strategy to become 'A Sustainable Innovative World-Class Utility' playing a key role in disseminating creativity and excellence, and help make our students among the best students in the world in terms of reading, knowledge, and scientific search. We also seek to discover innovators, creative minds and talents, promote their capabilities and excellence aspects, as well as acquiring and adopting them as part of our manpower.”
“By launching today's initiatives, DEWA contribute, in collaboration with MBRF, to encourage reading and make books available to everyone all the year round to ensure effecting a positive change in our society by bringing up and raising a cultured and reader generation. By assigning a location of its own at Zaabeel Park for a book fair, DEWA contributes to encouraging nationals, residents and visitors to read. This will definitely promote our cultural march as a beacon of civilization and reading,” added His Excellency.
“Our visionary leadership realizes that our Arab World faces great challenges and reading crisis, and that no nation can elevate without reading. To achieve this noble aim, we have to prepare a reader generation who has passion for reading and knowledge. At DEWA, we have already started this march as our Knowledge Department, in collaboration with competent authorities, provide all facilities and means to create a knowledge-based environment. DEWA's libraries, which hold valuable books and volumes both in paper and digital, will receive students. Also specialized training courses will be organized to teach the sound basics of Arabic reading as well as providing sources of knowledge and reading in all branches and fields, including renewable and clean energy. There will be also campaigns and activities to improve reading skills,” said His Excellency.
“Objective written word has a great effect on people as it builds up relations among individuals and societies and help nations elevate. In this regard, our role will never cease until we reach our aspirations and goals. DEWA role and efforts will continue to achieve all our aspired objectives, which are in line with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who says: “We want the UAE to be a beacon of science and knowledge, just as Andalusia, Granada, Baghdad and other Arab nations were sources of enlightenment and knowledge for centuries.”
At the end of the conference, His Excellency stressed the importance of combining efforts and that the initiatives will have everyone's support to be a reality for the common good of our nation.
“Since its inception, Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation is always keen to launch initiative, projects and partnerships with all the UAE government and private departments and institutions to spread innovation, leadership and excellence at both national and Arab-world levels. Today’s initiative comes in line with the directives of our visionary leadership, and in implementation of the directives of His Highness the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who announced the 2016 as "The Year of Reading" and in line with the launch of "Arab Reading Challenge" by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,” said HE Jamal bin Huwaireb Managing Director of MBRF.
“MBRF’s partnerships with different government departments stress our collaboration and integration in government performance among all departments. Also, these efforts are testimony to the Foundation’s basic role of disseminating the culture of reading in all fields among all segments of the UAE society,” added HE Jamal bin Huwaireb.
“The Foundation will provide all required support to all knowledge initiatives launched by the UAE government departments, and welcomes all other departments willing to benefit from our expertise in this regard, wishing success to all initiatives that promote reading and contribute to promoting the UAE’s position as a beacon of culture and knowledge at regional and global levels,” added HE Jamal bin Huwaireb.
The MoU aims to foster collaboration between DEWA and MBRF to make the best use of expertise, and technical and financial capabilities in the march towards continuous development to enhance positive reading, sharing sources of knowledge, including contents of libraries and available electronic sources of information, support programmes of knowledge management, and enriching the Arab content of knowledge by publishing specialized translated books and publications to disseminate culture, encourage reading, organize cultural events of common interest,” said HE Jamal bin Huwaireb.

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