Dubai's RTA Gears up to Host the 59th UITP World Congress & Exhibition

DUBAI, UAE, February 16, 2011 - Dubai's Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is gearing up to host the 59th
UITP World Congress and Exhibition entitled "Boosting Public Transport:
Action!". The global industry event will promote, discuss and debate the
International Organization for Public Transport's (UITP) strategy of doubling
public transport market share worldwide by 2025. The event, which takes place
from April 10-14 2011, will be a great platform for industry professionals
across all areas of transportation to meet, network and showcase the latest
innovations in vehicles, information technologies, equipment and services.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and
Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, will officially open the Exhibition. This
is the first time since its inception that the UITP World Congress and
Exhibition is held outside Europe, a clear acknowledgement of the position of
Dubai as a global business center and the growing importance of the public
transport sector in the UAE and the wider region.

Complimentary Transport for Delegates

Delegates from around the world who will be attending the event will
benefit from complimentary transportation services offered by the RTA said a
spokesperson for the authority. According to Furat Ali Al Amri, Director of
Buses at RTA's Public Transport Agency and Head of the Transportation Team
during this global event, free Silver NOL cards will be provided to
participants in the event to facilitate their movement to and from the venue
of the event at the Dubai World Trade Center and within the city for the
duration of the event. It is also the first time that the local host offers
these facilities for participating delegates, as the NOL cards will allow
them to use the Dubai metro and buses free of charge.

Sponsorship

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 Vienna and Helsinki respectively. The RTA has
almost completed the sale of its sponsorship programme for event; already 60%
of the sponsorships for the event have been secured at a value of over two
million dollars. Event sponsors include Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's
largest automaker, 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. Other event sponsors in include ETA Ascon Group, a UAE-based
contracting firm; Kenkart, an automatic fare collection and vehicle tracking
system, Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company; and SECURITAS, a knowledge leader in security.

Involving Dubai's Youth

Students from the American University in Dubai (AUD), Zayed University,
Dubai Men's college, and Dubai Women's College will have the opportunity to
shape the future of public transport at the Youth Forum during the event.
Through the Youth Forum, young visionaries will be invited to take part in
discussions about the possible new solutions that can be developed to
establish a better transportation world, ensure effectiveness of the public
transport systems and work towards innovation and sustainability.

The RTA will be organizing a number of workshops in the local
universities to encourage UAE students to go on www.youthforpt.org, an
online forum on public transport, to suggest innovative ideas and solutions
under six key topics that they think could be transformed into projects that
contribute to sustainable public transport and the environment. UITP will
then give a select number of students around world and give them topics so
that they can work on actual projects to present at the Youth Forum. UAE
students who participated in the online forum and submitted ideas will
represent the UAE as one group and will be assigned one project that they
will present, with young managers from the RTA, at the Youth Forum on the
last day of the event. The Youth Forum workshops will take place from April
9-13 with the final session taking place on April 14th, where UAE students
will present and discuss their project with fellow youths from around the
world. The Youth Forum will bring youths aged 20-37 from countries such as
Italy, Germany, Finland, France, Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Canada,
India and the UAE.

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:
noha.habib@ws-mena.com, hala.sarieddine@ws-mena.com

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: noha.habib at ws-mena.com, hala.sarieddine at ws-mena.com