DUBAL SPONSORS DESERT CLASSIC TOURNAMENT FOR 19TH TIME

Aluminium giant has leverages event to build relationships, promote the company

Having been the main sponsor of the event from 1992 to 2009, Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (“DUBAL”) is again a major sponsor of the recently renamed 2010 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Golf Tournament (“the DDC”). True to tradition, the four-day PGA European Tour-sanctioned tournament will be held at the Emirates Golf Club, with this year’s event taking place from 4 to 7 February.

Widely acknowledged as the industrial flagship of the UAE, DUBAL was established in 1979; and today owns and operates the world’s largest modern aluminium smelter with a captive power station. The DUBAL smelter complex, built on a dedicated 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali, has the capacity to produce one million metric tonnes of molten metal per year.

As an entirely state-owned enterprise, DUBAL is passionate about the socio-economic growth of Dubai and its people. The company expresses this sentiment through an unwavering commitment to good corporate citizenship, over and above its substantial contributions (direct and indirect) to the economy. Active support is given to community-based initiatives and the broader goals of the Dubai Government by giving generously of the company’s time, financial resources and expertise to a broad range of events and activities, especially in the education and welfare arenas. Generous sponsorship is also provided to high profile sports tournaments and trade events that showcase Dubai’s superb tourism and business infrastructure to international audiences while demonstrating our city’s innovative and cosmopolitan flair

“We consider it our duty, and privilege, to invest in the growth and development of the Dubai economy,” says Khalid Buhumaid (Vice President: Corporate Relations & International Affairs and official spokesperson of DUBAL). “Through our involvement in the DDC, the tournament has evolved from a relatively unknown into a world-class sporting event, which attracts the world’s top golfers. This has raised international awareness of and interest in our country and our company.”

Buhumaid adds that the DDC provides an excellent forum for consolidating the partnerships nurtured with DUBAL’s customers over the course of the company’s 30-year history. “Every year, we invite our customers from across the world to Dubai, to attend the DDC as our guests. We leverage the event to build on our existing long-term, loyal relationships, many of which have endured since DUBAL’s inception,” he says. “We also invite our local suppliers, bankers and other local business associates to the event, as a gesture of our appreciation for these business partnerships.”

As in prior years, several DUBAL guests and company representatives will participate actively in the Pro-Am Tournament immediately preceding the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. “A comprehensive social programme has been arranged for DUBAL’s guests during their stay in Dubai, providing ample opportunity to experience our traditional Arabian hospitality,” concludes Buhumaid. “We are also hosting a DUBAL Golf Day at the Emirates Golf Club immediately after the DDC, for a small field of selected guests.”