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www.middle-east-online.com Under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the Emirates Falconers’ Club, Abu Dhabi hosts the new round of the International Hunting & Equestrian Exhibition “Abu Dhabi 2005†from 12th to 16th September this year, organized by the General Exhibitions Corporation and the Emirates Falconers’ Club.
Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Organizing Committee and Board Member of the Emirates Falconers’ Club, underscored that “This big event seeks to preserve the region’s deep-rooted tradition and maintain its high position. It also seeks to encourage scientific researches aiming at achieving ‘sustainable hunting’, and significantly promotes Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates as the best place for holding international exhibitions and conferences and enjoying the natural beauties of the country. We look forward to making the exhibition an annual festival for the lovers of the Arabian deep-rooted sports and for spreading environmental awareness for the conservation of endangered species.â€Â
Al Mazrouei indicated during the Press Conference that “The exhibition has become one of the biggest events and activities being held annually in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The activities of the last round made a traditional festival and an international event, and made a credit to the UAE and the entire Gulf region, achieving great success on all levels. Visitors of hunting and equestrian fans exceeded (40,000), and they are expected to exceed (60,000) this year, including VIPs, diplomats, and lovers of these deep-rooted sports from the UAE, GCC, Arab and neighboring countries. In response to the wish of most visitors, the exhibition has been extended to be held over five days instead of four, thus enabling much of them to spend longer time at its various booths.
The exhibition attracts the most renowned companies in the field of manufacturing all kinds of hunting and equestrian equipment and particularly the advanced technologies used in hunting and field communication, and encourages direct sales, deals, promotional offers and business relations. This year it will even have more distinguished participations of companies specializing in falcon medicines and treatment, falcon breeding farms, manufacturers of falcon training and tracking equipment, manufacturers of all equestrian and horse breeding requirements including medicines, manufacturers of guns / rifles / shooting equipment, international hunting and equestrian agencies and associations, fish farms and manufacturers of fishing and other sea activities equipment, companies of tourism / desert safaris / adventures, and specializing periodicals.
The traditional activities and artistic competitions add a special feature to the event. Some of these activities are the poetry night that will present a number of the best GCC poets, the daily raffle draws on captive-bred falcons for the promotion of ‘sustainable hunting’ and protecting wild falcons from extinction, the huge tourist village that will show the UAE’s deep-rooted tradition and the old Bedouin life of the region’s people, scientific workshops, traditional competitions for the best poems describing falcons, hunting trips and losing birds, the best inventions of hunting equipment, and the best paintings and photographs of hunting, equestrian and traditional themes. There also will be the original competition that had a lot of recognition last year: the biggest and prettiest captive-bred falcons of different breeds, which aims at encouraging falcon breeding experts and falcon farms to produce larger falcons with prettier plumage, color and shape, and promoting ‘sustainable hunting’ through using these captive-bred falcons in the sport of falconry, thus completely dispensing with the wild ones. And for the first time, an area will be assigned for equestrian shows and horse auction with participation of many pedigree Arabian horse owners and breeders from all over the world. Furthermore, we have prepared a plan to stimulate the presence of equestrian and marine activities and competitions at a large scale parallel to the hunting and falconry side. This year there also will be a notable participation of the Camel Research Centre (Suwaihan) with a special laboratory.â€Â
“Commemorating the world’s No. 1 falconer, and acknowledging the great favors of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who had embodied the ideal image of the Arab falconer with his true intuition, wide knowledge of nature, and unique vision that constituted a far-sighted view that came to be known to modern conservationists as ‘sustainable hunting’, the Organizing Committee has decided to hold a special traditional exhibition to show rare pictures of the late Sheikh Zayed, besides his poems on the importance of practicing hunting and horseback riding, and the obituaries received from the world falconers, and to highlight his unprecedented efforts for protecting wildlife.†Revealed Al Mazrouei, Board Member of the Emirates Falconers’ Club
On participations in the event Al Mazrouei said “While 191 exhibitors from 22 countries participated in “Abu Dhabi 2004â€Â, over 70% of them gained through the event a foothold in the Middle East hunting and equestrian market, and managed to build new business relations, so that they confirmed their participation in “Abu Dhabi 2005â€Â. Till now we have more than 90 exhibitors who have booked about 3100 square meters of the total area 5000 square meters, and according to available facts we expect a considerable increase in the number of exhibitors this year. We look forward to having a participation of more than 300 exhibitors from more than 30 countries from all over the world, in addition to many Arab and GCC participations, and a number of distinguished national pavilions from the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa, Tanzania, Sweden, and the United States of America. “Abu Dhabi 2005†would then confirm its status as the Middle East’s biggest specializing event, being an appropriate place for concluding deals and bringing together manufacturers of hunting and equestrian equipment, especially that all exhibitors were very satisfied with the offered services and facilities, particularly providing the best hotel reservations at very competitive prices, and moreover Abu Dhabi is considered a major international meeting place for hunting and equestrian fans, and a huge market for these deep-rooted sports in the Middle East, which contains over 50% of the world’s falconers in addition to thousands of hunting and equestrian enthusiasts.â€Â
“The Organizing Committee of “Abu Dhabi 2005†has arranged for an extensive promotion and advertising campaign utilizing newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, to meet with the exhibitors’ primary requirement i.e. attracting thousands of visitors and thus increasing benefits, and to guarantee bigger participation in the coming years. More than 200 of local, Arab and international media are expected to cover the event.†He added Finally, Al Mazrouei thanked the Etihad Airways, the official carrier of the exhibition, and Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, indicating that this year a distinguished group of sponsors is expected, in addition to the great support offered by the pioneering falcon breeding project in Al Ain ‘Pro-Falcon’ and Al Wathba and Al Reef Stables in Abu Dhabi. He also thanked the local, Arab and international media for their attention, assuring them that this event will be a great opportunity to pass on the exhibition’s message and their noble messages as well. It also will be a great opportunity to contribute to preserving heritage, introducing the UAE’s plans and achievements of sustainable development, and highlighting its civilized image through the great ability to organize the biggest international specializing exhibitions |
