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"I bring them all together", says Shaikh Mohammed

April 2, 2012

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Dubai, April 2: Following the triumph of Monterosso, ridden by Mikael Barzalona, at the Dubai World Cup main event on Saturday night, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai — the founder of the Godolphin stables which owns Monterosso — spoke exclusively to CNN’s Winning Post prior to and after the Dubai World Cup at the Meydan horse race course the same night.

The Dubai World Cup returned to Godolphin hands after a memorable one-two for Shaikh Mohammed’s racing operation. Monterosso, ridden by Mikael Barzalona, pulled ahead of stablemate Capponi to capture the coveted trophy. Both horses are trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni.

Excerpts from CNN’s Winning Post interview with:

Q: On why he built Meydan and started the Dubai World Cup:

A: “Well we thought about it and it was the horse you know descended from the horse in UAE and the thoroughbred is fantastic, thoroughbreds descending from these horses. So we bring the horse back home.

So actually we race in England, we race in America, we race in Australia, we race in Japan but not all the best horses come together, the Japanese stay home, sometimes they come to England, the Australians stay home, the Americans mostly stay home and also the Europeans. And we thought it if we can make a big Meydan here we can invite them all here and they are – it’s near to them, you know – centralised, so they come and see the magnificent horse race here and compete with all the countries…

Well remember it is in our blood. An Arab with a horse and a falcon… Our love to the horses and that’s why we backed this.”

Q: On thinking the Dubai World Cup would ever become so big:

A: “You have to dream. And our dream, and my dream.”

Q: On his predictions for the outcome of the race:

A: “I feel a lot of competition will be there’s a lot of beautiful horses from America, Europe, Japan, Australia, so you cannot tell. But you know really I am to bring them all together and to see this big party tonight I am honoured.”

Q: On winning the race with Monterosso:

“Yes it is really we haven’t won this race for a few years so to win it really it’s great, great feeling. For me and this is so happy not only for me but for United Arab Emirates and all our people.”

Q: On getting first and second in the race with Monterosso and Capponi:

A: “One-two finish, I mean when they came to the straight I thought will we win or is somebody coming to catch us? But it’s great.”

Q: On Mikael Barzalona (the winning jockey) celebrating before he crossed the finish line:

A: “My heart was in my throat at that time and I didn’t know what to say but thank god we won it and everybody has won — all the country, Ireland won, France won and that’s the racing. I’m double happy now!”


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Agencies
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) (ADCB.AD) is letting go hundreds of employees, sources said, the latest in a round of lay-offs by regional banks as pressure mounts to cut costs amid lower oil prices and the coronavirus crisis.

The UAE’s third-biggest lender is laying off 400 employees, two sources familiar with the matter said, after it had committed to not cutting staff because of the crisis.

In a statement, a spokesman said ADCB had pursued efficiency over the last decade by managing out its lowest underachievers after regular reviews, while ensuring talent was deployed in high-growth areas, such as digital banking.

“A certain number of redundancies are therefore expected every year in the normal course of business,” the bank spokesman added.

The sources said the cuts would involve ADCB’s consumer business and several in top management were among those being let go. One source said the bank was looking to close 20 branches.

In March, ADCB had declared, “No employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

UAE banks have been hit by government measures to rein in the spread of the virus, forcing many businesses to shut temporarily.

Last week, Dubai’s largest bank, Emirates NBD, reported a slump of 58% in profits. In June, sources told Reuters the bank started a new round of hundreds of lay-offs.

In May, ADCB reported a fall of 84% in first-quarter net profit as it took impairments of $292 million on debt exposure to troubled hospital operator NMC Health and payments group Finablr.

It was a major lender, with an exposure of about $981 million, to NMC Health, which went into administration this year after months of turmoil following questions over financial reporting.

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Agencies
May 31,2020

Riyadh, May 31: Over 90,000 mosques in Saudi Arabia reopened their doors to worshippers on Sunday morning after over a two-month closure as part of an ease in the curfew restrictions to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The worshipers were allowed to enter the mosques, except the mosques in Makkah, from Fajr prayers today morning (Shawwal 8) with a limit of 40 per cent capacity.

The reopening of mosques was be undertaken in accordance with the guidance of Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr Abdullatif Al Asheikh, and in line with advice issued by the Senior Council of Ulemas.

The ministry has embarked on a vigorous media campaign to urge all worshippers to abide by preventive measures for their own safety to curb the spread of Covid-19.Among the instructions are doing ablution at home, hand-washing and using sanitisers before going out to the mosque and after coming back home.

On Saturday, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has approved opening the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah in stages to the public.

The elderly and those with chronic diseases are advised to perform their prayers at home. Reading and reciting the Holy Quran online is advised, too, from one's own mobile phone or at least reading from a privately owned copy of the Holy Quran.

Bringing one's prayer mat to perform prayers in mosques is highly recommended as well as keeping a two-metre distance between one another prayer.

Accompanying children under the age of 15 to the mosques is prohibited. Putting on a face mask and avoiding shaking hands and other contact is also recommended.

Meanwhile, the ministry managed, during the closure of mosques, to undertaking a massive cleaning, sanitising and maintenance drive in all mosques Kingdom-wide, according to world-class standards and best known practices. This included sanitising over 10 million mosques, 43 million copies of several sizes and volumes of the Quran, more than 600,000 Holy Quran cupboards, in addition to repairing and maintaining about 176,000

water closets, annexed to mosques.

 

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News Network
January 12,2020

Dubai, Jan 12: Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco announced Sunday that its initial public offering raised a record $29.4 billion, a figure higher than previously announced, after the company used a so-called "greenshoe option" to sell millions more shares to meet investor demand.

The company said that the sale of an additional 450 million shares took place during the initial public offering process.

The oil and gas company, which is majority owned by the state, began publicly trading on the local Saudi Tadawul exchange on December 11. It hit hit upwards of $10 a share on the second day of trading. This gave Aramco a market capitalization of $2 trillion, making it comfortably the world's most valuable company.

Aramco's additional sales mean the company has publicly floated 1.7% of its shares. It's IPO, even before the added sales, was the world's largest ever.

The shares sold in the over-allotment option "had been allocated to investors during the book-building process and therefore, no additional shares are being offered into the market today," Aramco said.

Company shares traded down on Sunday, dipping to around 34.7 riyals, or $9.25 a share, amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf between Iran and the United States. Aramco was a target of rising tensions over the summer when a missile and drone attack, which Saudi Arabia and the US blame on Iran, temporarily halved its production.

Sunday's trading figures value Aramco at $1.85 trillion, still well ahead of Apple, the second largest company in the world after Aramco, but below the $2 trillion mark sought by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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