(Dubai, United Arab Emirates) -
March 18th, 2001 -The prestigious Emirates Towers Hotel played host to the inaugural Banker Middle East Country Awards for the UAE. Attended by Mr. Anis Jallaf, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Bank Group, and the cream of the UAE banking sector, this high profile evening was held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan who presented the awards to the winning banks.
His Excellency Sheikh Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan, patron of the Banker Middle East Awards said, "The banks in the United Arab Emirates have done a fantastic job of serving their local customer's needs. It is with much pleasure that I can help recognise those efforts by presenting these awards to the leaders in the industry".
In line with its aim of becoming the Middle Eastern voice for the banking industry, Banker Middle East launched these awards with the intent of acknowledging and rewarding those banking institutions who displayed a penchant for strong management and leadership; who are known for their clear client focus; and who deliver extraordinary client service.
Dominic De Sousa, publisher and editor in chief, Banker Middle East Magazine said, "The only way to identify these people was to ask the consumer. So Banker Middle East undertook a comprehensive survey utilising their sister publications as well as their own on-line presence. This resulted in seven banks being rewarded for their commitment to raising the standard of Banking in the region".
The awards, sponsored by banking technology solution provider Unisys, had special recognition for E-services and technical innovation. Mr Dick Tilley, country manager AEME for Unisys said, "Unisys are proud to be associated with the Banker Awards. Half of the world's cheques are processed by Unisys systems and more than 2,200 financial institutes rely on Unisys e-@action Financial Solutions - including some of the winners tonight. We would like to add our congratulations to all of tonight's winners".
The award winner for the Best Retail Bank in the UAE for 2001 is Emirates Bank Group, Mr. Anis Al Jallaf, Managing Director and CEO, received the award of the Bank.
Mr De Sousa summed up the awards by saying, "The standard has been set and next years awards will certainly match this high-powered event, in what is set to be a permanent fixture on the banking sectors calendar." This gala event drew together the best of the UAE banking industry highlighting the rapid development of Middle East banking not just in technological advances or expansion in number of services across the banking spectrum, but in good old fashion face to face, customer service. The building block upon which all pillars of success are built and Banker Middle East the voice of Middle East banking will be there to herald the successes.
