HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman of the Emirates Group, could hardly contain his pride for Dubai as he welcomed FIATA members to the 2007 World Congress. “If you want to know how hard I work, come to my house.”

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed flaunted Dubai’s hard work with a parade of statistics – in 2006, for example, DP World handled 40 million TEU’s and Emirates Airlines hosted 7.5 million passengers on 2,350 flights a week to 94 destinations.

Ali Khalfan Saleh Al Jallaf, Vice President of the Cargo Unit at Dubai Cargo Village and Chairman of the Dubai Host Committee for the 2007 FIATA World Congress described the emirates as “the business center of the world.”

And Al Jallaf’s fellow committee member Capt. Mansoor Y A Ghafoor described Dubai as “ a place that never sleeps.”

Ghafoor stressed that Dubai has no plan to sleep and will only continue to grow. He cited the emirate’s security, direct connections and linkage, ease of detting up business, skilled workforce and open policies as factors that will keep business coming. “ Dubai,” he said, “has all the key ingredients for a successful logsitics hub.”

H.H. Sheikh Ahmed invited the conference back to Dubai. He promised that Dubai Logistics City will be operational within two years, offering a full renue for the 2009 FIATA World Congress. “Imagine Dubai in 2009,” he told the crowd. The possibility is endless.