Dubai Land Department (DLD) has scooped two prestigious awards at Ideas Arabia – Idea of the Year Competition, a major competition held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Airlines. The awards were bestowed at Ideas Arabia International Conference 2014, the 9th edition of the annual scheme, with the department having fought off intense competition from 121 applications to secure top honours.
DLD collected its accolade in the Technology category for its Ejari programme, which it runs through its Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), the regulatory arm of DLD. The department’s Dubai Real Estate Institute (DREI) won the Productivity category, with both awards presented by Dubai Quality Group at a glittering ceremony held at the Palace Hotel, Downtown, Dubai.
"The winning of these two awards is a glowing testament of our staff’s commitment to creative achievement, both locally and on the world stage. It shows that excellence for our department is part of its structure and that we are dedicated to the continuous development of services that we offer to our customers,” said HE Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, Director General of DLD.
RERA’s Ejari programme impressed the judges because of the positive impact it has had on Dubai’s real estate market. The project is the first technical system for rental sector governance in the Middle East and North Africa property markets. It regulates the relationship between landlords and tenants in Dubai based on supply, demand and a rental price index database. The system requires all individuals and companies acting as landlords to register tenancy agreements.
Ejari has achieved many intangible benefits, including improving the UAE’s ranking in the Doing Business Index, the Global Competitiveness Index and the index of Investor Confidence for 2013. The project has also had direct financial benefits, increasing the AED 17 million direct revenue figure of 2011 to AED 73 million in 2013.
DREI, the educational arm of DLD, picked up the Productivity award because of its significant contribution in making Dubai a leading real estate hub, something it was able to attain by developing workers’ skills and ensuring sustainable development. DREI recorded remarkable achievements by adopting global best practices in the field of e-learning and smart education, making it the only such institute in the country accredited by local government.
The statistics that helped DREI secure its award included the training of 15 thousand experts and professionals over the past two years. It also impressed with its record of adopting global best practice in the fields of e-learning, education, smart systems and the documentation of all processes and procedures in accordance with best international standards. The Institute is the first academic organisation in the Middle East to apply intelligent education systems.
DREI is also the first educational real estate institute in the region to hold exchange of knowledge programmes with the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank. It has entered into a partnership strategy for the Sustainable Cities Programme with the UN, placing Dubai firmly on its city list. The Institute’s accomplishments have pushed Dubai to eighth place on the global real estate consultancy’s Prime International Residential Index, as well as placing it as fourth in the world and first in the Middle East and North Africa on the Real Estate Transparency Index.
"Superiority in our operations across DLD, RERA and DREI is the target for all our activities, as this level of performance allows us to effectively apply the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. We can promise our valued customers that there will be plenty more examples of excellence such as these awards in the coming years, especially as the preparations for Expo 2020 gain full momentum,” said Majida Ali Rashid, Assistant Director-General and Director of the Department of Planning and Institutional Development, DLD.