Dubai, UAE, 23 September 2018: Eurovent Middle East hosted an event to celebrate its newly-received business licence, as a non-profit and independent organisation, from the Dubai Association Centre (DAC), on September 23. During the opening address, Brian Suggitt, Chairman, Eurovent Middle East, said: “Today, is the official acceptance of our licence and this means that we have to over-achieve. We cannot stand still and must look forward and must do so by taking the right steps.” He further went on to appreciate and thank the people responsible for the organisation’s achievement, giving special mention to the Dubai Chamber and Association Centre. As members of the association, he said, we have a responsibility to improve the state of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), while working towards energy efficiency.

Eurovent Middle East receives business licence

Representing the DAC was Steen Jakobson, Assistant Vice President, Dubai Events and City Operations, Member of the executive board of the DAC. He said, “Dubai is on a fast trajectory to what is becoming a full knowledge economy and, to support the growth of the association community, we have the Dubai Association Centre, which is the one-stop-shop offering support to associations by providing licences.” Jakobson added that, with nearly 60 registered associations across multiple industry sectors, Eurovent Middle East is its latest addition. “We look forward to supporting you in continued growth in Dubai and in the Middle East and will do the best we can to extend our full support towards the organisation,” he said. The licence was received by Brian Suggitt, after which Markus Lattner, Director, Eurovent Middle East, took the podium to give an overview of where the association stands. Lattner said, “Eurovent Middle East is an association which is global, local and regional and I am happy to be here today and have the licence in place.” Highlighting the need for a local understanding of the necessities in the region, he said, “We want to work together with the authorities to develop a certain kind of surveillance system, which will  improve the level of quality in the market.” Elaborating, he said, that the association will try and be the mediator between the authorities and the industry.

Roudha Bin Bahr

Naveen Sivakumar, Head of Marketing, Danfoss, then gave a quick introduction to Emirati young achiever, Roudha Bin Bahr, who was awarded the first honorary membership of Eurovent Middle East, for her effort to educate and increase the contribution of young minds to the refrigeration industry. Bin Bahr said, “I would like to thank Eurovent Middle East for having me as a member, to help raise awareness among students, in universities and schools, about refrigeration.” She believes that there is a need for Emiratis to learn refrigeration, as it is a necessity in the Middle East. She added, “This is an interesting field and if it is introduced to minds that are young and willing to learn, it will make a big difference.”