The Gulf emirate of Dubai signed a $19-million deal with Germany's Audi A.G. on Sunday, November 25 to provide 250 luxury cars to ferry VIPs around at the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in 2003.
After research on "how to safely and comfortably move the large number of expected senior VIP visitors during the event ... we are proud to partner with Audi A.G.," Ibrahim Belselah, Dubai 2003 general coordinator, told reporters.
But none of the 250 Audi A-8 cars will actually be owned by Dubai 2003, and the luxury sedans will only be in the emirate from September 10 to September 27, 2003 before being moved or sold on, according to Ali Bilaloglu, managing director of Audi A.G. Middle East and Egypt.
Audi, which provided 230 A-8 cars for the last World Bank and IMF annnual meetings in Prague in 1999, will also provide training for the drivers. Belselah, who is likewise Dubai municipality's finance director, expects more than 20,000 people, including around 25 heads of state, to attend the meetings in Dubai, one of seven city states that make up the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai authorities are considering closing schools for the two weeks around the September 23-25, 2003 meetings to help keep Dubai's roads free of traffic. A similar freeze has already been slapped on construction. — (AFP, Dubai)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
