Under the patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in the presence of Sheikh Omar Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the U.A.E. President's Aide de Camp, INSEAD, the leading international business school, today inaugurated its campus in Abu Dhabi with an official ceremony and witnessed the graduation ceremony of the Masters in Entrepreneurial Leadership. The programme was exclusively developed for members of the Centre of Excellence of the, General Secretariat of the Executive Council, through a strategic partnership between INSEAD and the Centre.
Following the inauguration and unveiling of the plaque, Sheikh Omar Bin Zayed Al Nahyan toured part of the 14- storey campus building on Muroor Street, which includes five floors of offices, three amphitheatres, five meeting rooms, two conference rooms, one floor of study rooms, a library, restaurant and Majlis.
The event also included INSEAD's first graduation ceremony of participants on the Middle East campus. Sheikh Omar Bin Zayed Al Nahyan took part in the graduation ceremony where seventeen Emirati participants graduated from the Masters in Entrepreneurial Leadership programme, a highly selective 14-week course over a 15 month period, designed to develop the capability of Abu Dhabi government executives to lead entrepreneurial initiatives. This a reflection of Abu Dhabi's commitment to nurture national talent.
Dignitaries including the French Ambassador, Alain Azouaou, along with over 100 officials attended the event to mark INSEAD's presence in the Middle East and celebrate its continued investment to develop business education in the region.
Following the official inauguration, INSEAD's Dean J. Frank Brown and Honourary Chairman of the INSEAD Board Claude Janssen delivered opening remarks.
"The inauguration of INSEAD's campus in Abu Dhabi coincides with an important milestone in INSEAD's history as we also celebrate our 50th anniversary as the business school for the world. We are grateful to the Abu Dhabi government for their continued support of our development of our third campus," said J. Frank Brown, Dean of INSEAD.
Peter Jadersten, Executive Director of INSEAD's Abu Dhabi Campus, added: "Abu Dhabi is playing a major role in the world economy, and is continuing its efforts to emerge as a regional educational and cultural hub. INSEAD is contributing to the implementation of the vision of Abu Dhabi's leadership, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces of developing the potential of the region. INSEAD is committed to developing business education across the Middle East, offering insights into advanced managerial ideas and worldwide business practices in one of the fastest growing and exciting geographies of the world."
INSEAD established its presence in the Middle East in 2007 with the opening of the Centre for Executive Education and Research. The opening of the Centre was supported by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) to foster business education in the Middle East. Since its inception three years ago, the Centre evolved into a Campus to include resident faculty, a case development centre and several global research initiatives.
"INSEAD was one of the first international, higher education providers to commit to the Abu Dhabi Government's plans of attracting the best institutions in the world to Abu Dhabi. It is bringing students from across the region to Abu Dhabi for the highest quality educational and cultural experiences," said H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Director General at ADEC. "ADEC congratulates INSEAD on the opening of its new campus and we look forward to continuing to work with INSEAD as partners in creating a global education hub in Abu Dhabi and an education system that will develop our emirate into an education based, knowledge -producing society," he added.
In October 2010, INSEAD will launch the first Middle East section of its Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) programme. INSEAD's GEMBA in Abu Dhabi offers the opportunity for those based in the region to study in the UAE's Capital.
The inauguration of INSEAD's Abu Dhabi campus also marks the launch of Knowledge Arabia, a content platform in Arabic designed to showcase leading-edge business research with articles and video interviews and highlights of the latest management thinking and trends with an emphasis on practical solutions. In addition to Arabic, INSEAD Knowledge also has English and Chinese editions.
