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Dubai 2003 ensures true Arab hospitality

The meetings will take place this month at the Dubai International Convention Centre (DICC).

Dubai 2003 partner, Masafi, will supply over 650,000 litres of water and close to 100,000 litres of juices, apart from 750 kilos of chocolate and 20,000 kilos of ice.

Even then not to fall short, the catering arm of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has ordered another 25,000 litres of beverages.

Dubai 2003 has entrusted the gargantuan task of handling on-site catering at the DICC to the hospitality arm of DWTC.

All this is not counting the copious amounts of tea or coffee that would be consumed during the Annual Meetings - or the amount of milk that will be used for food preparations.

"We want to make sure that there is not even one participant who did not have the experience of his or her life while in Dubai. We, as Arabs, are known for our hospitality and we have gone to extreme lengths and to great detail to enhance the Dubai experience for the participants," said Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Head of Dubai 2003 Venue & Facilities Committee.

"As many as 400 employees of the Dubai World Trade Centre's catering arm will be working 4,000 man hours every day to serve up the gastronomic fare for the forthcoming Annual Meetings from September 18-25," said Ahmed bin Hareb, DWTC General Manager Hospitality.

And what would the participants have for breakfast? About 17,600 croissants of various kinds and 13,500 varieties of Danish pastries, apart from the thousands of kilos of assorted breakfast items have been ordered.

"Even from these vast amounts of food that have been ordered so far, one cannot even begin to explain or describe the diversity of foodstuffs that is being bought for the event. These range from 15,000 kilos of Maamoul and 240 kilos of raspberry puree to 125 litres of glucose syrup or 360 kilos of Tiramisu," said Bin Hareb.For food preparation, 1,440 litres of corn oil, another 1,400 litres of frying oil and 750 litres of olive oil have been ordered in addition to 5,000 kilos of flour, 180 kilos of noodles, 2,500 kilos of sugar and 96 kilos of salt, in addition to items like, 800 kilos of Tahina or 120 kilos of yeast. For the main meals, the amounts are enormous. More than 7,100 kilos of chicken will be bought along with 2,800 kilos of fish, 1,250 kilos of beef and 2,200 kilos of lamb. All this will be accompanied by 1,400 kilos of rice and 840 kilos of potatoes. Bin Hareb pointed out that all this food is limited to what will be served at only the Dubai International Convention Centre, venue of the Annual Meetings.

"There will, of course, be several associated or related events taking place throughout the city at various hotels and resorts where extra quantities of food and beverages would be consumed." Bin Hareb said while referring to the benefit this amount of purchasing will bring to the local economy's food and hospitality sector.