The UAE Ministry of Economy today (May 25, 2016) held an unique media briefing to talk about customer security and the Ministry's preparations for the coming Holy Month of Ramadan. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, was held at the Ministry's workplace in Abu Dhabi and was chaired by Dr. Hashim Saeed Al Nuaimi, Director of Consumer Protection Department.

The briefing highlighted the most recent directives of the Supreme Committee for Consumer Protection, which is chaired by Minister Al Mansouri. The Ministry likewise discussed operational measures and its scheduled activities for Ramadan. Dr. Nuaimi talked about the Ministry's continuing efforts to ensure consumer protection throughout the Holy Month, which includes several key measures and preparationed activities in order to assist achieve its goals of allowing appropriate company practices and ensuring consumer protection in UAE.

Dr. Nuami shared that the Ministry has performed more than 55 meetings with numerous suppliers of vital food products like rice, oil, flour, milk, fruits and veggies-- urging them to preserve sufficient stock of their items as the celebrations for the Holy Month of Ramadan normally drives in an enhanced demand for these products. He also cited the role of regional cooperative societies and hypermarkets and their efforts to preserve and control the rates of over 4,000 consumer products during the year.

Al-Nuaimi said that the day-to-day import of Dubai alone will reach 18 thousand tons in the Holy Month of Ramadan, while Abu Dhabi's providers' imports will reach 4000 loads daily. He explained that such increase comes as a result of the Ministry's request to raise the level of imports by at least 30 per cent during the holy month to make sure the accessibility of supply and keep the price level.

Dr. Nuaimi also expressed the Ministry's commitment towards enhancing the level of customer awareness in the UAE-- making individuals more aware of their rights as a consumer and to teach positive buying practices. He added that the Ministry of Economy will continue in conducting field assessments across the country, discussing that there were 2911 evaluation visits for the very first quarter of 2016 and will be performing 400 assessment visits for the Holy Month of Ramadan alone. The move reflects the Ministry's goal of guaranteeing customer security while aiming to check if retail facilities remain in adherence with set customer laws, requirements and standards.

Dr. Nuaimi pointed out that the Ministry of Economy is keen to communicate with customers and can get complaints, tips and feedback through its Consumer Protection Call Centre, which can be contacted at 600-522-225. He included that from the beginning of this year until May 22, 2016, the call centre got 7957 complaints that were categorized into 9 classifications-- price increase, cars, electronics, phones, furniture, spare parts and tires, real estate, credit cards and others.

Dr. Nuaimi discussed that the Ministry of Economy has actually introduced a set of smart services to ensure new platforms of interactions with customers through applications for mobile phones and tablets, such as the Re-call service, the Consumer Complaints service and Price Increasing Request service.