Mr. Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties PJSC, the global developer of iconic projects, has been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gulf Business Industry Awards 2014, held in Dubai on Monday.

Mr. Alabbar received the honour from Ms Arlene Foster, Britains Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, at a glittering ceremony that also recognised UAEs industry leaders across diverse business sectors.

Congratulating the winners of the Gulf Business Industry Awards, Mr. Alabbar said: From family-owned business leaders to innovative entrepreneurs, the profiles of the winners reflect the diversity of Dubais business sector. It also highlights how our city supports entrepreneurship and offers a strong growth environment, which is underlined by the evolution of Emaar as a National Champion company of Dubai.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has been the inspiration and guiding force in our growth journey. The can-do attitude he instilled helped us to achieve what others perceived as impossible. Our iconic projects such as Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest building, and The Dubai Mall, the worlds most visited retail and lifestyle destination, are today the civic pride of our nation.

Mr. Alabbar said that Emaar is moving into the next era of growth with the listing of Emaar Malls Group, which is one of the largest public offerings in the region. We were one of the first companies to be listed on the Dubai Financial Market in 2000, and now we are setting another milestone with a truly international IPO by a Dubai-based company through a book-building process.

He dedicated the award to the continued support of Emaars shareholders and home-owners, and to the team at Emaar for their determination to make things happen even in the face of challenges. We will continue to focus on creating long-term value for our stakeholders by focusing on our core competencies of developing prime real estate assets, business segmentation and geographic expansion.

Mr. Alabbar had earlier won the Arab Bankers Association of North America Achievement Award in 2012, and was also honoured as the Businessman of the Year 2012 and Visionary of the Year Award at the Arabian Business Achievement Awards in 2013. Ranked second in the list of the Worlds 100 Most Powerful Arabs Leaders 2014 by Arabian Business, the leading regional business magazine, Mr. Alabbar has been named as the Middle East Personality of the Year, by FDi magazine, published by the Financial Times Group.

A global entrepreneur with active interests in high-value property development, retail, luxury hospitality, mining and commodities in international markets, Mr. Alabbar is a member of the Dubai World Expo 2020 Preparatory Committee. He was the founding Director General of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED), and served as a member of the Dubai Executive Council and Dubai Economic Council.