Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group welcomed a group of ten graduates from Columbia University at the Al Habtoor Group head office on Al Wasl Road on Wednesday January 7, 2015. The students, from the construction management program at Columbia in the City of New York, got the opportunity to ask the Al Habtoor Group Chairman about many aspects of his business and the UAE economy. The course is considered one of Columbia’s most prestigious programs. The course teaches managerial aspects of contracting and the study of an individual firm in relation to the entire construction industry.
The students, who were selected for the trip, were accompanied by Lecturer Ibrahim S. Odeh, Director, Global Leaders in Construction Management - Research Group. The students are considered potential future leaders in the construction industry. They are studying several international markets outside the US, including the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, China and Panama.
Al Habtoor said, “It was a pleasure to meet the graduates. They are the future and it is good for them to see the pioneering spirit of the UAE. The UAE has turned itself from desert land to a sprawling metropolis in just 43 years, with some of the most impressive architecture in the world.”
The graduates also met senior executives from the Al Habtoor Group, and got the chance to see the Group’s Al Habtoor City project, currently under construction. Al Habtoor City, due to start opening later this year, incorporates three five-star hotels, three high-rise residential towers on one plot alongside the Dubai Water Canal, as well as the region’s first Franco Dragone Entertainment Group theatrical production exclusively choreographed for the City.
Also present from the Al Habtoor Group were Yusef Shalabi, Technical Advisor to the Chairman; Mr. Martyn Wild, Director of Architecture; Mr. Yahya Harfoush Project Director; Mr. Ramanathan, Director Corporate Governance and Risk Management; and Sunder Iyer, Director of Operations & Development.