Business & Finance Club - Dubai : Ducab, a leading manufacturer of power cables in the Middle East region, has sponsored a team of six Emirati employees to complete a month-long practices and training course in Perth, Western Australia.

The intiative is part of the company’s long-term investment in developing its UAE national workforce, said a statement from Dubai-based Ducab.

Selected on the basis of their exceptional performance, attitude and commitment, the group was recognized for their demonstrated professionalism with the opportunity to expand their talents at CY O’Connor College of TAFE and at various independent businesses and organizations, remarked Dr Saeed Mohd Al Barwani, general manager of HR and IT at Ducab.

The six employees - Laila Marafi, Amal Bin Ghelaita, Maryam, Al Naqbi, Fahad Khalifa, Abdulrahman Al Mansoori and Aqeel Al Awady -were chosen in recognition of their drive to explore leadership roles within the manufacturing sector and their excellent performance while at the company, he added.

The Australia trainees work in roles from the shop-floor level through to engineers, representing a diversity of internal departments such as QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety & Environment), Manufacturing, Finance, HR, Metals, Technical and Testing, the comoany said in the statement.

The Australia initiative is one of the many sponsorship development initiatives within the company’s National Development Program (NDP), and included a comprehensive curriculum aimed at enhancing technical, business and communication skills of employees.

This included tours of local government, manufacturing and engineering companies around Western Australia, enabling the trainees to gain valuable insight into their chosen industry and use it to promote leadership skills upon their return to the UAE, it added.

Dr Al Barwani said that Ducab’s commitment to attracting local talent had seen a significant increase in the number of UAE nationals among its staff, hence the creation of training initiatives like those in Western Australia.

Founded in 2008, the NDP had its first international posting in Australia during 2009, boosting career prospects for Emiratis at both the experienced and student levels.

“This delegation won’t be the only ones who benefit from the secondment as this unique opportunity to learn about overseas practices and ethics has equipped them with knowledge that can be shared with co-workers back home, contributing to the further development of a talented local workforce and leaders of the future” Al Barwani noted.

“We are fortunate to have many self-motivated individuals in our organization, and this is but one of the ways for us to reward such leadership within our team,” he added.

Ducab is jointly owned by the Governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and has one of the most modern manufacturing units in the region. It occupies an area of 590,000 square meters of land in Jebel Ali, Dubai and nearly 330,000 sq m in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi spread over 2 factories.