DUBAL rewards another 19 long-serving employees

Dubai Aluminium, DUBAL, the state-owned corporation that is home to the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter using pre-bake anode technology, honoured a group of 19 employees, each of whom joined the company in 1987, at a formal dinner held at Armani Hotel Ballroom, Burj Khalifa, on 13 November 2012. The celebrants received certificates and gifts from DUBAL in appreciation of their dedicated 25 years’ service to the company. 

This year’s ceremony was the ninth of its kind, having been instituted in 2004 coincident with the 25^th anniversary of DUBAL’s commissioning in 1979. To date, a total of 435 employees have achieved their quarter century service milestone; while more than 150 employees have celebrated 30 years’ service at DUBAL. 

Paying tribute to the entire group during the award ceremony, Abdulla Kalban (President & CEO) said, “Everyone receiving a 25-year service award tonight has many personal achievements that have contributed to the success of our company. In 1987, when they joined us, DUBAL was in its eighth year of operations and celebrated its one millionth metric tonne of aluminium products. Over the 25 years since then, DUBAL’s production capacity has expanded from approximately 150,000 metric tonnes a year to more than one million metric tonnes a year. Today, DUBAL has 1,573 reduction cells – that’s 4.35 times as many reduction cells as at our company’s inception; yet we produce 6.7 times as much aluminium each year. This is attributable to the value added by our people, whose innovative abilities and dedicated efforts enable continuous improvement.”

Established to diversify Dubai’s economy by adding value to its oil-rich energy resources, DUBAL represents the fulfilment of the vision of H H the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, under the direction of the company’s Chairman – H H Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance. Today, the company is the UAE’s industrial flagship and one of the world’s most successful aluminium smelters. Its highest quality metal is internationally renowned and sought after for applications ranging from construction through the automotive industry to the electronics and aerospace sectors. The company’s reputation for excellence in advancing reduction cell technologies, together with its expertise in the aluminium industry, is also growing worldwide. 

Widely regarded as an employer of choice, DUBAL won the 2003 Dubai Human Resources Award; the 2006 Dubai Human Resources Award – GOLD; and the 2010 Dubai Human Development Award. The citation for the latter commended DUBAL in particular for the company’s business model that drives the national goal of empowering Emirati talent. The proportion of UAE Nationals among DUBAL’s total workforce of around 3,800 employees was 15.7 per cent (as at end-June 2012). The proportional UAE National representation at senior management level is above 65 per cent. Both demographics are far higher than the industry average in Dubai of 4 per cent.