Berlin, 21 September 2010

 The United Arab Emirates (UAE), the
International Union of Railways (UIC) and the association of the
European Rail Industry (UNIFE) signed today a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to foster collaboration and exchange of
information in the railway field.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Dr. Nasser Saif Al Mansoori,
Director General of the National Transport Authority, on behalf of the
UAE, Mr Michael Clausecker, Director General of UNIFE, and Mr
Loubinoux, Director General of UIC. The signature took place at the
occasion of Innotrans, the world’s largest fair for rail transport
technologies.

Commenting on the signature, HE Dr. Nasser Saif Al Mansoori stated that
“This MoU is an important step in the development of our National
railways. Europe has a long-standing history of railway capability and such
agreement will be extremely helpful for our emerging industry. Our
objective is to establish collaborative working relationship with European
Railway Authorites and Railway Industry Leaders and aim to bring most
advanced and efficient rail technology to the UAE”.
Michael Clausecker, UNIFE Director General, commented “As compared to
the existing alternatives, the European rail standardisation system may
bring considerable benefits to countries building new railway networks.
We hope that this MoU will be the beginning of a long history of
cooperation with the UAE”.

On behalf of the UIC, Director General Jean-Pierre Loubinoux highlighted
the significance of this step “the UIC views the signing of this MoU with the
UAE as an important part of the UIC overall objectives of spreading good
industry practice and implement tried-and-tested international Standards
globally. The UIC is a recognised world leader in the development of
Railway Industry Standards and codes of practice. With our role as a
supporter of the development of key infrastructure projects in all of the
UIC’s 6 regions, the signing of this MoU will act as a very solid bridge
between the European and Middle Eastern regions including the Arabian
Gulf”.
The MoU foresees in particular some exchange of information on railway
standards; cooperations on issues of general interest such as rail
regulations, safety, R&D; and the organisation of regular seminars. It is
signed for a period of two years.

About the NTA
The National Transport Authority is the UAE Federal Government body that is
responsible for the Land and Maritime transport sectors in the UAE. The NTA was
established by Federal Government Law in 2006 and it is the competent authority
that undertakes transport activities as entrusted to it by the UAE Cabinet.
The NTA core business activities include Creation of Transportation Policies,
Prepare Transportation legislations and Acts, Produce Regulations for Roads, Rail
and Maritime, enforcement of Transport Regulations including licensing, monitor
transport policy instruments and their effectiveness, provide regular reports to
Federal Government Cabinet, Benchmark transport best practice & International
Standards, development of railway national standards, interoperability standards
and their harmonisation across the UAE and cross border with other GCC
countries, develop National transportation plans and Represent the UAE
Government locally, regionally and internationally.

website: www.nta.gov.ae

About UNIFE

UNIFE represents the European Rail Industry in Brussels since 1992. The
Association gathers 73 of Europe’s leading large and medium-sized rail supply
companies active in the design, manufacture, maintenance and refurbishment of
rail transport systems, subsystems and related equipment. A further one
thousand suppliers of railway equipment partake in UNIFE activities through 15
national rail industry associations. UNIFE members have an 80% market share in
Europe and supply more than 50% of the worldwide production of rail equipment
and services.

UNIFE represents its members’ interests at the level of both European and
international institutions. On the technical side, UNIFE works on the setting of
interoperability standards and coordinates EU-funded research projects that aim
at the technical harmonisation of railway systems. The association is one of the
supporting bodies of the European Railway Agency. UNIFE. Promote rail market
growth for sustainable mobility.

www.unife.org

About UIC

The International Union of Railways (UIC) is the international professional
association representing the rail sector. UIC currently counts 200 members across
five continents. Its mandate is to promote the growth of rail transport across the
world and to encourage and organise international cooperation between its
members. UIC’s technical departments draw their lead from the strategies
defined by the members of its specialist forums and platforms, and steer or
coordinate a total of circa 200 projects in the field of international cooperation,
covering all aspects of rail activities: rail system technology, passenger and freight
transport, research, safety and security, sustainable development and the
development of skills and expertise.

A significant share of UIC’s work consists of strengthening the coherence of the
rail system as a whole and its international interoperability, as well as boosting
the competitiveness of both passenger and freight transport services. The aim is
to enable rail transport to meet current challenges of mobility and sustainable
development as effectively as possible. You can find more information on:
www.uic.org