The Department of Economic Development in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK DED) has signed a MoU with the Anti-Smoking International Alliance, for encouraging community involvement and cooperation to achieve common interests with the government and eliminate society’s harmful behaviours like smoking
The agreement was signed by Dr Abdulrahman Alshayeb Alnaqbi, general director of RAK DED, and Dr Abdul Salam Al Madani, chairman of the Anti-Smoking International Alliance, in presence of a number of officials and representatives from both sides.
Under the agreement, a number of initiatives and campaigns will be conducted aiming to consolidate good values and good citizenship among society. In addition, it will also focus on changing prevalent bad habits in society that encourage smoking.
The initiative further aims to strengthen the role of RAK DED to enhance its efforts to combat smoking and protect society from the diseases resulted from it, thus helping to stop wasting large sums of money while treating those diseases.
RAK DED has adopted a number of programs and initiatives that encourages social responsibility among business communities, which is In line with the UAE’s vision to create an active social responsibility base and achieve sustainable development.
Commenting on the agreement, Alnaqbi said, “We aim to create a healthy business environment among corporate in Ras Al Khaimah, therefore, we have also placed the logo of the Anti-Smoking Alliance on all documents printed inside RAK DED. We are trying to spread this culture among business communities in the emirate in addition to launching a number of awareness campaigns that support this initiative.”
Al Madani commented, “This initiative is the first of its kind in the world that comes from a business entity, and it is a unique opportunity to spread awareness about the disadvantages of smoking across business community.”
He further spoke about the importance of spreading awareness and support to the coming generations while educating them about the risk of smoking. “We will grant free membership to all licenses issued by RAK DED in order to encourage them to continue in this endeavour and to help them commit to a healthy behaviour for a better and successful working environment,” he concluded.
