Emirates NBD Managers Graduate from U21Global

Dubai, UAE, 23rd November, 2008 - U21Global, the world's premier online graduate school, today graduated students from the first in a series of customised management development programmes for Emirates NBD, the region's largest banking group by assets.

The seven-month customised blended course for managers of Emirates NBD was designed to provide learning with immediate real-world business application. Launched in the first quarter of 2008, the programme blended virtual classroom "webinars" with face-to-face sessions led by U21Global professors.

A Certificate in Management (CIM) was awarded to participants during a graduation ceremony held at the Sheraton Deira Hotel Dubai. The programme facilitated the learning of advanced management skills across various business areas and functions. Participants also gained knowledge to help them further develop strategic relationships with customers around the world.

The graduates were the first batch of Emirates NBD managers to undergo the course, with two more batches set to start in 2009.

"The regional banking environment has only become more competitive since we started this course seven months ago. At Emirates NBD, we are committed to the career development of our staff members, providing them with international courses that enable them to better perform in their duties. We found U21Global's programme to be instrumental in enhancing the leadership, decision-making and interpersonal skills that enable our managers to bring out the best in their teams," said Husam Al Sayed, General Manager Human Resources at Emirates NBD.

Dr. Ramakrishna Movva, Head, Strategic HR and Organisation Capabilities at Emirates NBD, added, "We had very clear objectives for this course that were exceeded by wide margins and delivered a return on investment far beyond our expectations. In particular, our managers who participated in the programme praised the value of the blended format, the immense flexibility it provided and the learning outcomes which have demonstrated real-time applicability."

The course drew on the international resources of U21Global, while keeping it grounded in a real-world business context. Alongside carefully selecting study materials and assignments chosen to address the unique business requirements of Emirates NBD, the course included individual and team assignments, a reflective and integrative final project, online webinars and face-to-face sessions.

Nick Hutton, CEO of U21Global, said, "We design bespoke programmes with the needs of individual corporates in mind - needs that include the delivery of immediate benefits through enhanced management skills, and minimal time away from their job responsibilities. What's more, by customising the course to each company's requirements, we better enable the achievement of the organisation's strategic business objectives."

"Our blended format achieves these aims by providing the right mix of face-to-face and virtual interactions with world-class professors, fellow students and relevant media-rich coursework," Nick Hutton added.

The graduation ceremony was attended by Rick Pudner, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates NBD; Dr. Ramakrishna Movva; Dr. Nelson D'Souza; Nick Hutton; Vikram Tah, Managing Director of U21Global in the Middle East, Africa and Pakistan; CIM graduates; their family, and friends.

One important aspect of blended programmes is that they reflect the modern global work environment, where teams of disparately located employees work together virtually on a variety of real-life projects.

The Emirates NBD Certificate in Management course increased participants' abilities to gain and use knowledge, improved communication skills and enhanced problem-defining and problem-solving abilities.

The flexible online portion of the class helped participants deepen their understanding of the topic, collaborate with other participants, interact with the teaching faculty and reflect on specific concepts and ideas scheduled for each module. This was complemented by classroom sessions that involved case-analysis facilitation by U21Global faculty members from different parts of the globe.

Since its launch in 2003, U21Global has partnered with leading private- and public-sector companies to deliver customised executive education programmes to their employees. These include Wipro, IBM, Tata Motors, Citibank, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Satyam Computer Services, Aditya Birla Group.

About U21Global
Established in 2001, U21Global is the world's premier online Graduate School that offers globally recognised graduate programmes. The graduate school is backed by an international network of leading research-intensive universities in 11 countries. U21Global combines the traditional quality of its founders with innovative modes of delivery on the Internet, providing students with substantial learning advantages, while balancing work, travel and family life.

U21Global has successfully enrolled students from 60 countries around the world including those from Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The graduate programmes draw upon the best practices in online learning and pedagogy and have been approved by U21pedagogica, an independent quality assurance body which ensures that the curriculum meets the rigorous academic standards of all the affiliated universities. For more information on U21Global, please visit our campus at www.u21global.edu.sg

U21Global's affiliated universities include: North America: Tecnológico de Monterrey, University of Virginia; Europe: Lund University; University College Dublin, University of Birmingham, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Nottingham; Asia: Fudan University, Korea University, National University of Singapore, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Delhi, University of Hong Kong, Waseda University; Australia : University of Melbourne, University of Queensland.

About Emirates NBD
Emirates NBD (DFM: ENBD) is the biggest banking group in the Middle East by assets and the biggest banking group in the UAE by market capitalization. At 30th September 2008 total assets were AED 285.3 billion.

The Group has a leading retail banking franchise in the UAE, with over 115 branches and over 514 ATMs. It is a major player in the UAE corporate banking arena, with a combined market share of almost a fifth of corporate loans. It also has strong Islamic banking, investment banking, private banking, asset management and brokerage operations.

The Group has operations in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom and Jersey (Channel Islands), and representative offices in India, Iran and Singapore.