More than 400 eminent personalities from the sciences, environment, government and business communities around the world attended the 2008 Rolex Awards for Enterprise prize-giving ceremony in Dubai last week. The awards ceremony, traditionally held in world capitals including New York, Paris, Singapore and Geneva, was held in the Middle East for the first time. Among the five 2008 Rolex Awards Laureates named during the ceremony was the first Middle East Laureate in the program's 32-year history: Talal Akasheh, a chemistry professor from Jordan, who is working to preserve the ancient city of Petra. Seen in photo, from left, Wolfgang Amadeus Bruelhart, Swiss Ambassador to the UAE; Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, UAE Minister of Environment and Water; Abdul Hamied Seddiqi of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons; and Patrick Heiniger, chief executive officer of Rolex SA.
