DUBAI: The newly appointed chairman of the debt-laden Dubai World group, which secured a debt-restructuring deal in September, renewed Monday the company's pledge to meet its debt obligations. "Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum has stressed the commitment of the board to follow a process that would strengthen the company's performance... and its financial status to enhance its ability to meet its financial and contractual commitments," a company statement said. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, had named last week a new board for the emirate's largest group, headed by his uncle Sheikh Ahmed, who is also the chairman of Emirates Airline, and of Dubai Airports. Sheikh Ahmed also heads the Supreme Fiscal Committee, tasked with combating the emirate's debt crisis which emerged in the wake of the global financial crisis that pushed Dubai's rapidly-growing economy into recession last year. Other members of the committee which oversaw the debt restructuring process of Dubai World have also been named to its board. These include Mohammed Al-Shaibani, who heads the rulers court and the Investment Corporation of Dubai, Ahmed Al-Tayer, the governor of the Dubai International Financial Center, and the Dubai finance director Abdulrahman Al-Saleh. The group had sent jitters throughout the global financial markets when it announced in November last year that it needed to freeze debt payments. It has since reached a deal to restructure about $24.9 billion, with banks agreeing to reschedule around $14.4 billion of debts over five and eight years. The deal averted a distress sale of it wide range of foreign assets. – Agence France
