The ITACET Foundation's Council made the most of the presence of several of its members at the 5th IRF Middle East and North Africa Regional Congress and Exhibition in Dubai to hold a meeting. The meeting took place on October 30th 2017 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

The meeting kicked off with strategic discussions on the Foundation's relationship with the International Tunnelling Association and with ITA Member Nations, covering issues such as the future organization of the traditional World Tunnel Congress training sessions, ITA requests for training sessions in developing countries and the future hosting of the head office of the Foundation at the ITA headquarters.

A recap of the generous donations made to the Foundation was given. For the most part these donations have been made thanks to the Foundation's President, to Herrenknecht and to the ITA.

The 6 successful events organized by the Foundation since its last meeting in March were presented to the Council members:

 - Training session on Principles of Tunnel Design - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 2017

 - International Summit on Utility Tunnels, Chengdu, China, April 2017

 - Training session on Excavation and Support in Soft Ground Condition, World Tunnel Congress, Bergen, Norway, June 2017

 - Training session on Sustainability and Eco-friendly Tunnelling, Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2017

 - Training Session on Risk Management in Tunnelling, Santiago, Chile, September 2017

 - Partner session with IRF on Innovative Perspectives for Efficient Tunnel Operation at the IRF 5th Middle East and North Africa Regional Congress and Exhibition, Dubai, UAE, October 2017.

Events under preparation were then discussed, which include training sessions in China, Bhutan, Mexico, Nigeria, UAE and Brazil and a future international summit in China, similar to the one held in 2017.

The meeting was also the opportunity for the Foundation and the International Road Federation (IRF) to sign a Memorandom of Understanding concerning a joint programme of training sessions to be organized over a three year period (see President's address on the cover page of this issue). It is hoped that this MOU will be the start of a new era for the Foundation and open up the possibility of cooperation with other international organizations.

Communication aspects were also discussed during the Council's meeting, notably the recent efforts made to broaden the outreach of communication on the Foundation's activities via Linkedin.

The next Council meeting is planned in February.

Photo: Left to right - Pat Sankey, (CEO and President of IRF Global), Eng. Abdullah Al-Mogbel (President of the ITACET Foundation and IRF Chairman) and Felix Amberg (the Foundation's Treasurer and Secretary) sign the Memorandum of Understanding between the International Road Federation and the ITACET Foundation.