Achievements, Awards and Accolades for Rizwan Sajan Founder & Chairman, Danube Group

Bengaluru, March 19, 2016: Established in the year 1993 in Dubai, Danube Building Materials FZCO has grown from a small trading firm to one of the largest building materials company in the region. The company has in stock more than 15,000 products and value added services in-house, and operates from its head offices in a 285,000 sq. ft. facility in Jafza North and 365,000 sq. ft. area in Jafza south, which both house warehouses, logistics, kiln drying and a factory.

The company operates from its global hubs, including 18 branches in the UAE and over ten locations worldwide, and has recorded revenue figures that crossed AED 1 billion in 2008. The company’s newest investments comprise a manufacturing facility in China, a production plant in

Ajman, a ceiling manufacturing hub in Sharjah, and a steel factory in Oman. In addition, Danube has also made sizable investments within the major sub-sectors of the construction industry, including the UAE steel aluminum and glass markets, and the Bahraini steel market.

Among Danube’s latest expansion initiatives include the AED 75 million ‘BUILDMART’ retail complex in Ras Al Khaimah, which was inaugurated by H. H. Sheikh Omar Bin Saqr Al Qasimi. Offering more than 15,000 different products, Danube’s inaugural retail complex was designed to cater to a diverse target audience including interior designers, consultants and homeowners. Furthermore, all the products in the facility are installed in an actual home set-up, thereby allowing customers a more convenient way to shop for building materials, fixtures and other household items. Shortly after the launch, Danube has also outlined an AED 150 million expansion plan to construct more ‘BUILDMART’ retail complexes across the GCC, with the first phase of the initiative set to materialise in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

As part of a regional expansion plan to address the demand for top-quality materials in the region, the company has also recently opened two new state-hobranchof-the-art facilities in Ajman and Al Quoz, UAE, wherein it invested a total of AED 55 million. The new operations hubs will conveniently bring the widest range of products including wood, steel, glass, aluminium, hardware, sanitary, ceiling and flooring closer to local and regional customers. Over AED 200 million has also been allocated for new projects in Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Techno Park in Jebel Ali, Dubai, with eighty percent of the implementation already completed.

With a team of 900 people working from strategic locations in Jebel Ali, Deira, Sharjah, Ajman, Abu Dhabi and Muscat, the company has been a part of the most prestigious projects of leading developer such as Emaar, Nakheel and Arabtec. This includes Emirates Hills, Burj Al Arab, Shangri-La Hotel, Grand Hyatt, and a private palace in Muscat.

Danube also launches an ecommerce business called www.danubedirect.com. The business focuses on providing furniture, electronics and fashion /lifestyle products online directly from manufacturers and distributor directly with free delivery anywhere in UAE.

Danube Building Materials was recently named among the ‘UAE’s Top 20 Performers for 2008’ at a ceremony held on March 31, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai. The list of top companies included industry leaders within the UAE who were identified by ‘Newsweek Arabic Edition’ to have successfully upheld their corporate objectives while making significant contribution to the overall progress of the UAE.

Rizwan Sajan Founder & Chairman, Danube Group

The Danube Group was founded and established by Mr. Rizwan Sajan in 1993. Over the last 22 years, the group has come a long way since its humble beginnings of a small trading shop in Deira to being the region’s leader in construction, building materials, home interiors and shop fitting industries.

Achievements, Awards and Accolades: In recognition of Mr. Rizwan Sajan’s leadership skills and abilities, he has been awarded top honours by some of the region’s prestigious award bodies.

Forbes Middle East honored Mr. Rizwan Sajan by ranking him at 12^th position among the Top 100 Indian Leaders in the UAE in 2015, Visionary of the Year 2012, Asian Young Achievers Award, ‘Most Admired Retail Professional of the Year 2011’ Award, ‘Businessman of the Year’ in 2010

That’s not all, under the guidance of Mr. Rizwan Sajan, Danube Group has joined Dubai Metro’s corporate

bandwagon reinforcing its presence in the UAE where Danube has obtained Dubai Metro Naming Rights Project launched by the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), the Jebel Ali Industrial Station, which is now named as Danube Station.

Mr. Rizwan Sajan, 53, the Founder & Chairman of Danube Group is a self-made man. Hailing from a middle class family in Mumbai, India, Rizwan Sajan started his career at an early age of 12 selling books and fire crackers. After the death of his father, he joined his paternal uncle in Kuwait and assisted him in his family business. It was in 1993 when he arrived to UAE and started his own business with his wife Sameera being his only source of inspiration.

Being a workaholic he believes there are no shortcuts to success. Hard work and determination are the keys to his victory. Mr. Rizwan firmly believes that one gets better by doing, trying, and learning. A fanatic about yoga, Rizwan goes swimming at least five days a week. He is a sociable person; and enjoys partying, travelling and watching movies with his wife. Being a top ranking business icon, Mr. Rizwan Sajan has been a source of inspiration for many.

Since the time Danube was established, Mr. Rizwan Sajan has been promoting community initiatives. In2012 the company designed its own social initiative called the Danube Welfare Centre (DWC) to address the challenges faced by the blue-collared individuals in the UAE. The Welfare Centre aims to provide formal training and assistance to the trainees, qualifying them to meet the demands of the labour market. The Welfare Centre offers a 3 day training program to a batch of 15-20 participants from diverse nationalities free of cost, providing training in Communication Skills, Personality Development, Interview Skills, Building Self Confidence and Developing Positive Attitude.

Additionally, Mr. Rizwan Sajan has always been keen to share the honorable values of the month of Ramadan and to lift up the spirit of the laborers working in the region. Danube serves Iftaar to more than 60,000 labourers every year in the month of Ramadan.

Mr. Rizwan Sajan embraces the responsibility for the company’s actions and encourages a positive impact through the activities of the company on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders.In line with this and as a part of its long-standing commitment to preserve biodiversity through responsible forest management and to provide customers with greener’ products the company introduced ‘Green Building Products’ certified under the FSC and PEFC. These certifications confirm that Danube’s line of products such as wood, MDF, plywood, boards, door core, etc. have been manufactured using raw materials harvested from certified sources, controlled wood sources or post-consumer reclaimed sources.

Additionally, Danube also offers products like sanitary ware, gypsum products, cement fiber boards, etc. which can be used for LEED certified projects. The scale of Danube’s commitment to green building standards demonstrates the company’s commitment to a greener and cleaner society for now and generations to come.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)