​EFG Hermes Corporate Human Resources Head and Chairman of the Middle East HR Summit 2007, Declan Ball, welcomed attendees at the opening of the HR conference in Abu Dhabi. Addressing the region’s foremost HR professionals, Ball emphasized the importance of the conference as a knowledge exchange forum with the aim of championing talent development in the region. As the premiere annual event for HR professionals in the Middle East, the HR summit 2007 is a five-day event running from the 4th – 8th November. The conference was opened by His Excellency Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka’abi, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, and was attended by more than 250 HR professionals from the Middle East, Europe and Asia. 'Globalisation, increasingly fluid labour markets, intense competition for talent and the coming of age of the Indian and Chinese economies have all had a profound effect on how public and private sector companies recruit, pay, develop and retain their employees,' said Declan Ball, Head of CHR at EFG Hermes. He continued, 'Human Resources Management (HRM) is at the centre of this challenge and in the last 15 years, the discipline has come of age. Perhaps more than anywhere in the world, the UAE has seen the prestige and influence of HRM rise within organisations. This has been propelled by the dynamism of the UAE economy, the need for global talent and the focus on Emiratisation.' The Middle East HR Summit is divided into three events. On day one, at the pre-summit guru day, Professor David Ulrich, widely regarded as the world’s leading expert on HRM, will address the subject of aligning HRM to corporate strategy. Days 2-3 will be split between a conference chaired by Declan Ball and workshops. Geoff Veldhuis, Director of Performance and Reward at EFG Hermes will moderate the Innovative Compensation and Benefits Solutions panel taking place on November 5. Training courses on key topics such as Emotional Intelligence and Executive Compensation will run on Days 4-5.