More than 4,000 people, including employees, non employees and officials of Danube Group, yesterday (Tuesday, April 26, 2022) got together in breaking the fast at Iftar in 14 locations across the UAE, marking one of the largest such programmes undertaken by a business group.
Danube Group, one of the largest diversified business conglomerates in the UAE, organised these multiple gathering across the seven emirates, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. People from diverse cultural background – including non-Muslims joined the gathering to celebrate the Ramadan and seek divine blessings.
People who were fasting, joined those who weren’t and Muslims invited their non-Muslim friends to share the Iftar meal together as part of the spirit of Ramadan – the holy month of divine blessing. The Iftar gathering takes place after two years of COVID-19 pandemic when people had to maintain social distancing, health and safety protocol.
This is the largest such private sector initiatives in the UAE this Ramadan undertaken by a private company.
“Ramadan is incomplete if we can’t share a meal with others – and that is part of the spirit of the holy month. We have organised these Iftar gatherings to share a meal with others and to celebrate the spirit of the Holy month of Ramadan – to seek forgiveness and divine blessings as well as offering our gratitude to the Almighty for saving us from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Rizwan Sajan, Founder and Chairman of Danube Group, says.
“Islam is a religion of peace and brotherhood and its message transcends across cultures. It offers a universal code of life – a way for emancipation. We wanted to share the true spirit of Islam through this initiative.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, life is becoming normal, after a gap of two years. COVID-19 was a stress test for all of us and those of us who survived it, should offer our gratitude to the Almighty Allah for saving us from this pandemic. We had invited Muslims, non-Muslims to have Iftar together to pray for those who are not with us. Mankind is one Nation and we wanted to celebrate this Union through this small initiative.
“Let us join in our collective prayer and resolve to remain united and to look after each other so that we can live a happy life and create a better future for all of us – regardless of one’s religious faith.”
Danube Group is a Dubai-based diversified business conglomerate with interests in building materials, home décor and real estate development. Established in 1993 by Founder and Chairman Rizwan Sajan – a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) entrepreneur – Danube Group has achieved US$1.3 billion (Dh5 billion) annual turnover in 2019.
The group’s flagship company, Danube Building Materials FZCO, it is the largest supplier of quality building materials in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It provides more than 50,000 products in stock and in-house value-added services in all of its multiple set of showrooms across the Middle East region and India.
Danube Group, which had successfully overcome the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, has returned to growth in 2021. In 2021, Danube Group launched its Hospitality Solutions Division to support the growing hospitality industry.
The company’s real estate development arm, Danube Properties launched two projects – Skyz and Pearlz – in October 2021 and March 2022 were both sold out. It is one of the largest private real estate developers in Dubai with a portfolio more than 8,000 units in 16 projects, worth Dh5.3 billion. It has delivered 11 out of the 16 projects in six years.
Its home improvement and retail arm, Danube Home is currently expanding its global footprint across Asia, Europe and African continents. Danube Group has a team of 1,800 plus people working across strategic locations across the GCC and India.
