July 4, 2009: His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court on Thursday visited the mechanical engineering training programme conducted by Caracal International, an offshoot of Abu Dhabi's Tawazun Holding, for UAE nationals in Suhl City, the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. Sheikh Hamed was accompanied by CEO of Tawazun Saif Mohamed Al Hajeri and managing director of Caracal International Mohammed Khalifa Al-Neyadi. Al-Hajiri briefed Sheikh Hamed on the training programme which is aimed at developing highly-qualified national human resources to take charge of all stages of specialized production and manufacturing in Abu Dhabi.

Launched in 2002 as an addition to efforts to develop self-defense capabilities of the UAE, Caracal International is a realization of the farsightedness of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and is being followed up on by H.H General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Expressing satisfaction at the level of training at the programme, Sheikh Hamed said: "What we saw during this tour reflects the keen interest of the prudent leadership in providing the best education and training resources for UAE nationals at Germany's most prestigious engineering institutes in order to advance the various specialized national industries." He further hailed the rule of Tawazun Holding in preparing national human resources.

Caracal was conceived from a 'Small Arms Project' -a bold initiative founded in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in late 2002. Driven by strong beliefs in its concepts and benefits, the 'Caracal Project' was developed and led by a team of experts working in conjunction with the UAE Armed Forces. Caracal International L.L.C acquired the German company Merkel, a leading European rifle and shotgun manufacturer, in July 2007. As part of the acquisition, Caracal will promote the sales of Merkel products in the Gulf, Middle East, Asian and African markets.