All places at the MEED Awards for Business Excellence 2002 gala dinner at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai on the evening of 20 March have now been sold. 'There is going to be a full-house on the night, a sure sign of the success of MEED's Awards for Business Excellence,' says chairman of the judges' panel Edmund O'Sullivan.

A total of 10 awards are to be handed out at the dinner. Five have been judged by the MEED Awards for Business Excellence panel comprising O'Sullivan, Chairman of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce Lord Prior and Professor John Quelch, senior associate dean at Harvard Business School.

Three awards, for best business hotel and best international and regional airline, have been decided by vote of MEED's readers. The MEED editorial team has selected best project of the year and businessman of the year.

Master of ceremonies at the gala dinner is Nigel Roberts, a presenter with CNBC, the international business television channel. Roberts is a financial journalist and commentator hosting CNBC's daily financial news round-up European Market Wrap. He worked for the BBC, Britain's Channel 4 and CNN before joining CNBC. Roberts is a regular on the international conference circuit, including the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

The MEED Awards for Business Excellence have been organised in association with The Boeing Company which is also sponsoring the MEED Businessman of the Year Award. ABQ Zawya is sponsor of the Business-to-Business Service Provider of the Year Award and STME is sponsoring the pre-dinner cocktail reception on the night.

For full detailsof the MEED Awards for Business Excellence shortlist, see MEED's website www.meed.com