The National Commercial Bank is the gold sponsor of the first international conference on money laundering prevention being held in Cairo from March 22-23. Hany Faidy, NCB’s head of compliance, is leading the bank’s group to the conference. The NCB recently sent a group of young Saudis to Malaysia for a year to study job market essentials through condensed training in advanced skills. The NCB will absorb them after they qualify and return to the Kingdom. This follows an agreement signed between Mahmoud M. Al-Turkistani, head of the bank’s community service unit, and Hassan ibn Abdul Rahman, head of Sharakah for Development company. The bank also launched a training program for potential small businessmen to acquire business skills in Madinah.
TAMEER HOLDING
UAE’s real estate developer Tameer Holding is taking part in a “MIPIM” property exhibition in Cannes, France, being held at the Palais des Festivals from today. “Our organization has been servicing the Middle Eastern market for several years. In a short space of time we’ve grown to become one of the most reputable real estate companies in the region. We’re pleased with this opportunity to represent Dubai through our projects and to present a modern and progressive part of the Middle East that is not normally shown worldwide,” Tameer Holding President Omar Ayesh said. Tameer is promoting four of its showpiece projects including the state-of-the-art “Dyad Tower” in the Dubai Silicon Oasis, the residential marvel of the Al Ameera Village and its celebrated Princess Tower.
STARBUCKS
It is no mean feat to get to the top of a Fortune magazine list, but despite increasingly aggressive efforts by food service industry peers Starbucks Coffee has again done it for the third consecutive year; proving that its carefully world renowned coffee experience is still “the leader” over all other American food service brands. In its 24th year, the magazine’s “most admired” list is one of the largest and most established of its kind, with survey partner Hay Group providing the leg work to poll a total of 10,000 executives, directors and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to select the 10 companies they admired most. They chose from a list made up of the companies that ranked among the top 25 percent in last year’s survey, plus those that finished in the top 20 percent of their industry.
LG
LG Electronics has launched a special edition of its “best-selling” 3G music phone, LG-U880. Italian born fashion designer Roberto Cavalli has designed the limited edition music phone. Each Roberto Cavalli fashion phone features a hand-printed animal pattern and reflects Cavalli’s one-of-a-kind designs. Only 1,089 mobile phones will be manufactured globally. Since its launch, the super-slim music phone has received “excellent reviews” from the global media. The handset was recognized as “the best in test” by leading Swedish handset magazine “Mobile,” while the prestigious pan-Asian Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post daily described the phone as a visible improvement on 3G phones in terms of size. “The launch of the special edition reflects our leading position in 3G,” said K. W. Kim, president, LG, Middle East & Africa.
VISA
UAE Minister of State for Finance & Industry Dr. Mohamed Khalfan ibn Khirbash and Visa International CEMEA President Anne Cobb set out their visions for the future of payments and e-government at Visa’s “The future of payments - Visa Avenue 2010” conference in Dubai last week. Dr. Khirbash and Anne gave keynote addresses at the conference, which brought industry experts from around the globe to share best practice and give insights into the world’s leading card-based programs. The Visa Avenue 2010 exhibition showcased pioneering technologies of today and a glimpse of what a shopping experience could look like in the year 2010 including contactless payments, wireless point-of-sale terminals, virtual keyboards and smart posters and billboards.
NOKIA
Nokia has won a managed services contract from “du” and will also supply the entire core and a large proportion of the radio network for GSM/GPRS/EDGE and WCDMA 3G. The value of the deal is at least $190 million. Being a new participant in the growing UAE market, “du” becomes a new customer for Nokia. The contract underlines Nokia’s strength as a comprehensive supplier of network equipment and services, and its capabilities in managing outsourced networks show the company’s rising strength in the important Middle East markets. Ahmad ibn Byat, chairman of “du” said: “ We’ll offer a UAE-wide mobile telephony service from the time services and products are launched.” According to the agreement, Nokia will build the complete GSM/GPRS and 3G core network for ‘du,’ as well as the majority of the radio network with turnkey responsibility.
ARAMEX
ARAMEX, a provider of total transportation solutions in the MENA region and South Asia, on Sunday unveiled its state-of-the-art logistics facility at its new premises at Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai. The center is built on a 430,000 square feet area that includes a state-of-the-art covered area of 161,000-square-feet. The new facility serves to enhance its logistics infrastructure and value-added services offered in the UAE, MENA and South Asia regions. “The ARAMEX addition is in line with our vision to be a global hub for advanced logistics services and a catalyst for boosting global and regional trade,” Jebel Ali Free Zone CEO Salma Hareb said.