MULLAK ARABIA

Mullak Arabia has launched its activities as a joint venture with a total capital of SR1 billion. “The main objective of the company is to make efforts toward solving the problem of housing, which is becoming critical with increasing population,” Abdul Hadi Shaif of the foundation company of the company said in Jeddah on Sunday. He highlighted the company’s interest in forging deals with new strategic partners of financial services and real estate developers. Dr. Ghassan Al-Sulaiman, head of the committee, said the company had concluded the appointment of management executives with distinguished banking, real estate and real estate mortgage experience. He said the company would concentrate on providing housing units on installments for individuals with investments totaling about SR6 billion.

STARBUCKS

Starbucks, a major retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, recently held its 4th annual Global Advisory Council (GAC) meeting in Dubai, hosted by Mohammed Alshaya, CEO of Alshaya Group — Starbucks partner for Middle East and Turkey. Led by Starbucks Corporation’s Chairman Howard Schultz, GAC is a platform for high-level strategic meetings between senior management from Starbucks along with their worldwide senior partners. Also in attendance were Starbucks President and CEO Jim Donald and Starbucks Coffee International President Martin Coles. The two-day meeting in Dubai paved the way for Starbucks in the global marketplace and charted the company’s global business strategies,” Alshaya said.

ISTITHMAR/EASYHOTEL

Istithmar Hotels, a subsidiary of Istithmar PJSC — an international investment house based in the UAE, has signed a master franchise agreement with easyHotel Limited to open a chain of budget hotels across Middle East, North Africa, India and Pakistan. It recently announced its plans to open eight new budget hotels across major metropolitan cities in India over the next four years. A household name all over Europe with a strong reputation among budget travelers worldwide, easyHotel.com is part of the easyGroup of companies based in London which also includes easyJet. Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded all easyGroup companies. “Our alliance with easyHotel.com is aiming to open a total of 38 budget hotels across the regions,” said Istithmar CEO Muneef Tarmoom.

ABANA

A leading sales and service organization, Abana Enterprises Group Co. (Abana), which has been certified by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) as the sole distributor of a range of fixed, portable and mobile terminals; has unveiled a range of innovative products and services for government agencies, banking and financial institutions as well as telecommunication sector. Abana executives also presented a new technology for paying traffic violations or any other payment to any agency, saying that this technology can help motorist to pay fine by the use of a new wireless payment device, while sitting comfortably in his driving seat. The presentation was made at a press conference by Abdullah M. Jebreen, Abana’s president, Christian Reiling, vice president of Thales e-Transactions and Dr. Hesham Elabd, Abana’s vice president, here yesterday. During the event, Abana, which rolled out over 6,000 POS terminals last year alone, was also presented “The Best Distributor of the Year 2005” award by Thales. Referring to this prestigious award, Reiling said that “this had been conferred on Abana to recognize it’s excellence in marketing, maintenance service and application development services rendered in the Saudi market”.

NCB

The National Commercial Bank (NCB) opened its King Fahd Road Branch in the Olaya district of Riyadh recently. NCB Chairman & Managing Director Abdullah Bahamdan, who inaugurated the branch, said the bank’s newly opened branches were part of its expansion plan. “The bank is also looking for more service avenues in the capital and elsewhere in the Kingdom to expand personal banking services,” he said. NCB CEO Abdullareem Abu AlNasr said the new branch would provide investment, finance and banking services approved by the Shariah Islamic Council at the bank. By the end of the first quarter, the total number of female employees at the NCB reached 230. Women have been benefiting from the bank’s training programs, said its Human Resource Division Head Saud Sabban.

KEMPINSKI

Kempinski visited key cities in the GCC to showcase its portfolio of luxury hotels to leading tourism operators and key decision-makers in the Gulf region. Having firmly established its presence in the Middle East and Africa with 10 superlative Kempinski properties, Europe’s leading luxury hotel group used the road show to position its hotels as the preferred holiday destination for GCC travelers. A team of senior sales directors hoped to leverage Kempinski’s strong brand equity and reputation to promote the group’s portfolio of luxury hotels when they met top travel agents from Doha, Bahrain, Damman, Riyadh, Kuwait and Dubai last week. “We invited more than 150 tour operators in each city of our GCC road show,” said Ulrich Eckhardt, Kempinski’s senior VP for MEA region.

BPA

BPA is expanding its operations in Dubai. Being in partnership since 2004 with Dubai Consultancy Research and Media Centre, BPA has been on site serving the media and advertising communities in Dubai and the greater Middle East region since 2000. BPA currently has 29 members and applicants in the region. With its executive committee’s approval, BPA is now applying for a business license in Dubai, and has begun hiring staff, with a focus on bilingual professionals. “We’re gratified and proud to play an integral role in Castor’s critical media auditing standards initiative and excited about formalizing our long-term commitment to the region through our local operation and the Middle East Advisory Board,” said BPA Worldwide President and CEO Glenn Hansen.

GULF IN JORDAN

Three Jordanian government entities are set to do business at the Gulf in Jordan Forum, which is a conference that attracts GCC countries to gain knowledge of new developments and investments that Jordan has to offer. The conference will be at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman from May 9-11. There will be workshops, speakers and an exhibition. Companies of different backgrounds and sizes have joined to support Black Iris, the organizing company, in achieving the goal that they are aiming for. Selected investment projects will be launched at the forum, which is considered the first of its kind in the region. “We’re thrilled that both exhibitors and the participants get the chance to do real business within this forum,” said Reyadh Al-Sharaf, managing partner, Black Iris.

KRAFT CHEESE

Kraft, a market leader in the cream cheese category, recently launched its new mild tasting White Cream Cheese Spread containing the goodness of three glasses of milk. “The feedback for Kraft White Cream Cheese Spread has been excellent. Consumers love the mild, creamy cheese taste and sales of the product have exceeded expectations,” Paul O’Neill, senior brand manager GCC for Kraft Cream Cheese Spreads, said. “Kraft has long been a leader in the cream cheese category and the introduction of the white cream cheese spread will offer consumers more variety and allow Kraft to build on an already expanding business,” he said, adding that Kraft “Moo Cows” have been an essential element in the launch of the product and are committed to bring the Kraft dairy goodness to children worldwide.