The Corporate Social Responsibility Forum, which was held in Riyadh with the support of Crown Prince Sultan recently, drew a blue print for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Kingdom by launching the national initiative for CSR. Mohamed Al-Ayed, president and CEO of Arab Conferences Company, unveiled the national CSR initiative. He asserted that the forum represented an ideal platform to increase awareness on CSR. The initiative will be a powerful movement for changing attitudes and behaviors toward social responsibility not only for the public and private sector but also to activate citizens to dynamically participate through their own means such as volunteering. The initiative comprises a comprehensive one year program, said Loay Hisham Nazer, chairman of Arab Conferences Company.
FOOD SHOW
The five-day food and packaging event, which ended in Jeddah on Thursday, concluded deals worth millions of dollars, according to its organizer Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions Ltd. The event, which had many national and international exhibitors, had over 10,000 visitors. “We’ve done business of over a million dollars,” said Linda Sun of Fairs & Exhibitions Co. Ltd., Taiwan. The 11th edition of the fair showcased food, beverages, processing, packing, canning, hotel equipment, supplies and services. Turkey featured its foods and Taiwan its processing and packing equipment. Srawut Chankao, Consul (commercial) Director, Thai Trade Center at the Thai Consulate General in Jeddah, said 13 Thai companies participated and they were all satisfied with the positive response they received.
STC
Saudi Telecom Co. (STC), the largest telecommunications operator in the Saudi Arabia, has marked the advent of a new era in the telecommunications industry across the region and announced its complete readiness to launch its breakthrough 3G & 3.5G communication services. As part of this unprecedented initiative, STC will roll out the largest 3G network in the Middle East and will activate a full array of service including voice and video calls, live TV and HSDPA running up to 1.5Mbp — the fastest Internet access available. “We’re proud to continue to lead the industry and bring the latest state of the art telecommunications technologies to our valued customers,” STC President Saud Al-Doweish said. “We already have over 3,000 customers testing and using the service,” he added.
SBM/IBM
Saudi Business Machines Ltd. (SBM) recently highlighted its IBM Workplace portfolio at road shows in Jeddah and Riyadh. Top regional business partners of SBM and IBM and customers attended the event, where they were briefed on IBM WebSphere’s strategic roadmap and the new offerings that are” redefining today’s e-business infrastructure.” WebSphere Portal is an important component of IBM’s new dynamic workplaces practice aimed to provide customers with the same corporate intranet technologies and efficiency-promoting solutions that IBM uses to transform itself into a premier e-business, Jens Uwe Fimmen, IBM Portal/Workplace leader, Northeast Europe said, adding that workplace products include more than 50 features and functions.
MASTERCARD
MasterCard International, a global payments leader, has joined forces with airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS to launch a new promotion, which offers its cardholders added value for their travels. Following the success of a similar initiative in 2005, the promotion offers its cardholders up to 20 percent discount on airfares and a chance to win free tickets from participating banks. The discount is valid when purchasing a full fare business or economy class ticket to any travel destination in Europe and is open for ticket purchasing until June 15. Using its card from the participating bank for any transaction during the period automatically enters the cardholder into a draw to win business class airline tickets from Lufthansa or SWISS, Lufthansa’s Marketing Manager Schaher Murad said.
DOVE
“Grey” is the new “graceful” according to Dove’s “Campaign For Real Beauty,” a multimedia ad campaign, which featured powerful taglines inviting women from across the region to take part in the dialogue on real beauty. It resulted in more than 18,000 votes on the dedicated bilingual website. The website was supported by a regional SMS text campaign and through extensive mall tours and in-store promotions in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. The ads, which made their debut in early February, featured images of plus-size natural looking women and unconventional hair texture and color. The campaign aimed to challenge the standard of supermodel imagery that has for years anchored images of fantasy and illusion, Rola Tassabehji, regional brand manager for Dove, said.
PORSCHE
With effect from October, Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany, will be launching the new 911 GT3 RS in the Middle East. This “purist variant” of the GT3 is particularly suited for use on track. The GT3 RS distinguishes not only by its performance capability and racing car driving experience but also meets all requirements for road-legal sports cars. Its engine boasts a displacement of 3.6 liters to generate 415 bhp at 7,600 rpm. Maximum revs are reached at 8,400 rpm. The power output per liter of engine capacity is 115.3 bhp. These figures correspond to the present GT3, but the RS puts in an even better performance. Thanks to a close-ratio six-speed transmission with a single-mass flywheel and a 20 kg reduction in vehicle weight, the engine revs up even more freely.
ATF
The Arab Thought Foundation (ATF) fifth annual conference, scheduled in Beirut from Dec. 2-3, will run under the theme “Arab Strategies for the Global Era,” the foundation’s board of trustees said yesterday. It is being held with the support of Prince Khalid Al-Faisal. “As the Arab world encounters the challenges of the sharply increasing demands of energy, particularly on the Gulf region, its very young population and the ramifications of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Arabs find themselves on center stage in this global era,” said Prince Khalid. “It’s therefore crucial for the Arab world to look at their standing in this age of globalization and come together to overcome these challenges with a unified strategy,” he added. The announcement was made at last week’s meeting of the Arab Thought Foundation headed by Prince Khalid. It was also announced that the conference would focus on energy, investment, media, technology and social responsibility. Bringing together the most intelligent and insightful businessmen and scientists, the foundation aims to develop a strategic plan for Arab nations over the next 20 years. The conference also provides a forum to discuss freely and independently the status of Arab world in a global environment.
WYETH
Wyeth Nutrition conducted a conference focused on “Nutrition and early infant development” as part of its efforts to promote infant and child health in the region. Some of the most eminent industry professionals, medical experts and scientists contributed their views on specific issues such as improving the protein system of infant formulas and dietary nucleotide effects upon immune function. Conducted in Cairo, the main objective of the conference was to arrive at a common consensus on the crucial role of nutrition in the early stages of infancy leading to a healthy development, including raising awareness of the links between proper infant nutrition and healthy emotional, mental and physical development.
VISA
Visa cardholders in the GCC and other locations in the Middle East can save money this summer with a range of attractive discounts from Visa International. The offers cover nights out at the theater, stays at hotels, dining at restaurants, and car hire. Visa developed the offers after extensive research into where their cardholders like to use their Visa cards during the hot summer months. “There are always extra costs during summer, especially when families go on vacation. With this in mind, we’ve carefully selected a range of special offers to give cardholders extra benefits, adding value to their purchases and making their money go further,” says Stephen Coakley, marketing communications manager, Visa International Middle East. Visa has joined forces with the Jumeirah Group in the UAE.