NCB

To mark the commencement of the new school year, the National Commercial Bank initiated a humanitarian effort by presenting 5,000 students from all over the Kingdom with school bags. The bank is trying to help orphan students feel equal to their fellow students. Mahmoud Al-Turkistani, NCB head of community service unit, who oversaw the effort, stated that the bank was providing this support to help foundations secure school supplies for the start of the school year. Al-Turkistani said that the school bag included various school supplies. He added that this support was provided through 10 charity foundations across the Kingdom. As a prominent financial entity, the bank also is committed to its national obligations towards society.

RICE ABU KASS

As the holy month of Ramadan is approaching, Rice Abu Kass has offered a gift of an electrical pan with every 45kg sack. “On this occasion, we spare no effort to share the good times with our customers as we consider their happiness is ours. The holy month of Ramadan, however, is a distinguished spiritual month that requires us to show our concern and hence offer magnificent electrical pans so that our customers can enjoy marvelous dishes of Rice Abu Kass,” the company’s management spokesman said. Rice Abu Kass is one of the finest rice brands that grow, harvested and packaged in India. Rice Abu Kass is one of Saleh Abul Aziz Babakur Son’s products, a firm that is known for quality and integrity since its inception 48 years ago in Riyadh. The company has a distribution network that covers seven regions of Saudi Arabia.

SONY ERICSSON

The wait for Sony Ericsson’s next generation Smart Phone the P990i is finally over with the phone now available across the UAE. A “Smart phone” for the future, Sony Ericsson’s P990i takes the next step in business communication providing users with everywhere access to the Internet, push e-mail — delivering e-mails straight to the phone — and video calling and messaging for unlimited communication options. It utilizes the fastest existing wireless networks and the most advanced network operator services. The P990i is the first commercially available Smart phone to adopt the enhanced Symbian OS version 9.1 and UIQ 3 software platform, the latest version of the most-used open smart phone operative system, said Husni El-Assi, GM, Sony Ericsson, Middle East & North Africa.

COCA-COLA

The Arab Center for Nutrition (CAN) and Coca-Cola Light have partnered to research and publish the first health manual in the Middle East, called “Assessment and management of obesity.” The 10-module booklet will assist health professionals across the region in guiding their patients to prevent and control obesity. The unique guidelines address different aspects of obesity management, including prevention methods, treatment techniques, and communication and counseling strategies. The long-term partnership with ACN includes a series of workshops on these guidelines targeting health professionals. Dr. Abdulrahman Obaid Musaiger said: “This publication is unique because it is the first in the region to provide a valuable source of information in all aspects of management of obesity among children, adolescents and adults. It also allows us to reach a wide audience since we will be training health workers, who will in turn educate the public.”

RENAULT

Zahid Tractor, the exclusive dealer of Renault cars in the Kingdom, delivered 3 Renault Clio Sport cars to three winners on the completion of its “Be a winner” lucky key campaign, the promotional offer throughout the kingdom.

The winners who received the Renault Clio Sports are Rami Yousef Al-Amri of Jeddah, Mohammed Al-Zahrani of Riyadh and Miraj Khan of the Eastern Province. Yousuf Khaja, Zahid Tractor’s head of marketing, said: “This campaign has succeeded in increasing the awareness and sale of new Renault cars. The response of the campaign has encouraged us to repeat this unique offer in future. Zahid Tractor and Renault cars carried out this campaign in an innovative style through the distribution of Clio sports keys in magazines and from specially designed display stands at leading shopping malls in the kingdom.

BANKMUSCAT

BankMuscat, Oman’s leading bank, has made an impressive maiden entry into global league tables for financial advisers published by The Infrastructure Journal magazine. The “global league tables” — a ranking of firms worldwide in the financial advisory business — are announced twice every year and are eagerly awaited by the international banking community. Infrastructure Journal has recently announced its league tables for the first half of 2006. The bank has been ranked 11th in the Global Financial Advisers list (overall 3rd in the Africa and Middle East region) in terms of mandates won. Additionally, the bank has been ranked 2nd globally in the power sector. The bank’s ranking has been based on winning four transactions amounting to $1.7 billon in the power, petrochemicals and waste sector.

ARCAPITA BANK

Arcapita Bank, a leading international investment firm headquartered in Bahrain, announced on Monday the launch of the $200 million Arcapita Ventures I, a venture capital fund, to GCC investors. Arcapita and its affiliates will invest up to $50 million in Arcapita Ventures I, which will have a duration of ten years. It will be managed out of Arcapita’s office in the US, from which it has been sourcing private equity, real estate and asset based transactions for the past decade. The fund will focus on growth and expansion stage companies in the healthcare, information technology and industrial technology sectors. Arcapita aims to be the lead investor in companies that have large potential markets, a proven management team and an existing, revenue-generating customer base.