RIYADH, 26 November 2006 — Mobily has achieved the fastest growth rate — 74 percent — in mobile phone sector in the Middle East, according to the GSM Association, a global organization for mobile phones recently. Mobily serves more than 345,000 subscribers for its 3G and 3.5G services while it has a total of 4.8 million subscribers. This achievement was registered in the first four months after the launch of the 3G in June. The subscribers can use 2G and 3G on the same chip without replacement. The 3G subscribers get several free added-value services besides the features such as video conversations, high-speed Internet access and television channels and games and watching video clips.
WB Economist Calls for India’s Reforms
RIYADH, 26 November 2006 — A senior economist at the World Bank has called for India’s constitutional reforms for speeding up the country’s economic progress. Dr. Prajapati Trivedi was giving a lecture entitled “Sustaining India’s Growth and Prosperity” on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of Yahind.com, the Internet portal for NRIs. In his lecture, Trivedi provided statistics that showed India’s economic progress had been hostage to political instability, corruption and a slow-moving bureaucracy as a result of which India ranks 126 out of 176 in terms of Human Development Index (HDI), whereas Malaysia ranks 61, Sri Lanka 75, Saudi Arabia 76, China 81, Vietnam 109 and Gabon 124. (Mohammed Rasooldeen)
BOC Lures Customers With New Products
RIYADH, 26 November 2006 — A leading state bank in Sri Lanka will help Sri Lankan workers abroad open Non-Resident Foreign Currency (NRFC) accounts free-of-charge with its own $5 initial deposit. “Bank of Ceylon (BOC), which holds a market share of 40 percent of the island’s NRFC accounts, has offered this new facility to attract more of its foreign workers,” G.M.J. Gunasekera, bank’s chief manager for international operations told Arab News on Friday. A two-member delegation from the bank is currently visiting the major capitals in the Kingdom to promote its new products and services among the 550,000 Sri Lankan workers in the Kingdom. S.M.W. Samarakoon, manager inward remittances was the other member of the delegation. (Mohammed Rasooldeen)
Oman Attracts S. African Investors
MUSCAT, 26 November 2006 — Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool bin Ali Sultan returned here yesterday from South Africa, calling his visit ‘’fruitful and productive”, in terms of Oman’s campaign to woo foreign investors. “We have been impressed by the interest shown by South African entrepreneurs in Oman’s growing economy based on a 25-year plan envisioned in 1995”, Ali Sultan said on return from Durban where he addressed a high-profile seminar and highlighted Oman’s liberalization and deregulation to meet the needs of globalization. (Arif Ali)
WTC Unveils Plans for Exhibition Center
DUBAI, 26 November 2006 — Dubai World Trade Center unveiled its ambitious designs for its new Exhibition Destination at a preview for leading industry figures from the Middle East’s events and exhibitions sector. The name of the new center — which has been a source of significant industry and media speculation throughout 2006 — was also revealed for the first time: Dubai Exhibition World. Dubai Exhibition World is being built to cater for the AED12 billion a year exhibitions and conference industry in the UAE which is currently experiencing ongoing growth of 15 percent a year.