Bitumat, a major manufacturer of waterproofing materials, organized its international business convention in Singapore recently. More than 90 delegates from all over the world were present at the event. The four-day convention was marked by a series of sessions including one on business in which delegates gave presentations on major projects being undertaken in their countries. A panel discussion on “Waterproofing industry needs more ethics and better engineering practices” was also held. An awards function followed on the penultimate day where over 18 winners from all over the world were felicitated. “Our Convention is unique and sets us apart from all the others in the waterproofing industry. When we go to another country to do our convention, we are also promoting Saudi Arabia. The message is that we have evolved ourselves as an industrial power,” said Bitumat General Manager Riad Nimri. The previous convention was held in Malaysia.

STANDARD CHARTERED

“Saadiq”, Standard Chartered Bank’s global Islamic Banking business brand, yesterday rolled out across the Middle East following the scheme’s global launch in Malaysia in April. Meaning “truthful” in Arabic, the regional launch of the Saadiq brand coincided with the unveiling of Standard Chartered’s first global Islamic credit card — Saadiq Visa gold credit card. “Significant progress has been achieved in Standard Chartered’s global effort to build a comprehensive and dynamic Islamic banking business,” said Shayne Nelson, regional CEO, Middle East and North Africa, and chairman of the Islamic banking board, Standard Chartered Bank. “To continue breaking new ground, the way forward is clearly through innovation, and the UAE is uniquely placed at this time to lead the way globally. Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, recently outlined the next stage of Dubai’s ambitious growth.

ARAB GULF FORUM

Canada Global Center (CGC) Consulting and Training organized a three-day Arab Gulf Forum for Training at the Jeddah Hilton earlier this week. It was held with the cooperation of several centers in the Arab Gulf area. “It’s a specialized forum for increasing the standard of training,” CGC Marketing Consultant and Manager Mahmoud Al-Tayeh said. There were presentations focusing on various aspects of training. How to measure the outcomes of training” was discussed by Dr. Ronald L. Jacobs in a workshop. Most training professionals only measure the satisfaction of trainees, but that is insufficient to meet the demands of companies competing in the global economy,” he said. The workshop presented an overview of how to measure the outcomes of training with particular emphasis on determining the training impacts.

NCB

The regional Orkus Fund for Private Shareholders, owned by the National Commercial Bank and founded in Bahrain, has bought 30 percent of the HC Investment and Credit Company. This follows a deal signed by Ahmed Farid, CEO of NCB Capital and representative of Orkus, and Hussein Shukri, chairman of HC Company. Farid said that the entrance of the Orkus fund as a shareholder in the HC company was a significant opportunity for both companies to expand its combined clientele base and exchange financial services. Hussein Shukri, chairman, HC company, said that this partnership was expected to have a positive impact on his company’s capability to increase growth rates and expand regional activity in the field of investment banks, portfolio management and credit brokerage,” HC is an Egyptian shareholder company which was founded in 1996 to operate in the area of investment banks, portfolio management and credit brokerage.

MASTERCARD

MasterCard Worldwide has announced strong first quarter 2007 results for the Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) region. For the quarter ending March 31, the region witnessed a double-digit growth in gross dollar volume, purchase volume, purchase transactions, cash transactions and cards issued versus the same period in 2006. As of March 31, over 187 million MasterCard cards (excluding Maestro and Cirrus) had been issued by its customer financial institutions across APMEA. Cardholders in the region made more than 667 million purchase transactions in the first quarter and could use their MasterCard cards at 25.1 million acceptance locations worldwide.