Jeddah-based Saudi German Hospital Group (SGHG) has signed a contract for establishing a $50 million hospital in Addis Ababa. SGHG President Sobhi Batterjee and Ethiopian businesswoman Makkiah Mamiu signed the deal for the 150-bed hospital project covering an area of 100,000 square meters. It will be equipped with the most modern instruments and facilities for treatment and surgery. This is part of the group’s plan to construct hospitals in Arab and Muslim countries where a total of 30 hospitals are projected to be opened offering 50,000 jobs by 2050. The group also offers education and training. The group, whose Batterjee Medical College is under construction in North Obhur, also has plans to establish 30 nursing training institutes. The group’s overseas projects have started taking shape with work under way in Sanaa, Dubai, Cairo, Azad Kashmir and Sudan.

MPC

Modern Products Company (MPC) has granted a one-year computer training course to 100 children of prisoners in the Western Province. Under the slogan “One family for bright future,” the company launched its “Tawasol” program providing scholarships to a select group of boys and girls at New Horizons Institute. An agreement to this effect was signed between MPC and Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners’ Families (CWPF). Ahmed Al-Juhani, supervisor of social programs at MPC, who met Abdul Elah Abdel Majid, executive director of CWPF, and Ayman Skouti, senior executive at New Horizons Institute, said the training course for both English language and computer will be for two weeks, the first of which is scheduled to begin during the summer holidays.

Land Rover

Riyadh-based Al Saif Motors, Land Rover’s exclusive importers in the Kingdom, has announced the arrival of its new LR2, a premium, compact SUV model. The vehicle has already been crowned “SUV of the Year” by the BBC Top Gear team and awarded top five star rating in the European New Car Assessment Program for adult passenger and child protection safety categories. The new car is Land Rover’s fourth new model in four years and joins the impressive line-up of The Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and LR3 that together have seen record-breaking sales performance around the world. “The LR2 comes with the inherent Land Rover DNA to offer exceptional capability in its class and we are excited about its arrival as it will certainly boost our sales in this compact SUV segment,” Alan Whaley, general manager of Al-Saif Motors KSA, told a press conference in Riyadh on Saturday.

TBWA/RAAD

TBWA\RAAD has signed an agreement with Jeddah’s Dar Al Hekma College to train students looking for a career in advertising and provide internships. The college already runs a very successful graphic design program and this was a key reason in choosing Dar Al-Hekma as a partner, according to Ghassan Kassabji, managing director of TBWA\RAAD. “In line with the national policy of training young Saudi nationals to take up positions across all areas of commerce and industry, we wanted to create the opportunity to identify and encourage students with the talent and potential to become fully-fledged advertising and creative professionals,” he said. TBWA\RAAD will provide training sessions for interested students weekly and run a twice-yearly creative competition that will be judged by a panel from the agency and the college. Summer internships will be also awarded to the most promising students.

IEF

An Indian Engineers Forum-organized symposium has called on Saudi engineering organizations and local business entities to intensify efforts to eliminate operational problems, reduce cost and improve quality by using “Six Sigma”, a new disciplined data driven technique. The event, attended by over 200 engineers, was chaired by Indian Ambassador M. O. H. Farook in Riyadh on Tuesday night. Mark Law, an expert in Six Sigma technique who works for the SABB, said: “What Motorola, GE, American Express, HSBC and SABB have in common is that they all testify about Six Sigma’s pivotal role in their successes. This is because Six-Sigma is about quality excellence to enhance career and boost organization’s bottom line.” Law is credited with managing various Six Sigma projects.

EMC

Amer Barrage is EMC Saudi Arabia’s new district manager. Barrage will be responsible for managing EMC’s expanding team in the Kingdom, developing new services and enhancing support for customers. EMC has been serving customers in the Kingdom for more than a decade and has operations in Riyadh as well as a thriving community of authorized resellers. Part of Barrage’s new role will be to enhance customer support and expand EMC’s market reach in Saudi Arabia. “The Kingdom is one of the most vital markets in the Gulf for EMC and we already have a seasoned team of IT professionals in the country that work closely with our customers and resellers. With this new appointment, we aim to increase the depth and breadth of the solutions and services that we offer, and continue to grow our presence in the Kingdom,” said Mohammed Amin, GM, EMC Middle East and North Africa.

NCB

The National Commercial Bank (NCB) has signed an agreement with the Alhamrani United Company (Nissan) to make special offers for customers of the car leasing program. Adel Al-Howar, the NCB’s consumer finance sector head who signed the agreement with Ahmed Al-Hamrani, executive vice president of the company, said the agreement would be effective for a year. He added that advantages of the car leasing program were its compatibility with the Shariah, five-year warranty and all-inclusive insurance. The customer is not required to have an account at the NCB and does not require a guarantor to complete the leasing, he said. Yasser Kashkash, the NCB’s head of lease lending, said the customer had the opportunity to lease the car of their choice and facilitate the payment method starting from the first installment and the duration of flexible premiums.

RUBY TUESDAY

Jeddah’s Ruby Tuesday claims to be the only restaurant to offer the Certified Angus Beef (CAB) brand. This beef is four grades up from the “Choice” beef that is served at other restaurants in the Kingdom. Since the launch of the Kingdom’s first outlet at Al-Andalus Street last November, Ruby Tuesday has been serving this fine grade beef in its steaks and burgers, according to Mohammed O. Balubaid, managing director of Marssana International Trading Company, which runs the restaurant. “CAB products are evaluated under the most rigid standards for superior color, texture and marbling. In fact, less than eight percent of beef meets the brand’s strict quality specifications.