Buoyed by 35 percent Kingdom-wide growth in 2007, BenQ, a global digital lifestyle products leader, is to enlarge its market presence in Saudi Arabia. With an eye on increasing its on-the-ground presence, BenQ has expanded its management portfolio with the addition of Syed K. Raziuddin as the Kingdom’s channel sales manager. Raziuddin is the first of a number of key management appointments in the Kingdom which underlines the company’s continued commitment to the country. “Saudi Arabia accounts for almost 20 percent of our total Middle East and Africa sales, and holds huge potential for a young brand such as ours. To keep up with our regional growth, we will need to increase our top-tier administration,” Raziuddin said.”BenQ’s LCD TVs are gaining immense popularity regionally due to their feature-rich functionalities. Our new 37-inch and 42-inch SH series models not only provide virtual surround sound and a cinema-style visual experience but also complement home interiors,” said Manish Bakshi, BenQ’s general manager for Middle East & Africa.

Al-Sorayai Board

Al-Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group elected its first board of directors in a meeting that was held in the group’s corporate headquarters in Jeddah recently. Elected to the board were Mohammed Abdallah Al-Sorayai, Saleh Nasser Al-Sorayai, Hamad Abdullah Al-Sorayai, Abdelaziz Nasser Al-Sorayai, Dr. Ahmed Saleh Nashar, Dr. Rahman Yasin Al-Jafari and Suliman Al-Hamdan. Mohammed Al-Sorayai, CEO of the group, said: “The transformation of the group to a closed joined venture is the outcome of great efforts made by the members of the constituent assembly and the rest of the partners and staff of the group, starting from applying the highest standards of corporate work force and management system which helped in getting the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s approval to become a closed joined venture group.” Saleh Naser Al-Sorayai, executive chairman of the group, added that “Al-Sorayai takes the lead in the carpet industry in the region from 55 years ago and is considered as the third largest in the industry worldwide.” He noted that the group is one of the top100 largest Saudi companies. Al-Sorayai Trading & Industrial Group was established in Makkah in the 1950s under the name of Abdullah & Nasser Al-Sorayai Co. It first started operating by importing handmade rugs, but in 1985, the group built its own rugs factory and began to export its products. In 1992, Al-Sorayai established a new factory — Jeddah Industrial Yarn Factory (JIYFCO) — to produce high quality carpet with different unique colors and designs. It has also received an ISO certificate for its outstanding performance.

MasterCard Volume Up

MasterCard Worldwide yesterday announced that its third quarter 2007 operating results for the Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) region grew 19.2 percent in gross dollar volume, 22.8 percent in purchase volume, 20.2 percent in purchase transactions, 23.3 percent in cash transactions and 11.9 percent in cards issued against the same period in 2006. As of Sept. 30, over 198 million MasterCard cards (excluding Maestro and Cirrus) had been issued by MasterCard customer financial institutions across APMEA. Cardholders in the region made 745 million purchase transactions in the third quarter of 2007 and could use their MasterCard cards at over 25 million acceptance locations worldwide. “APMEA continues to be a solid source of growth for MasterCard, and the positive quarterly performance in this region demonstrates our ability to understand and meet the needs of our financial institution customers, consumers, businesses and merchants. This region is experiencing remarkable economic growth in areas such as real national income and gross domestic product. As the number of affluent and wealthy consumers here continues to grow, so will their demand for unique luxury goods and services,” said Andre Sekulic, president, APMEA, MasterCard Worldwide.

NCB Islamic Forum

National Commercial Bank has sponsored an Accounting and Auditing of Islamic Financial Institutions Conference held in Bahrain recently, organized by Bahraini Monetary Agency. Abdulrazak Elkhraijy, the NCB head of Islamic Banking Development Group, said the sponsorship of the conference reflected the bank’s leadership in Islamic banking services and reinforced the fact that the Islamic banking sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the banking industry. The conference provided an opportunity for participants to oversee the most important issues and topics that require accounting solutions and applications processes undertaken by Islamic banking operations, he said in a statement yesterday. Elkhraijy stressed that the conference “provided a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas with specialists in accounting and auditing for the Islamic banking industry and hear multiple perspectives on the most important and current issues in Islamic banking operations.” He hoped that the conference will succeed in effectively shaping perceptions that will aid in meeting the challenges faced by the Islamic banking.