ITC TO TRAIN SAUDIS FOR JOB

The Integrated Telecom Company (ITC), which is licensed by the Communications and Information Technology Commission, recently signed an agreement with the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to train 80 Saudis to give them jobs. The agreement was signed by Waleed M. Al-Abdul Salam, ITC vice president for communications, public relations and human resources and Ahmed Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, director of HRDF’s branch office in Riyadh. Explaining the objectives of the pact, Raed Daod, director of human resources at ITC, said it is part of the company’s efforts to Saudize jobs by mobilizing fresh graduates and training them on advanced technologies in the telecommunications and networking areas. “This will be achieved through training programs and by creating an environment to provide on-the-job-training before placing them in the various managerial positions,” Daod said. He further said that the agreement is the first step in a long-term cooperation with HRDF to strengthen ITC’s capability to attract Saudi men and women who are ambitious and willing to enhance their capabilities. Al-Ghamdi said, the agreement will support the government plans toward achieving a productive society that relies on its national human resources. Al-Abdul Salam said that ITC’s expansion would create numerous job opportunities for Saudis.

DUBAI AUTODROME

Europe’s biggest motor sport industry shows features highly visible Middle East interests. Traditionally attended by teams and companies from all levels of motor sport from F1 and WRC to Karting, the show, which is held annually at the UK’s National Exhibition Center, features diverse Middle East motor sport interests alongside multimillion-dollar displays including the reigning F1 World Championship winning car. Although open to the public, Autosport is actually Europe’s main motor sport industry gathering with the emphasis on content rather than expensive display stands. Cars from every team contesting the 2007 F1 championship for example are simply lined up against a painted backdrop — state-of-the-art cars collectively worth countless millions of dollars. No doubt it was that potential of public visitors that attracted Dubai Autodrome to mount a display featuring their proposed Motor City and F1 World developments. And is it a coincidence that nearby specialist motor sport travel agents are offering Middle East track destinations? Though not actually taking display space themselves, neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi is also featured.

AIR ARABIA HUB IN NEPAL

Air Arabia (PJSC), the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, said that it will establish a new hub in the Nepalese capital, Katmandu, providing the Sharjah-based LCC with a platform from which to serve markets stretching across South and Central Asia, the Far East, Middle East and Indian subcontinent. This announcement follows the signing of a joint venture agreement between Air Arabia and Yeti Airlines, the market leader in domestic air travel in Nepal and approval from Nepal’s Department of Industries (DOI). Under the terms of the agreement, Air Arabia and Yeti Airlines will jointly establish a new low-cost carrier, based in Katmandu that will provide affordable and convenient service to a broad range of international destinations. Air Arabia, a major shareholder in the new company, will apply its successful low-cost business model to the management of Nepal’s first international LCC.

PVAXX PLANS LONDON LISTING

PVAXX Ltd., the materials technology company with operations in Bahrain, has announced its intention to list on the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM), London’s junior market which is operated by the London Stock Exchange plc. PVAXX, which is headquartered in Bermuda and listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX), manufactures pallet production equipment in the Kingdom of Bahrain, shipping pallets in the Sultanate of Oman and has research facilities in the UK. Up to $100 million is being raised from institutional investors to complete a pallet factory in Oman’s Sohar Industrial Port, to manufacture production lines in Bahrain and to meet other existing financial obligations, with PVAXX expected to have a market value of approximately $500 million when it is listed on AIM. PVAXX intends to capture a significant share of the fragmented and rapidly expanding global pallet market, which is estimated to be worth $30 billion annually, through its revolutionary recyclable pallets.

NCCI PROFIT FALLS

National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI), Saudi Arabia’s largest insurer by market value, made a fourth-quarter profit of 35.7 million riyals ($9.5 million), down 65 percent. NCCI profit in all of last year rose 12.2 percent to 525 million riyals, the company said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website. It did not give fourth quarter data, which Reuters calculated from previous financial statements. NCCI made a profit of 101.4 million riyals in the fourth quarter of 2006. NCCI faced rising competition last year from more than a dozen new insurance companies, which the Kingdom licensed.

AGILITY ’07 REVENUE UP

Kuwaiti logistics provider Agility said revenue last year rose 20 percent to more than $6 billion and that it was expanding to reduce its reliance on US military contracts, Al-Rai reported yesterday. Agility is planning a “huge” number of projects this year, including a railway project in Saudi Arabia with Al-Rajhi Bank and airport projects in several countries, Chief Executive Officer Tarek Sultan Al-Essa said, according to Al-Rai. Essa declined to give a profit figure for the year or planned dividends, the newspaper said. Global Investment House expects Agility’s fourth-quarter earnings to rise 27.7 percent to 49.8 million dinars ($182.4 million), according to a Reuters survey last month. Essa said Agility’s expansion abroad would lower its exposure to US government contracts to feed troops in Iraq and other countries, but that a US withdrawal from Iraq would still hit revenue, according to the newspaper. “There will be naturally an impact but it is hard to say by how much,” Essa is quoted as saying.