SABB TAKAFUL
SABB Takaful Company, one of the newly licensed insurance companies, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Amlak International, one of the leading real estate development and finance provider for retail and corporate sectors. The MOU stipulates that Amlak shall recommend SABB Takaful’s range of family and general Takaful products to its corporate and retail customers. The agreement was signed by David Hunt, Managing Director of SABB Takaful and Abdullah Al-Howaish, Managing Director of Amlak International. Hunt said: “We are pleased to sign this MOU with Amlak International, a company which shares the same vision and values as our own. This enables us to provide our Shariah-compliant Takaful products to all Amlak’s customers.” Abdullah Al-Howaish, managing director of Amlak International said, “This agreement will enable us to introduce and recommend to our customers valuable Shariah compliant Takaful plans offered by a leading provider of Takaful products and services.”
EMPA
EMPA, one of the largest IT distribution companies operating in the MENA region, has announced that it has recently been awarded the 2007 Philips Best Distributor Award following its successful distribution strategy for Philips LCD monitors across the Middle East. The award, handed out in Istanbul, Turkey, recognized EMPA’s efforts to provide optimum market exposure to the Philips brand. EMPA also announced that its successful partnership with Philips has been further boosted with the recent signing of a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), which extends the partnership to cover Pakistan and the whole of the Middle East and Africa region. “It is an honor to be recognized by Philips as its best distributor in the region. This award reflects the successful strategy that we have implemented and the hard work and dedication being exerted by the whole EMPA organization and our network of partners,” said Shahood Khan, director — sales and marketing, EMPA.
IDB-ITFC
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has signed a Mudaraba agreement with the newly formed International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) to establish a $1 billion fund, by which the ITFC will act as Mudareb (manager) of the fund on behalf of the IDB, the fund provider. The purpose of the billion-dollar fund is to support the ITFC’s trade finance operations and further develop intra-trade among member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Signing the agreement, Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, chairman of the IDB Group, said, “The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation has been formed to take over all the trade business formerly undertaken by various windows in the IDB Group, thus consolidating all of the bank’s trade finance activities under a single umbrella, eliminating overlap and improving service delivery.” Dr. Waleed Al-Wohaib, CEO of ITFC, said.
GIBTM
The 2008 Gulf Incentive Business Travel and Meetings (GIBTM) Exhibition kicks off today at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC). GIBTM has been recognized as the Gulf’s only dedicated meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) event and has been organized to cater for the growing Middle East MICE market. The three-day exhibition will gather 275 senior-level hosted buyers from Europe, Asia and the Middle East along with an expected 1,000 regional and local trade visitors.
EMAAR
Emaar, the Economic City (Emaar E.C.), the Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), recently launched the sale of residences within a new integrated residential community in Bay La Sun Village. The new cluster features apartments and duplex apartments that offer boulevard and waterfront views. Located on the vibrant Bay La Sun Village Boulevard, the new community is an exclusive gated neighborhood that ushers in a metropolitan lifestyle. Residents can enjoy a range of lifestyle amenities including easy access to the promenade and the Boulevard featuring an extensive array of boutique outlets and restaurants.