GBCORP
Global Banking Corporation B.S.C (c) (GBCORP) has become a key contributor to Bahrain’s Waqf Fund for research, education and training in Islamic Finance, established by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and other Islamic financial institutions (IFIs). The fund’s capital is $5.8 million as of March 2008. The Waqf Fund focuses on research and publishes studies and surveys in Islamic finance industry. As part of this initiative the Waqf Fund strives to promote educational opportunities through specialist training workshops as well as organizing discussions and debates on the industry and Shari’a compliant investments. Speaking on the bank’s ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Khalid Al-Jaber, head of compliance at GBCORP, said: “CSR is a key aspect of the bank’s way forward strategy and is evident in the way we operate. Our support of the Waqf Fund is indicative of our commitment in preparing finance professionals for the fast-growing Islamic financial services industry and the growth of Islamic finance in general. The fund is a major milestone for the Islamic finance industry and its development, therefore we are proud to become partners in this great initiative to raise training and education standards across our industry.” The latest announcement is part of the ongoing CSR strategy that is being implemented by the bank, with further announcements on sponsorships and charitable donations to be made in due course. Earlier this year, GBCORP sponsored the Bahrain Sport for All Association’s three-day sports event for sports fans in Bahrain and around the GCC. GBCORP was also lead sponsor of ‘His Majesty the King’s Cup Endurance Ride Championship’ organized by the Kingdom of Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation.
WFP
The Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Josette Sheeran, will travel to Egypt from June 29 to July 2 to take part in the 11th African Union Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. Sheeran will make a presentation on the impact high food and fuel prices are having on the world’s most vulnerable and hungry, and the immediate and longer-term actions needed to tackle urgent challenges ahead. Millions of people are being pushed deeper into poverty and hunger, with purchasing power being severely cut due to a doubling in food and fuel prices. Sheeran became the 11th executive director of WFP in April 2007. Before joining the UN food agency, she served as undersecretary for economic, energy and agricultural affairs at the United States Department of State. Sheeran has a 20-year proven track record as a management leader as well as a distinguished background in media. During her tenure as managing editor of a US major newspaper, she was a regular commentator on television news programs and twice served as a Pulitzer Prize juror, including for foreign reporting. WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency. This year, WFP plans to feed an average of 90 million people in 78 countries.
AWALI/SAHARA
Awali Real Estate Investments, the region’s leading real estate investment firm based in Dubai, has signed a AED4 million strategic agreement with Sahara Communications, the region’s major media and marketing consultant agency and subsidiary of Sahara Group. According to the agreement, the latter will supervise the media and marketing plans of Awali and its projects in a highly competitive media market across the GCC. Ali Hussein Al-Nemer, MD, Awali Real Estate Investments, and Fahad Ahmad Al-Deeb, VP, Sahara Group, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations. Al-Nemer said, “The launch of the Al-Awali City mega project at the beginning of 2008 was an excellent debut for us in the Ajman real estate market, and we have since become aware of the high levels of competition among real estate developers seeking to promote their projects in the area by various means, such as advertising and marketing. Our decision to join hands with Sahara Media Consultancies is based on their reputation for producing systematic real estate media activities that reflect the true picture of the developer’s business without any exaggeration.” Al-Deeb said, “Sahara will provide tailor-made media strategies and marketing solutions that meet the client’s ambitions and aspirations and create a significant media presence, providing the public with relevant and accurate information.” Awali Real Estate Investments is a UAE firm based in Dubai, founded by the Saudi-based Awali Real Estate Investments as part of the mother company’s regional expansion plan, with the aim of capturing a portion of the region’s booming real estate market, particularly in the GCC. Al-Nemer Group, an Awali subsidiary, has over 40 years’ experience in the Kingdom’s real estate market and has co-founded a number of real estate companies, such as Jenan Real Estate and Mawten Real Estate, with a capital of SR500 and SR1.2 billion, respectively.
AIIPS
Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, UAE minister of foreign trade, is leding a UAE delegation to the 2008 Asian International Investment and Property Show (AIIPS), which began on Wednesday and ends today (Friday) at the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul, South Korea. Sheikha Lubna delivered the opening address for the event, where she spoke of Asia’s rapidly expanding real estate sector and the UAE’s emergence as a major regional industry player. An official delegation of 70 senior government officials, members of chambers of commerce and industry, and various department officials are accompanying Sheikha Lubna to the event. “Amid today’s volatile financial markets, Asia has emerged as a prime investment platform, particularly in the field of real estate development. This prospering and dynamic region offers great incentives to developers and investors with the right vision and motivation,” said Sheikha Lubna. Organized by UAE-based trade events specialist INDEX Conferences and Exhibitions in cooperation with Korea Home Network Industries Association, around 150 companies and foundations from around the world involved in the investment, property development, and consulting fields, as well as investment institutions and finance funds, are participating in AIIPS 2008. Held under the theme “The world’s most exciting property market,” the exhibition will be attended by an estimated 5,000 visitors representing 80 countries.
NCB
National Commercial Bank (NCB) Chairman Abdullah Bahamdan recently signed an agreement with the Director of King Saud University (KSU), Dr. Abdullah Al-Othman, for the founding of the ‘NCB Research Chair’ in the area of corporate social responsibility at KSU. Bahamdan said that the bank’s contribution to finance the research chair reflected its vision toward community service. He hoped that the research chair would establish a new direction to encourage scientific research, which is today the subject of competition between nations. He pointed out that the Kingdom needed to hasten its steps in this direction. “We are proud of the fact that the NCB was the first financial institution to receive an award for its achievements in the field of social responsibility,” he said, adding that the bank had identified four key topics that include education, healthcare, job creation through training and qualification of national cadres to contribute to social work including supporting charities concerning orphans and the disabled.
SABIC/SINOPEC
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC) recently signed in Jeddah a strategic cooperation agreement to expand the scope of partnership at Tianjin industrial complex, China, currently under construction. The deal inked during the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is designed to expand the heads of agreement (HOA) signed by the two companies on Jan 31, 2008, whereby SABIC will have 50 percent of the Tianjin complex joint venture together with a feasibility for adding a new product (polycarbonates) by using raw materials produced at the complex based on SABIC Innovative Plastics technology. The agreement also called for joint work in other future projects in China depending on each party capabilities in addition to cooperation in certain areas such as engineering services, project implementation, R&T, product marketing, and material procurement. Prince Saud ibn Abdullah ibn Thenayan Al-Saud, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and SABIC board chairman, signed for SABIC while Su Shulin, SINOPEC board chairman, signed for his company. The complex is expected to be completed in September 2009 with investments exceeding $2.5 billion. The overall production capacity of the complex will be approximately 4 million tons of different petrochemical products including 1.2 million tons of ethylene and other products such as poly propylene (PP), butadiene, phenol, and butene-1. China is the biggest world petrochemical market.
LIA
A three-day Leadership in Action (LIA) Youth Conference concluded in Dubai on Monday. Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, UAE minister of foreign trade, delivered the keynote address while other speakers and major organizations discussed key issues and trends interactively in what were the first major youth leadership video conferencing sessions in the Middle East. A special program of Manhattan Consulting Inc. USA, the conference selected 100 elite students to learn from inspirational video presentations and enhance leadership skills through unique formative activities. Participants were guided by highly experienced trainers from the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, a student event and leadership training specialist. “We all have very fond memories of our youth, which remain with us throughout the rest of our lives. These memories encompass beautiful experiences, friendships, difficult challenges and indelible achievements. The teenage and young years in our life are the most crucial because these years mark the cornerstone of our career and our future, whether we are able to achieve our dreams and whether we are able to make our mark in this world depends so much on the foundations we set during our formative years,” said Sheikha Lubna. “I’d like to encourage all the brilliant youngsters to step up and make a difference in society,” she added. Among the organizations participating in the event were Kiwanis International, NASA, and various regional educational institutions.
MANPOWER
Manpower Middle East, part of Manpower Inc., a global leader in employment services, released on Tuesday details of its recent ‘Relocating For Work’ survey, showing the UAE as a ‘Top 10’ destination for workers across the globe. The survey, which forms part of a worldwide research paper carried out by Manpower, asked 31,574 people in 27 countries about their preferred work destination, and the UAE came in at number six. Of workers already based in the Middle East, the UAE was number one destination, with Qatar fifth, Saudi Arabia eighth and Bahrain ninth. “The results of this survey are great news for the region,” said Varina Nissen, MD, Manpower Middle East, which has operations in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. “It means that people across the world are actively seeking employment in the Middle East, which drives the quality of talent up, providing employers with more choice of top quality candidates. “With the level of growth in the region, the demand for workers is at an all-time high. As the region continues to develop and build a reputation as a preferred destination for workers, we are likely to see more and more people wanting to move to the Middle East for career advancement opportunities,” Nissen added. The survey showed that 3.6 percent of all the respondents surveyed would be willing to relocate for a job anywhere in the Middle East region as compared to 2.1 percent who would relocate for a job in the Asia Pacific region or 0.3 percent who would move to Africa. Motivations for moving jobs, for those surveyed in the Middle East, centered around increased salary levels (81.4 percent), better employment opportunities (79.4 percent) and opportunities for career advancement (80.8 percent).