Rosewood Corniche
Rosewood Corniche, one of Jeddah’s luxury hotels, embraced the spirit of Ramadan to welcome 25 Children from a local orphanage for a festive sahur on the Eid Al-Fitr eve. The event was a celebration of the religious values of charity and community support that the holy month emphasizes and saw management and staff from the hotel interacting with the orphanage children. After the sahur meal, the management, headed by Executive Chef Richard Green, organized a hotel tour for the girls to see firsthand its amazing architecture and the sprawling views of the Red Sea. “The holy month of Ramadan is a time for people to give to others and perform charitable works, helping the less fortunate,” said Hans-Peter Leitzke, managing director of Rosewood Corniche. “Rosewood Corniche is proud to uphold those religious values and make a social contribution to benefit the local community. Meeting the children, talking to them and getting to know them as they enjoyed the sahur was incredibly rewarding and truly promoted the spirit of Ramadan.” Leitzke added.
Pearl Forum
The Dubai Pearl Exchange, a subsidiary of the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), is hosting the first-ever World Pearl Forum, with the objective of bringing together the global pearl sector and addressing ways to grow the worldwide market for pearl jewelry. The initiative, sponsored by Dubai World, is in accordance with DMCC’s continuing effort to revitalize the global pearl trade, and build on Dubai’s historic status as the pearl center of the Gulf. The event will be held at the Atlantis hotel, Palm Jumeirah from Feb. 17-18, 2009. The forum will see participation from more than 200 major pearl specialists from across the world. Senior representatives from pearl producers, national pearl bodies, certification specialists and jewelry trade experts will gather in Dubai — one of the first pearl capitals of the world — to address the opportunities and debate the latest challenges in the global pearl sector. “There is currently an unprecedented opportunity for Dubai to take a leadership role in shaping the global pearl sector, while at the same time underscoring Dubai’s heritage as the traditional pearl capital of the world,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman, Dubai World. “Initiatives like the World Pearl Forum will undoubtedly reposition Dubai at the heart of this industry.” Pearls presently represent about two per cent of the global jewelry trade, but studies show that the pearl trade has significant growth potential if all players collaborate to promote consumer awareness for the gem. “The objective behind the first-ever World Pearl Forum is to create a long-term platform for international debate on how to further develop the pearl sector globally, through a cohesive approach to educating consumers and fostering demand for pearls,” Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman, DMCC said.
Ewaan
Ewaan global residential company, a Saudi firm, has dedicated itself to develop lands for projects with the offer of integrated services for the middle class income population of Saudi Arabia. It aims to solve their problems because of the difficulty they face in owning houses whose prices are galloping. Ewaan is a partnership of a group of well-known corporations like Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development (ICD), which is part of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Real Estate Development Company, Public Pension Agency and Bahrain-based International Investment Bank, in addition to a group of private companies and businessmen. Ewaan has tried since its establishment to affiliate with international professional companies in real estate including the Canadian Trow International Company for project management. “Since most developers are concentrating on luxurious projects to cater for high income people, Ewaan has chosen to come to the rescue of the middle class people, thus serving a social cause, while also setting commercial goals for the company,” Mohammed Saleh Eid, CEO of Ewaan, said. “Our objective in participating in Citiscape 2008 is to spread this social message,” he added. One of the most important Ewaan projects is its first one in Jeddah, which contains 2,500 units with a budget of SR1.2 billion. This project aims to create an advanced residential environment with integrated services that will meet the requirements and limited budgets of the middle-income population. The project includes mosques, health care facilities and residential villas, plus educational facilities, a sports complex and an avenue.