MAGRABI

Magrabi Hospitals and Centers recently signed an agreement with the Saudi Human Resources Fund (SHRF), represented by its Eastern Province General Director Hisham Lanjawi. Magrabi will thus train the fifth group of high school students in order to prepare them for their career after graduation. The initiative came during a ceremony at the Saudi Work Exhibition that was opened by Deputy Minister of Labor Dr. Abdul Wahid Al-Hameed. Mansour Al-Omari, human resources director at Magrabi Hospitals and Centers, said: “Magrabi’s strategy goes in line with the Kingdom’s overall goals in localizing jobs and increasing the percentage of Saudi employees in all establishments, as Magrabi is considered to be one of the biggest institutions in the Kingdom and among the first corporations that formed agreements with the HR fund.”

NCB

The National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) private banking division has been named winner of the Euromoney Award for “The best local private bank in Saudi Arabia.” The announcement was made at the presentation ceremony, one of the highlights of the Annual Euromoney Awards held in London recently. The award recognizes the leading position that NCB private banking occupies in the Saudi market through the offer of world class private banking services to a select group of elite clients. Capitalizing on NCB’s long and distinguished heritage, these services are tailored to meet each individual client’s exclusive financial objectives by providing them with the ultimate in personal and private attention to their banking needs. “The local private banking sector is highly competitive and this award recognizes our leadership position among the Kingdom’s banks,” said Hazim Zaqzooq, head of NCB private banking.

Tetra Pak

Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) has honored Tetra Pak Arabia’s (TPA) Jeddah factory with its ‘Total Productive Maintenance’ (TPM) excellence award in 2008. Tetra Pak also received six more awards for manufacturing and consistency excellence for international plants in Italy, UK, Ukraine, India, Serbia and China. The TPM award recognizes plants, which fulfill the demanding requirements for continuous improvement, which entails reduced rates of machinery breakdowns, accidents and defects through employee engagement. “We are proud that our Jeddah Factory has received this important recognition from JIPM. The plant has been ranked as one of the top 10 factories in the Tetra Pak Group, based on the number of packs produced annually. This accolade is a testament of the quality and continuous improvement that Tetra Pak Arabia is committed toward offering to its customers in the Kingdom and across the region,” said TPA’s MD Amar Zahid.

SABRE/QA

Sabre Travel Network, the world’s leading travel distribution provider, has renewed its airline distribution agreement with Qatar Airways (QA), the national carrier of Qatar. The agreement provides Sabre travel agencies and corporations around the world with access to their content, including fares, schedules and availability through the Sabre global distribution system (GDS). “We have always been uniquely positioned to help airlines get the maximum yield for each seat sold through our extensive corporate, online and agency partnerships around the world. This agreement also guarantees Sabre-connected travel agents efficient access to Qatar Airways’ extensive range of fares,” said Martin Cowley, senior VP, Sabre Travel Network in EMEA. Qatar Airways said Sabre’s strong growth in the Middle East combined with its extensive global reach made the company an ideal partner to support the airline’s expansion plans, which include its new daily non-stop service between Doha and Houston being launched on March 30.

ATA

Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions Ltd. (ACE) is organizing autocare & transport arabia (ata), Saudi Arabia’s premiere international event for automotive aftermarket, transport infrastructure and commercial vehicles, at the Jeddah Center for Forums & Events in Jeddah from March 30 to April 2. Daily visiting hours are from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. “This first-time event, which focuses on spare parts, accessories & garage equipment, transport infrastructure and commercial vehicles, is an offshoot of the well-established Saudi International Motor Show (SIMS) that celebrated its 30th (pearl) anniversary last year,” ACE’s Exhibitions Director Zahoor Siddique said. Held under the patronage of the Ministry of Transport and sponsored by Zahid Tractor, ata’09 has the support and participation of groups and individual companies from China, Germany, UK, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Iran and the Arab world alongside a large contingent of local Saudi companies.

MOBILY

Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has extended its current prepaid offering recharge bonuses of up to 63 percent promotion to April 26, the company said yesterday. According to the terms of the promotional offer, Mobily customers who recharge their prepaid lines with more than SR60 worth of credit can get extra calling credit that ranges from 25 percent to a generous 63 percent, and up to a limit of SR1,000 in accumulated bonus credit. Recharges done using the SR60 card are granted SR15 bonus credit (25 percent), SR90 cards generate SR40 (44 percent), SR150 cards receive SR70 (47 percent), while the biggest bonus of SR150 comes from recharges made using the SR240 card.