TFH
Bahrain-based Gulf Finance House (GFH) has launched North Africa’s first offshore financial center to be based in Tunisia. Tunisian President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali laid the foundation stone for the project recently. “The new Tunis Financial Harbour (TFH) will play host to some of the world’s leading names in finance, advisory and support services at a strategic crossroads between the European, North African and Middle Eastern markets,” GFH said. TFH is the second in a series of offshore financial centers initiated by GFH and was conceived in close partnership with Tunisia, which in recent months took significant steps and initiatives to pave the way for the initiative, including attractive tax, regulatory and foreign exchange incentives to prospective commercial residents from the world’s financial community.
ALFALAH
Dammam-based Alfalah Rent a Car Company has signed a cooperative agreement with Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) for training and qualifying, and employing a number of Saudis at its branches kingdomwide. HRDF’s Eastern Province Branch Manager Zaidan Al-Zaidan and Alfalah’s Vice Chairman Al-Tha’ar bin Libdeh inked the deal. This agreement is the first of its kind between both parties and aims to increase the percentage of Saudi employees in the company after training and qualifying them. “Recruitment of Saudi youths comes within our general framework of expansion and long-term plans. Our agreement with HRDF is the first step toward recruiting as many Saudi youths as possible to meet our expansion needs,” Libdeh said.
AL-WATAN/ALDESA
Kwadder Al-Watan Group (KWG) of Saudi Arabia and ALDESA Group of Companies of Spain have formed a joint venture with an agreement for general contracting and business development opportunities in the Kingdom and other parts of the GCC. Since 1992, KWG has remained a major business group engaged in diversified business in the Kingdom. By providing innovative and unique solutions to its clients’ challenges, KWG has earned a strong reputation across the Kingdom. ALDESA Group of Companies is the largest construction group in Spain. It has a spectrum of business lines such as construction of railways, highways, substations and airports, engineering and services, concessions, renewal energy and real estate development. The two companies have come together with an objective to compliment each other’s skills, capabilities and strengths to provide best services to the upcoming mega projects in the Kingdom.
VISION3
Vision3, conceived by Gulf Finance House, Abu Dhabi Investment House and Ithmaar Bank, signed a MoU with Morocco’s largest bank, Attijariwafa, signaling their intention to establish AgriCap Invest, a specialized food and agriculture focused investment institution in Morocco. The new firm will offer intelligent financial solutions to agricultural initiatives in Morocco and across North and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean and the broader MENA region. The joint venture initiative will offer a variety of tailored products and services encompassing advisory services, asset management, principal investment and equity underwriting and syndication, debt raising, mergers and acquisitions, investment structuring and broader project development. The creation of an agriculture themed investment firm will complement with King Mohammed VI’s ‘Morocco 2020’ vision for a green Morocco and the promotion of the environment, ecology and agriculture.
AL-MAZAYA
Al-Mazaya Holding has announced the launch of the 7 Zones warehouses, which extend over an area of over 12,000 sq.m. and is considered the largest warehousing facility in the Gulf. The management of the 7 Zones project has already begun receiving lease requests for the warehouses, which range in size from 70 to 743 sq.m., and offer high standards and flexible solutions that cater for the needs of leaseholders. Its AVP Marketing Jasim Al-Ghanim said: “7 Zones warehouses provide new and creative solutions, and a complete package of services, including cleaning, transportation, maintenance of personal possessions, round-the-clock security monitoring through state-of-the-art surveillance cameras and spaces specified for loading and unloading operations.”
Z CLUB
Z Club, described as Saudi Arabia’s first limited membership clubhouse has opened to members, launching a concept of exclusive, limited membership clubhouse that is common in other parts of the world, “yet unknown in Saudi Arabia.” An exclusive, limited membership luxury retreat for the city’s elite, the club opened with the first batch of 500 memberships recently. The SR40 million club has been conceived to provide the ultimate in personal luxury and exclusivity, said Z Club CEO Talal Zainy. “The club offers the very best luxuries and amenities that we can dream of anywhere in the world, but that is not what makes it so special. The fact that now, there is a members-only club in Jeddah, where the city’s elite can come and enjoy a very exclusive, private experience and feel at home, is what makes this different,” he added. Launched in collaboration with Frankfurt-based European Wellness Institute, the club offers several world-class facilities for members. These include a full-fledged gym, manned by experienced personal trainers.
OUTSOURCING
Regional companies are outsourcing most of their operations as the current financial crisis forces them to save operational costs, according to a regional expert. The expert, Dr. Ali Sharab, says: “Outsourcing enhances productivity and transfer skills. However, it is still a short-term solution. Laying off employees should stop in the Middle East.” He added: “Outsourcing gives companies the edge because they get the right competencies for the job; but this is a temporary option that will not work in the long run.” Dr. Sharab called for local outsourcing, instead of international outsourcing, because international companies do not know the market very well, and are usually liable to fail to provide specifically tailored solutions, except when it is merely a technical one, such as call centers. Outsourcing includes IT, CRM, support centers, web applications and maintenance, IT support, engineering support, call centers, content development and management, research and development and marketing.
CHRISTIE’S
An atmospheric watercolor The Kibab Shop, Scutari, by John Frederick Lewis (British, 1805-1876) is the highlight of the annual London Orientalist sale at Christie’s on July 9, 2009. The sale also includes a wonderfully detailed and evocative Ottoman market scene by the great Italian Orientalist Alberto Pasini (1826-1899), estimated at £300,000-400,000 ($460,000-600,000). Alexandra McMorrow, director and specialist in charge of the sale, said: “This collecting field has developed immensely over the last 10 years in part due to the interest in the category from collectors in the Middle East who are familiar with the exotic locations which so fascinated Western collectors in the 19th century. This is still a field where museum quality works can be found and new collectors are attracted by the range of estimates, which begin around £5,000.”
ICC
GCC small and medium businesses (SMBs) need to look at PR more seriously rather than merely as a tick box in their marketing strategies, according to a regional marketing communications expert. Firas Sleem, director, UAE Office, Virtue PR & Marketing Communications, speaking at the 1st International Consultants Conference (ICC) in Dubai, added that PR revenues from SMBs in the Gulf was just 15 percent, which is abysmally low considering that SMBs control more than 80 percent of the total projects. “Most SMBs in the Gulf are still not linking PR to their long-term business goals. Though these companies form the backbone of the GCC businesses, they are a long way from effectively leveraging PR for boosting their marketing strategies.”