Saudi Steel

US Consul General Thomas M. Duffy visited Saudi Steel plants at Jeddah Industrial Estate Phase 4 last week at the invitation of Mohamed H. Zakaria, CEO of Saudi Steel and senior vice president of Ahmed Salem Bugshan (ASB) Group. This was the diplomat’s first visit to any company since taking charge at the US Consulate in Jeddah recently. Duffy’s visit was part of the growing business relationship between Saudi Steel and US steel companies. Recently, ASB Group has approached America’s Export & Import Bank for more than $300 million to finance some of the group’s mega projects. Duffy was given a detailed power point presentation about Saudi Steel and the whole group that included comprehensive market data on global and regional steel, and soft drinks industry. The diplomat appreciated the company’s gesture of hosting US ambassadors and consuls general in the past and hoped that he would visit Pepsi Cola Bugshan plants in due course.
 
UNICEF

UNICEF’s Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa has announced its Regional Media Award 2010 on Child Rights. According to UNICEF, the Media Award rewards excellence in reporting in media on the situation and issues of children in the MENA region. Each year, the Media Forum agrees on the topic for the award for the year to come: for 2010, the topic is: Child Rights. Awards will be presented for five different categories: TV, radio, print, photograph and on-line (Web based). Awards are non-financial and will reward individuals not institutions. However, institutions employing the finalists and winners will be recognized. Works submitted must tackle local, national or regional issues directly related to the MENA region. Among the fundamental selection criteria jurors will consider are: The relevance and significance of the chosen topic, the quality and originality of the journalistic approach, the depth and accuracy of the investigative work, the effort involved in telling the story, objectivity and impartiality and the potential positive impact of the story. Judges will look favorably at solution-oriented pieces. Nominee works must adhere to the highest standards of journalism including clarity of expression, accuracy, fairness and strict observance of ethical guidelines in reporting on children’s issues and respecting the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
 
Ciena

Abu Dhabi-based network specialist Ciena Corporation has opened its office in Riyadh. “Data usage has quadrupled and broadband penetration more than doubled in the Kingdom during the last three years,” said Mashood Ahmad, Ciena’s regional managing director for Middle East. “There is, no doubt, that Saudi offers meaningful prospects for further growth, which makes it a very exciting market to operate in. With Ciena’s global expertise and market-leading product and services portfolio of converged optical Ethernet solutions, we are well positioned to play a key role in the rapidly developing communications infrastructure in the Kingdom,” he added. The company has also appointed Yasser Alobaidan as its country manager to lead the Kingdom’s operations. In his new role at Ciena, Alobaidan will focus on developing relationships with Saudi telecom operators for Ciena’s products and services, as well as building a local team of specialists to serve these customers. “The rise of broadband, data services and mobile applications that can be observed in the Kingdom raises the strain on existing networks and creates growing demand for next-generation infrastructures,” Alobaidan said. With regional headquarters in Abu Dhabi and global headquarters in Linthicum, Maryland, Ciena offers leading network infrastructure solutions, intelligent software and a comprehensive services practice to service providers, enterprises, governments, as well as research and education organizations across the globe.
 
KKUH/R&M

R&M has announced the successful completion of an end-to-end network solution for King Khaled University Hospital (KKUH), utilizing its innovative line of shielded twisted pair cabling. The implementation is the latest in a series of successful installments for the Swiss cabling specialist in the Middle East. As one of Saudi Arabia’s leading government health care facilities, KKUH is a full service hospital with currently 840 beds and plans for expansion into a medical city. The hospital provides primary and secondary care services for Saudi patients in the Riyadh area as well as tertiary care services to all Saudi citizens on a referral basis. Due to the Kingdom’s initiatives to provide world-class health care services for its citizens, KKUH needed to upgrade and implement a state of the art network infrastructure as the foundation for offering top line health care services. An important consideration for KKUH, however, was the presence of electromagnetic interference from hospital x-ray machines and radiology equipment, which can cause serious data transfer problems. Already, slow data transfer and bad network connections were delaying important procedures. Thus, it was critical that a suitable cabling infrastructure was implemented to ensure a robust network and safeguard against electromagnetic interference. R&M advised its most innovative shielded solution, the “Cat. 6A Shielded STP” (shielded twisted pair) cables to be used throughout the site to achieve optimal network performance and eliminate the effects from medical imaging equipment.
 
Gulf Air/CNBC

CNBC, a business and financial news channel, has announced a new branded-content deal with Gulf Air, the Bahrain-based international airline. The campaign is running on CNBC across Europe, the Middle East and Africa until February 2011. Gulf Air is sponsoring Who’s Who in the Middle East, a series of vignettes featuring interviews with leading business figures from the region, including Joseph Ghossaub, chairman and CEO of Menacom, Khaled Hassan Rashed, CEO of Corecap and Mohammed Al-Habtoor, CEO of the Al-Habtoor Group. CNBC has also produced a combination of 60 and 30 second advertising spots for Gulf Air, which will run throughout the campaign. Filmed on location in Bahrain, the messages of the spots vary. Some spots will showcase Gulf Air as a leading carrier in the region while others will feature Gulf Air employees giving a personal narrative about their passions, which reinforces the care and attention that lies behind the airline and its employees. Paul Maraviglia, VP Sales, EMEA at CNBC, said: “It’s yet another example of the innovative and targeted advertising solutions we can provide high-profile brands as they seek to reach the C-suite audience in the EMEA region.” Kyle Haywood, chief commercial officer, Gulf Air, said: “As the carrier with the largest network in the Middle East connecting the region with rest of the world, the campaign with CNBC across the EMEA region will further enhance its position as an international carrier with a leadership position the region.”
 
Umm Al-Qura/SABIC

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has announced that it has provided annual research funding to Makkah-based Umm Al-Qura University. This support represents part of SABIC’s wider program to enrich Saudi Arabia’s research and technology capabilities and will see collaboration with several other flagship universities in the coming times. Ultimately, this will enable the country to realize its ambitious economic and industrial objectives, while also advancing the education of Saudi population. SABIC provided the funding in the presence of Bakri bin M’atoog Al-Assas, president of Umm Al-Qura, and Abdullah bin Saeed Al-Amri, manager, external networks and projects, SABIC Technology and Innovation. The new move is expected to address a number of the Kingdom’s relevant industrial research needs and help achieve technology advancement in a sustainable manner through education. “SABIC’s programs to support research and innovation at universities have evolved significantly over time and cover a wide range of areas such as chemicals, petrochemicals, metals, fertilizers, polymers and industrial catalyst applications,” said Abdulrahman Al-Ubaid, SABIC’s executive VP, technology and innovation. “These programs have now expanded even further to also support research on safety, environment, health, pollution and the recycling of industrial waste through scientific methods. The collaboration is essential toward building synergies in research, education, and enterprise,” said Abdulrahman Al-Ubaid.