WCMC-Q

With the support of Qatar Foundation, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) is hosting the DALM XVII International Symposium in Doha from March 14-16. It will be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in association with Hamad Medical Corporation, the Supreme Council of Health, the Qatar Diabetes Association and the International Atherosclerosis Society. It is the first time the prestigious conference will be held outside of New York City or Milan since it started in 1960 with the support of the Giovanni Lorenzini Medical Foundation. The conference will present the latest scientific research on the causes and treatment of diabetes, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome, particularly as they affect the MENA region. The disorders pose significant public health challenges for Qatar and other countries in the Gulf and around the world. More than 43 international experts will present scientific papers at the symposium and more than 500 physicians and health care practitioners will participate in the three-day scientific program, which will cover a wide range of topics including the genetics of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes, epidemiology, genetic dyslipidemias, hypertension, new pharmacological approaches, bariatric surgery, enhancing lifestyle and many others. "It is an important step in making scientific findings needed to address the emerging pandemic more accessible to physicians and health care practitioners in the MENA region," says Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCMC-Q."
 
SEHAI

The Saudi Electronics and Home Appliances Institute (SEHAI), a technical training institute specializing in electronics and home appliances established under the framework of Saudi Arabia-Japan Joint Task Force, accomplished the first on-the-job training (OJT) program in February. This was SEHAI's original program for the second year grade students. The target of the OJT was to make students understand the working concept at their sponsoring companies' service center, as well as how they could utilize their basic skills and knowledge, which they learned in SEHAI at the actual workplaces. In January, the first batch of 67 students started their four-week OJT program at their home companies, such as ALJ (Toshiba), Zagzoog (Fujitsu General), Ahmed Zainy Co.(Daikin), Olayan (Toshiba PC & Xerox), Modern Electronics (Sony), Alessa (Hitachi) and United Matbouli (Samsung) throughout the Kingdom. The SEHAI team comprised instructors and Japanese experts who visited the workshops twice in Makkah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Jazan, Dammam, Alkhobar and Hofuf to assess the situation. They appreciated the companies' well-organized efforts to receive SEHAI trainees. The checking criteria included punctuality, attendance, teamwork, attitude, appearance, English, communication skills with customers, basic skills and knowledge, and productivity etc. According to the mission members, they were satisfied that SEHAI students were relatively well trained in their own companies. The trainees returned to the institute for the 4th term.
 
ZAIN

Alcatel-Lucent said it has been selected by Zain Saudi Arabia for the first small cells trial. Through this project, the mobile operator can experience first hand how small cells effectively address its three main challenges: fill mobile coverage holes, increase the network's capacity to deal with mounting mobile data traffic and create new, value-added services in a rapid, cost-effective way. "Zain is the first mobile operator in the Kingdom to conduct a trial of Femto-based small cells, which clearly positions us as an innovator in the mobile broadband space," said Saad Al-Barrak, CEO and MD, Zain Saudi Arabia. "Partnering with Alcatel-Lucent, we want to assess how small cells can help us provide five-bar mobile coverage to our residential and business customers - even in circumstances where this has traditionally been a challenge, such as in in-building and rural environments." Zain has been looking for ways to increase the coverage of its network without having to invest in expensive macro site deployments. "As part of this project, we are providing Zain with our proven small cells product portfolio, which is being commercially deployed around the world," said Adolfo Hernandez, president of Alcatel-Lucent's activities in EMEA. "Alcatel-Lucent's small cells are plug-and-play and enable the creation and delivery of a new wide range of value-added services through the use of application programming interfaces, such as location, presence and security."
 
EEC/SHAMLA

Emaar, The Economic City (EEC), the Tadawul-listed company developing King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), recently announced the signing with Shamla Pharmaceutical Industries (a partnership between of major pharmaceutical companies - Saudi Arabia's Zimmo Trading Est., Egypt's Global Napi Pharmaceuticals and Syria's Unipharma Pharmaceutical Industries) for building a pharmaceutical factory at the Industrial Valley in KAEC. Once operational in 2012, Shamla's new factory is expected to create many new jobs opportunities, and to train and develop skills of Saudi talents. This agreement came in line with EEC's special attention to the pharmaceutical sector primarily because of the quality of jobs they will create and the products they will produce. The KAEC Industrial Valley currently offers fully serviced land plots varying from small to mega sizes. This has been a major need not only of international manufacturers but also of their local counterparts who want to expand their operations but cannot find the appropriate size of fully serviced land plots. Mohammed Zimmo, president of Saudi Zimmo Trading Est., said: "This alliance is the first of its kind between the three key industry players, setting the milestone for a major uplift in the pharmaceutical industry and contributing to its localization in the Kingdom." Ahmed Linjawy, president of the industrial and city services division at Emaar, the Economic City, said: "King Abdullah Economic City continues to attract giants from various industries."
 
GLOBE SUMMIT OF CHEFS

A “Globe Summit of Chefs” in which four internationally renowned grand chefs backed by many other chefs and support staff are showcasing their skills, kicked off at Al-Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh on Sunday. Peter Finamore, Al-Faisaliah's MD, said the event not only embodies the hotel's gastronomic excellence, but also affirms Riyadh's position as the Kingdom's leading culinary destination. "This food summit at Al-Faisaliah's Globe Restaurant is the most spectacular culinary event to be held in the Middle East," said Finamore. The STC (Saudi Telecom) is the platinum sponsor of the event, which will run until Feb.18. Finamore, who was joined by Al Faisaliah's Director of Marketing Khaled Al-Idrissi and chief PR consultant Diane Daudi-Clavaud, at a press briefing, said the four chefs from France, Switzerland, Spain and the US would create menus that include the essence of their respective regions in signature dishes that have earned them international culinary fame. The participating chefs include Julien Bompard, Peter Rudolph and Mauro Colagreco. Also at the restaurant, guests will have the chance to enjoy intricate confectionery masterpieces and an innovative chocolate menu prepared by Chef Rolf Muerner, patissier extraordinaire and winner of numerous awards including Patissier World Champion in 2007. Lufthansa, another sponsor of the event, has flown in fresh ingredients required for the many exquisite dishes on the menus, as well as the chefs.
 
ALJ/TOYOTA

Hamid Hamad Hamid Aldaraan, a 42-year-old science teacher from Al-Jouf who drove his Camry 1999 model for more than 500,000 km, has been recognized by Toyota for his loyalty to the brand and maintaining his car regularly at ALJ (Abdul Latif Jameel Co.) service centers while awaiting the delivery of his new Camry GL Limited. "I was given my first Camry as a wedding gift by my brother, that's why I am very emotionally attached to this car. However, I am sure I will enjoy driving my new car as much as I did driving my old Camry," said Aldaraan. "I especially want to thank the ALJ service center in Al-Jouf and the people working there for their excellent work maintaining my car over the years." Aldaraan's new Camry GL Limited has alloy wheels, fog lamps with LED cover, rear lip spoiler, 2 DIN Audio integrated with radio, cassette, CD, MP3, USB, Bluetooth function as well as six speakers. Driving the car over 500,000 km, which is equivalent to 12 trips around the world, says a lot about the joy and reliability Aldaraan experienced and also the quality of the Camry as well as ALJ's maintenance service. "Optimizing time, effort, effective material management and quality performance are the pillars that our service centers operate on," said Othman Abdullah Al-Orabi, director at ALJ's national service division. "Our workshops provide genuine Toyota parts and are manned by highly qualified technicians who use sophisticated tools and equipment with the latest technology for vehicle maintenance.