RIYADH: The water and banking sectors have dominated the Top 100 Saudi brands, which will receive their awards from Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel on Oct. 5.

In a press conference on Monday at the Council of Saudi Chamber of Commerce (CSC), Mohsin Shaikh Al-Hassan, awards spokesman, said the two sectors have made a great impact on residents of the Kingdom.

“Questionnaires were sent to 600 people who concentrated on water and the banking industries. One reason for choosing the water sector is the heat. They drink a lot of water these days,” Al-Hassan said.

For choosing banks, he said that this could be attributed to the fact that these have employed many Saudi employees who had been trained to render good service to satisfy customers.

“Compared to the past when bank staff seemed to be tough on customers, it's different nowadays. The staff members now are more courteous and accommodating and most of them are Saudis,” he said.

The water brands to be awarded include Najran, Delta, Safa, among others; while the banks include Riyad Bank, the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Al-Rajhi Bank, Samba, Alinma Bank, Saudi Hollandi Bank, ANB, Banque Saudi Fransi, Bank Albilad, SABB and Bank AlJazira.

Abdullah Saleh bin Ghazzi, acting director general of Asir Press and Publications Corp., said that the media in general represents a major source of building commercial brands in the mind of consumers.

“Therefore, the media plays a major in the launching of this initiative, which is the Top 100 Saudi brands, to know the most important brand in the Saudi market, which grips the consumers' attention,” he said.

He said: “This initiative focuses on Saudi brands in different areas such as services, trading, commerce and industry, among others.”

He added that the initiative encourages others to also build brands to compete with international trademarks. “This initiative stems from our social responsibility to serve the public and private sectors of the Kingdom and ultimately the country,” he added.

Certificates of appreciation were also handed out to members of the press who had been active in writing about the Top 100 Saudi brands project.

Also attending the press conference was Usamah Kurdi, president of Alagat Company, the organizing firm.