New Jeddah university to be opened

JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal will launch today the University of Business and Technology in Dahban, north of Jeddah, in the presence of prominent personalities including academics, intellectuals and businessmen.
Abdullah Dahlan, president of UBT’s board of trustees, thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for giving his approval to the establishment of the university after it fulfilled necessary conditions.
The new private university has been established by amalgamating existing colleges of business administration, engineering and information technology and advertising. “We are happy that the UBT launch takes place on the Kingdom’s 82nd National Day,” Dahlan said.
Speaking about the university’s history, the president said it began with an institute in 2000 with 33 students. After three years it was transformed into a college of business administration.
“The number of students in the institution rose to 3,000 in no time,” he pointed out. The college launched MBA courses in 2008, and in the same year it launched the College of Engineering and Information Technology.
He said the College of Advertising would start studies in February 2013.
He emphasized the importance of the Advertising College, saying 96 percent of workers in the advertising industry are non-Saudis. “Until recently, the field of advertising was not taken seriously by planners despite its significance,” he added. “Therefore, the establishment of a special college to teach advertising will provide youths with a rare opportunity to study advertising according to international standards without the need to travel abroad.”
Dahlan noted that many of those involved in advertising in the Kingdom at present do not hold specialized degrees. He also said the expansion and diversification of the advertising tools such as Internet, satellite channels and road posters made it imperative on those working in this field to upgrade their capabilities and knowledge.
With a 60 percent share, the Saudi advertising market is the largest in the Gulf. It grows annually between 20 percent and 30 percent reaching a volume of SR 10 billion, he said.