RIYADH, 25 April 2005 — Prince Faisal Bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group, was last night named “The Man of the Year 2004 in Business” at the Saudi Achievement Awards 2005 ceremony organized by Arabian Business, a leading business magazine published by ITP Business Publications in Dubai.
Since he took over as the chairman of the company, the group has grown from strength to strength by forging strategic alliances with neighboring media companies in the Gulf states. Today SRMG has been rated as the largest media company in the Middle East, North and Central Africa. All these efforts have made Prince Faisal a distinguished businessman in the Arab world.
The ceremony at Al-Faisaliah Hotel was held under the auspices of Prince Sattam, deputy governor of Riyadh. It was attended by several princes, businessmen and the elite of Saudi society.
Speaking to Arab News, Walid Akawi, managing director for ITP Business Publications, said this year’s distribution of Arabian Business awards “brings together the cream of the business community.”
“Not only does the event showcase the advances made in the Kingdom, but it also demonstrates ITP’s businesses commitment to the Saudi Arabian market,” he added.
In his keynote speech, Akawi said in the past there was only one award reserved for achievements in the electronic field. “However we are giving away 21 awards today which emphasizes the importance of the business sectors in the Saudi economy.”
This year’s Saudi Achievement Awards were:
1) Best Corporate SMB Solution: CISCO. The award was presented on behalf of the company to Dr. Badr ibn Muhammed Al-Badr. CISCO has been providing solutions for small and medium companies. In 2004 it provided several technologies that provide solutions in this sector.
2) Best Open Source Co.: Holool. The services provided by Holool in the IT sector had a large impact in the Saudi market due to its low-cost security features and capability to adjust to the needs of the consumer.
3) Best Aviation Co. of the Year: Al-Wallan Aviation. The award was presented to Saad Al-Wallan, CEO, Al-Wallan Aviation. Having been in the field of aviation for years, Al-Wallan established his own private aviation company and is now the sole agent in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Jordan and Yemen of LearJet and Cessna Citation, both aircraft that are made specifically to transport VIPs and businessmen in the most luxurious atmosphere.
4) Best Automotive Co.: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors (BMW). The award was presented to a representative of Mohamed Yousuf Naghi, chairman and CEO of Al-Naghi Companies.
5) Best Property Developer: Dar Al-Arkan. The company is the only real-estate developer in the market which has taken upon itself the establishment of projects that are worth SR800 billion for middle class citizens. In addition, it has launched the first real-estate fund for housing units on a lease basis which extends to 20 years.
6) Best Corporate Social Responsibility: Al-Jiwar Co. Jiwar Al-Haram is one of the leading companies in real-estate development in the field of religious tourism. Today the company is constructing housing units near the Grand Mosque of Makkah worth SR8 billion. The company is well-known for supporting charitable and social projects all over the Kingdom.
7) Best Courier Co.: UPS. The award was given to Mamdouh Ghazali on behalf of the company. UPS was chosen by many companies in the Kingdom for being the fastest and reliable courier service.
8) Best E-Government Solution: Zuhair Al-Fayez Co. for IT Solutions. The award was given to Al-Fayez whose company has become a distinctive symbol for providing IT solutions for e-government.
9) Best Initiative and Innovative Co. of the Year: IJADA. The award was given to Bakr Binladin on behalf of the company. The company has developed many IT solutions for Saudi companies. It has also participated in increasing the operational efficiency needed by companies in various sectors.
10) Best Retail Co. of the Year: Al-Othaim Commercial Co. The award was given to Abdullah ibn Saleh Al-Othaim. The company is considered to be among the leading consumer companies that provide wholesale items in the Kingdom since its establishment two decades ago.
11) Best in Corporate Banking: The Saudi Investment Bank. The award was delivered to Saud ibn Saleh Al-Saleh. The bank is known for providing many services to a large diversified sector of consumers.
12) Best in Retail Banking: National Commercial Bank. The award was presented to Abdul Hadi ibn Ali Shayef. NCB, which is among the oldest and well-known banks in the Kingdom, has undergone expansions since last year by developing several branches inside commercial sectors which stresses its focus on consumers.
13) Best in Hospitality: The Al-Faisaliah Hotel. The award was given to Michael Gibb, managing director, regional vice president. The hotel is among the finest in Riyadh.
14) Best Businesswoman of the Year: Princess Hessa bint Khaled Al-Sudairy (Unique Female Services Center). She is considered among the first Saudi businesswomen to establish a center that specializes in the training and rehabilitation of Saudi women and in several areas like management, training and computer science.
15) Best in Business Development: Oracle. The award was delivered to Abdulrahman Al-Thehaiban, the CEO of the company. Al-Thehaiban managed in a short period of time to establish good relations with his consumers.
16) Best Petrochemical Co. of the Year: SABIC. The award was presented to Prince Saud ibn Abdullah ibn Thunaiyan Al-Saud, CEO. It is among the leading companies in the world in petrochemicals. It is also a powerful economic force for the Saudi industry.
17) Best Corporate Communication Mechanism Book Writer: Abdullah ibn Hamoud Al-Shehri from Saudi Association for Media and Communications. His book published under the title, “Public Relations and Communication Methods,” is considered to be unrivaled in its own class because it stresses public relations and its importance in developing good relations with the media on the one hand and the corporate communications with the Arab world.
18) Best Corporate Campaign: STC. The award was given to Saad ibn Dhafer Al-Qahtani from the company who handled the company’s campaign logo “Together for a Promising Future”.
19) Public Relations Man of the Year: Sultan Al-Bazie (Dar Tariq Media). His efforts helped in the success of the first municipal elections in Riyadh. Coordinating between the Saudi media, the foreign media and government sectors, he was able to tackle his mission successfully.
20) Business Management: Prince Turki ibn Abdullah ibn Abdulrahman Al-Saud (Dar Al-Riyadh Holding Co.). Under Prince Turki’s leadership, the company has gone global and is maintaining a steady development and productivity rate.
21) The Man of the Year 2004 in Business: Prince Faisal Bin Salman, chairman, SRMG.
