Riyadh Governor Prince Salman honored National Commercial Bank General Manager Abdulhadi Shayif with a plaque for sponsoring the 9th Graduation Day at the Institution of Public Administration in Riyadh recently and termed the gesture as a significant contribution toward the ongoing Saudization plan. The governor, who presided the event, presented diploma certificates to 1,345 graduates of preparatory programs and described them as part of the potential national work force. Shayif affirmed the bank’s effort to help Saudi youth undergo training and qualify for employment. “The bank considers this as its social responsibility toward increasing strength of Saudis in the work force,” he said. The bank has an ongoing program to support the Saudization process by preparing young Saudis for various jobs. The bank’s scheme includes a scholarship program to help deserving Saudis seek training as well as academic and technical excellence in a bid to qualify themselves in the ever-expanding job market of the Kingdom. The bank has also been assisting colleges and other institutions in setting up computers and technical workshops.
Hyundai/Wallan
Hyundai Motor Company’s Senior Executive Vice President & COO J.I. Kim and Senior Vice President for Middle East & Africa J.E. Kim are in Riyadh to discuss with their Central Province agent Wallan Group Chairman Saad Wallan plans to increase Hyundai’s market share in the Kingdom and take part in the 20th anniversary of Wallan Hyundai. Saad Wallan recently shared a plaque with Kim in South Korea on the occasion of Hyundai’s export of one million vehicles to the Middle East. Wallan was also honored for the successful completion of 20 years of partnership with Hyundai in Saudi Arabia. During this period the Hyundai brands gained a strong foothold in the Saudi market, with 2004 turning out to be a highly successful year for the automobile manufacturer. HMC launched two new products, Tukcson and Sonata, and continued its climb up the charts both in terms of sales volume and profitability. BusinessWeek in its issue of Jan. 10, 2005, quotes HMC Chairman Chung Mong Koo as saying the Korean auto maker virtually caught up with Toyota Motor Corp. Hyundai’s Sonata was the top-ranked car in the “entry midsize” category. Sonata scored first in the 2003 Initial Quality Survey conducted by JD Power and Associates which showed that more Hyundai customers come back to Hyundai for a second car than BMW or Mercedes-Benz customers do.
Qatar Airways/Starwood
Qatar Airways and Starwood Hotels have entered into a strategic partnership to provide members of their respective loyalty programs with an array of flight and accommodation benefits. Under the agreement, announced during the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, members of Qatar Airways’ frequent flyer program — privilege club will be able to earn “Qmiles” when staying at any of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts brands globally including Westin Hotels, Sheraton Hotels, four points by Sheraton, W Hotels, St. Regis Hotels and the Luxury Collection. To celebrate the new partnership, Starwood Hotels is offering privilege club members triple Qmiles for each stay at selected Starwood properties around the world during a three-month promotion starting June 1. In addition, members of the Starwood preferred guest program, who enroll with privilege club, will receive 500 bonus Qmiles for their first flight on Qatar Airways during the same promotional period. “We believe that this strategic alliance will add value to our customers at large and enhance their travel experience,” said Philippe Cassis, senior VP and regional director for Starwood Hotels in MEA. “The addition of Starwood’s six leading brands add significant depth to the airline’s growing stable of privilege club partners,” Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said.
Norasia
Norasia, a member of the CSAV Group, announced in Hong Kong recently that it will be launching its new independent AME (Asia Middle East Express) service in May 2005. This service will directly call Europe without a stop in the Mediterranean, making the AME one of the fastest port-to-port services linking Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The AME will be exclusively operated by Norasia’s dedicated vessels on the important Asia to North Europe trade route with port calls in the Red Sea and the Middle East on the return leg to Asia. The service will commence on May 18, connecting ports in China and Southeast Asia to Northern Europe and will deploy nine ships of around 4,000 TEUs capacity and speed of 24 knots. Norasia will provide all nine ships with the service capacity upgraded to 5,500 TEUs in the first half of 2006.
UYMN/LG
United Yousef M. Naghi Co. Ltd. (UYMN) opened a new showroom at Sari Street in Jeddah. This is its second exclusive showroom for LG Electronics’ home appliances and mobile phones. The first such showroom was opened in Dammam in 2004. With these two exclusive LG showrooms, UYMN’s Kingdomwide showrooms have increased to 18. These include 16 that showcase a variety of products from LG, Philips, Nardi and Meireles. UYMN President Ammar Yousef M. Naghi and LG’s Jeddah-based Country General Manager C.K. Cho jointly cut the ribbon to mark the opening of the Jeddah showroom, whose design and layout are the work of UYMN Marketing Support Services Manager Elias Al-Chami and his team. UYMN and LG executives present at the inauguration included Majed Ragaban, Ghassan Al-Ayash, Jeff Roh and B.S. Ahn.
GIB
New-York based Global Finance magazine has named Gulf International Bank (GIB) as the “Best Bank in Bahrain” after conducting a survey of the best emerging market banks in the Middle East and Africa. With input from industry analysts, corporate executives and banking consultants, the magazine editors selected the best bank in each of the 24 countries in the Middle East and Africa region. This exclusive survey is published in the May 2005 issue of the magazine, which specializes in international finance issues. According to Global Finance, “the criteria for choosing the winning banks included growth in assets, profitability, strategic relationships, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative products.” Dr. Khaled M. Al-Fayez, GIB’s chief executive officer, commented: “We are very pleased to receive another award that recognizes our leadership and achievements. The implementation of our new merchant banking strategy, which started in 2002, has strengthened GIB’s financial position, increased its profitability and widened its client base.”
Samsung
Samsung Electronics, a global leader in digital technology which unveiled an array of new information, display and telecommunications products at Gitex Saudi 2005, has announced that it is targeting revenues of $3.5 billion in the Middle East and Africa region for 2005. Maintaining its year-on-year growth of 30 per cent Samsung has reported a remarkable performance in 2004, with annual sales revenues in the region crossing $2.7 billion. “Samsung’s growth in the MEA region has been primarily led by its ability to successfully tap emerging markets as well as customers in developed ones with an extensive range of mobile phones, flat-panel displays and monitors. This year, we’ll continue to focus on major markets including, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan to further increase our sales and market share.” B. W. Lee, president and CEO, Samsung MEA, said. For 2005, Samsung has lined up a host of technologically advanced, first-of-its-kind digital products such as feature-powered PDAs, mobile phones, sophisticated software-enabled monitors, extensive line-up of flat-panel displays comprising LCDs and Plasma TVs, minimalist-design multifunction printers and sleek digital devices such as MP3 players and Digital Video Camcorders.
