KTV Middle East, a global technology leader and the first to own a LCD screen industry in the Middle East, has signed a contract to supply 400 LCD screens of various sizes to Ramada Al-Mubarakiyya Hotel, Dammam. The deal, which followed similar ones in which KTV supplied more than 2000 LCD TV screens to Ramada Al-Hamra and Ramada Al-Qibla hotels, both in Madina Al-Munawwarah, Ramada Al-Bukaira in Al-Qaseem and Ramada Continental Hotel in Jeddah, is part of the Korean company’s business strategy of targeting new hotels in the marketing of its products in the region. KTV has recently been ranked the third biggest LCD TV screen industry in South Korea. Hisham Khabbaz of the Talal Al-Ghunaim Real Estate Group signed the agreement for Ramada Al-Mubarakiyya, in his capacity as consultant of the project, while Abdullah Abubakar Baashin, KTV’s director of operations in the Middle East, signed the agreement for his outfit at a ceremony held in Linco Company, the sole distributor of KTV products in Saudi Arabia. KTV manufactures Crystal television screens in a variety of sizes, starting from 20 inches up to 82 inches, using first class category “A” Korean-made crystal plates of high-quality and reasonable prices and guarantee for a period of five years for the use of all costumers. Baashin said: “This agreement re-affirms the success of KTV’s marketing strategy, which targets hotel projects in various parts of the Gulf region. We are close to sealing some other agreements with a group of hotels being managed by a reputable international hotel company of the same status as Ramada.”
7UP Limonado
7UP, the GCC’s ever popular year-round refresher, has launched an innovative new premium product, Limonado, a naturally refreshing lemonade-inspired drink with no carbonation and no sugar that has the nostalgically pleasing taste of lemon and lime. “Limonado is an important new addition to the soft drinks market, offering consumers a delicious non-carbonated option that is sure to please with its refreshing citrus flavor,” said Rashid Sharaf, marketing manager at PepsiCo International. “Sugar-free soft drinks are winning a significant market share throughout the GCC, but Limonado is not only for the diet-conscious, it is a soft drink for anyone and everyone who loves lemonade — and who doesn’t — and wants to taste a new experience that is a fresh take on the popular lemon and lime combo.” Limonado is available in 300ml fully sleeved non-returnable bottles priced at SR2 per bottle. The GCC-wide launch features striking in-store displays together with free sampling for consumers.
Kika
The first Kika Furniture Store in the Middle East was opened in Riyadh recently, with Austrian Ambassador Friedrich Stift gracing the inaugural ceremony held in a floodlit ambiance alive with the droves of guests present on the occasion. “The inauguration of the first Kika Furniture Store in Riyadh, the first outside Europe, is indeed a welcome development since there is a great demand for European designer furniture in Saudi Arabia,” Stift said. He also noted that while Kika is a well-known brand name, its prices are also reasonable. Strategically located at the newly-developed Galleria Mall, northeast of Olaya street in Riyadh, the 18,000-sqm. store showcases some 20,000 items, including high-quality collection of furniture and home accessories and end to end solutions ranging from decor planning to delivery and installation, all under one roof. Stift also said that the opening of the first Kika store in Riyadh does not only come at a time when 50 years of friendship between the two countries is being celebrated this year but it also helps increase the bilateral trade volume. He noted that in the last few years, trade between Austria and Saudi Arabia has improved significantly. “In 2006, Austrian exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 47%. I hope that this positive trend will continue in the years to come as there is still a great potential,” he said. Since last June, Saudi Airlines has also been flying directly to Vienna from Jeddah and Riyadh. As a result, he said, there has been an increase in the number of Saudi tourists to Vienna by more than 100 percent.
ASHRM
As part of its educational programs, the Arabian Society for Human Resource Management (ASHRM) will be hosting a presentation on “Future Upstream Innovation: Technology & HR” in the Chamber of Commerce, Dammam, on Dec. 11, 2007 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The presentation will focus on future innovations in the oil industry, and what is envisaged to be the most influential technologies of the next two decades. Dr. Muhammad Al-Saggaf, head of EXPEC Advanced Research Center that manages Saudi Aramco’s upstream research and development activities, will be the presenter. A graduate of Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development, Al-Saggaf is a recipient of several awards, including the Technology Achievement Award, Creative Contribution Award, and the SEG J. Clarence Karcher Award.
Tefal Vitamin+
Tefal has launched the Vitamin+ in the Middle East providing regional consumers with a healthy cooking option. Cooking with steam provides for healthy nutrition and does not necessarily mean giving up your favorite dishes. Using steam, you can enjoy your vegetables, fish and other food without a gram of fat. “A steamer offers a healthy cooking option as steaming preserves most of the natural vitamins, mineral salts and other nutrients vital for good health,” said Vincent Berry, marketing director of Tefal. With Steam Cuisine Vitamin +, up to 50 percent time on steaming is saved. And this will preserve more vitamins than any other steamer. As an example when steaming broccolis, up to 86 percent of the vitamins is saved with Vitamin+ versus 67 percent on a traditional steamer.
Oral-B /Crest
Oral-B and Crest Arabian Peninsula bring their four-month long Share Your Smile campaign to a close with the presentation of checks to charities in Dubai and Riyadh. As part of the campaign, Oral-B and Crest donated AED50,000 to Rashid Pediatric Therapy Center in Dubai and SR75,000 to the Disabled Children’s Association in Riyadh. The campaign launched in August of this year, called on GCC residents to share photographs of themselves smiling or the toothy grins of their family members in a bid to break a Guinness World.
