RIYADH, 1 January 2008 — Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) announced yesterday that Indian nationals residing in Saudi Arabia could now send MMS multimedia messages to anyone back home. From Monday onwards, Mobily customers can send pictures, recordings or video clips to friends and family in India, as the company now has live MMS interconnect agreements with both Reliance and Bharti Airtel. With the Indian deal, Mobily’s customers can send MMS messages to friends and family in 50 countries, and SMS text messages to more than 130 countries. For customers wishing to travel the globe, Mobily has over 300 roaming agreements with operators in 132 other countries for postpaid subscribers, and agreements with 102 operators in 57 countries for prepaid subscribers.
Yanbu Car Showroom
YANBU, 1 January 2008 — The Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu yesterday signed a contract to allocate 15,301 square meters of land to Al-Jazirah Vehicles to set up a car showroom at the Mehan District in the Yanbu Industrial City. Royal Commission Deputy Director General for Investment and Development Majid Al-Hadi and Nabeel Al-Hessain, director of Al-Jazirah Vehicles in the Western Region, signed the contract. “The contract is part of the Royal Commission’s plan to make Yanbu Auto Mall a specialized regional market for the sale of machineries, vehicles and accessories,” Al-Hadi told Arab News yesterday. The commission has signed several memoranda of understanding with car distributors to open showrooms. (Muhammad Al-Homaid)
EU Extends Aid to Jordan
AMMAN, 1 January 2008 — The European Union yesterday extended 26.7 million euros as additional aid to Jordan to enable it cope with the educational burdens resulting from admitting tens of thousands of Iraqis at public schools, Planning Minister Suhair Al-Ali said. “The grant is designed to help Jordan develop the infrastructure and carry out the educational development projects that enable it to absorb the Iraqi students into the country’s educational system,” she added. The Jordanian government has decided to accept 40,000 Iraqi students at public schools in the current scholastic year. Jordan acts as host to at least 500,000 Iraqis who fled their country for safety after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. (Abdul Jalil Mustafa)
