AMEX
American Express completed its purchase of the Corporate Payment Services (CPS) unit of General Electric’s Money subsidiary for $1.1 billion, which will substantially help cardholders of Saudi multinational companies in terms of better services. GE has signed a seven-year agreement to remain with American Express, which will convert all of the credit cards accounts it has acquired to the American Express brand. Priyan Attigalle, CEO, American Express (Saudi Arabia) Ltd., said: “The CPS was created 15 years ago to provide travel, entertainment and purchasing card accounts to GE employees. Since then it has added more than 300 large corporate clients. The unit also has a small business revolving credit card portfolio with 86,667 accounts from around the world while GE remains CPS’ largest client. He added: “There are lots of multinational companies with Saudi presence, which have GE credit cards and these companies will move now to American Express cards.” Fahad Mubarak Al-Guthami, American Express COO, said: “The expansion of payment solutions for corporations is our priority, and obtaining CPS has been significant to enhancing the payment solutions we provide globally.
Emaar Industries
Advanced Composites (AC), one of the leading producers of Fiber Glass Piping (FRP) systems for the infrastructural sector and a subsidiary of Emaar Industries & Investments, has announced the appointment of Dr. Raed Al-Zubi as GM and Murali Ranganathan as business development manager. Since its inception in 2000, AC has attained substantial weight within the construction industry for being one of the first producers of FRP systems, which pioneer the usage of fiberglass as opposed to concrete or steel. AC is also a member of Advanced Industries Group or AIG, a distinguished UAE-based industrial group comprising three base companies acting as leading players within the GCC’s manufacturing industry - Haseeb Rasoul, Specialized Metal Systems (SMS) and AC. AC’s new appointments aim to drive expansion of the company’s position within the industry with a focus on organizational and business development. AC has already supplied district cooling piping systems to major projects such as Dubai Festival City for Drake & Scull and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Moreover, AC is in the final stages of the Jumeirah Village Circle and Triangle projects for Palm District Cooling (PDC).
SFG
Global Finance, a premier magazine for finance and business, has named Samba Financial Group (SFG) “Best Islamic financial institution in the GCC region” during 2008. Global Finance has announced its first annual awards for the World’s Best Islamic Financial Institutions. In its announcement, the Magazine says “The winners of this year’s awards are those banks that contributed to the growth of Islamic financing and successfully met their customers’ needs for Shariah-compliant products, while creating the foundation for continued fast growth in the future”. The magazine indicated that Shariah-compliant finance is the fastest-growing area of finance worldwide, with more than 300 financial institutions that are either fully Islamic or selling Islamic finance products, in addition to several hundreds more Islamic investment banks and insurance companies, or takaful. Eissa Al-Eissa, MD and CEO of SFG said: “This Award reflects our enormous and orchestrated efforts to develop Samba’s Shariah-compliant banking and financial services, and drives us to proceed with developing our strategy to that direction.”
Samsung
Samsung electronics Co. Ltd. unveiled its new flagship model for 2008, Soul (Samsung U900), in Jeddah on Saturday. It was also launched at Murooj Al-Rotana and Le Meridien Hotels in Dubai. Boasting all the essential features, the U900 is a sleek combination of highly artistic designs and advanced technology. “Soul is the ultimate essence of mobile, a slim and stylish yet powerful mobile phone,” Sandeep Saighal, general manager of handheld phones at Samsung Gulf Electronics said. “We believe that Soul is what today’s consumers are looking for in a mobile phone. The fundamental direction of the design concept of Soul was to combine the essence of advanced technology with a stylishly designed mobile handset,” he added. Soul, only 12.9 mm thin, is equipped with professional photography functions including a five megapixel digital camera. “The phone is enhanced with advanced multimedia capabilities, which showcase up-to-date features such as face detection, image stabilizer and wide dynamic range,” Nitin Mohandas, Dubai-based sales manager at Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., told a press conference at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jeddah.
Audi
Saudi Arabian Marketing & Agencies Co. Ltd. (SAMACO) launched the new Audi A4 at its showroom in Jeddah on Sunday. “The new Audi A4 saloon is making its entrance confidently with a strong, sport design and an innovative technical concept,” SAMACO General Manager Salah Z. Yamout said in his media presentation. The new car offers many technologies adopted directly from the large luxury class. The Audi drive select, which changes the driving characteristics of the Audi A4 at the touch of a button ranging from sporty to comfortable, is a revolutionary move by the manufacturer first introduced in the new Audi A4 rather than in the top of the range Audi A8 or Q7. “Comprehensive standard equipment and many custom extras allow customers to fully personalize their Audi A4 saloon without any compromises. Overall, both emotionally and rationally, the new saloon is an excellent basis for the German premium car manufacturer to expand its foothold in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. It is equipped with various high-tech systems. It has an expressive, taut and dynamic design. It is being launched with a choice of two refined powerful engines.
