LONDON: Five Saudi institutions — the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Bank AlJazira, Dar Al-Arkan Real Estate Development Company, Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Ra-Yek Real Estate Company — won awards at this year’s International Real Estate Finance (IREF) 2008 Awards of Excellence, which was held at the Park Plaza Hotel in London recently.
The awards were given in recognition of the outstanding achievements of various financial institutions and individuals serving the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and UK real estate sectors and the Islamic finance industry, especially during a time of great upheaval in the global financial system.
The two guests of honor at the awards ceremony were Liz Peace, chief executive officer of the British Property Federation, and Abdulgader Amir, vice mayor for Planning and Urban Development at Jeddah Municipality.
The NCB won the award for the “Best Financial Institution in Saudi Arabia,” Bank AlJazira was recognized as the “Best Islamic Financial Institution in Saudi Arabia,” Dar Al-Arkan won the award for the “Best Residential Developer in Saudi Arabia,” SEC was recognized as having the “Best Islamic Financial Transaction in Saudi Arabia,” and Ra-Yek Real Estate won the award for the “Best Commercial Developer in Saudi Arabia.”
This year IREF also pioneered the inaugural Zaki Badawi Award for Excellence in Shariah advisory, which was awarded to Sheikh Nizam Yaquby of Bahrain.
At the ceremony, which took place on the evening of the first day of the IREF 2008 conference organized by ICG-Events along the theme “Building Bridges for Future GCC and UK Real Estate Relations,” Sheikh Yaquby stressed that of all the awards he has received over the years, the Zaki Badawi Award for Excellence in Shariah advisory meant the most to him because it was given in the name of the distinguished Azharite Shariah scholar, the late Zaki Badawi who died in January 2006.
Badawi, who was honored by the British government first with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) and then a Knighthood, was a member of Bank Negara Malaysia’s National Shariah Council and a member of Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA’s) Shariah board.
He also served on the boards of several financial institutions including the RHB Islamic Bank.
