HALAL EXPO
Orange Fairs & Events has announced the launch of “Halal Expo 2009”, an event for the halal industry, which is slated to run from Nov. 10-12 at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. Now into its third year, the event, endorsed by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is set to host more than 200 brands from 34 countries and is expected to be 100 percent bigger than its previous edition. The expo seeks to provide an avenue wherein importers, exporters and consumers can converge and convene to develop ways to further grow the market while expanding their own networks across the global market. “Amid this economic crisis, the region has experienced a growing demand for halal and Shariah-compliant products, which is being further driven by the growing cooperation among market players across the globe on a single quality standard for halal products,” said Raees Ahmed, director, Orange Fairs & Events.
ZAHID/AL-THEYAB
Al-Theyab Transportation, a major transportation company in Saudi Arabia, has signed a contract with Zahid Tractor Commercial Vehicle Division for the supply of 100 Volvo trucks. The first batch of the order has already been delivered as part of Al-Theyab’s fleet expansion plan. The contract was signed in the presence of Yousef Al-Theyab, CEO of Al-Theyab Transportation, Yousef Zahid, Zahid Tractor’s Management Representative and Marwan Azraq, regional manager for commercial vehicle division in Central Province, in Riyadh. Yousef Zahid described it as the beginning of cooperation between the two companies. “After thorough studies into the best way to upgrade our fleet we chose the Swedish Volvo trucks because of their reliability, cost of operation and long life,” said Yousef Al-Theyab.
MLA
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), the international marketing arm of Australian meat producers, has appointed Lachlan Bowtell as regional manager Middle East & North Africa with the responsibility to maintain and increase the Australian meat and livestock industries’ leading market positions across the GCC, the Levant, Egypt and the Maghreb countries. “The region is home to some of the most lucrative MLA markets with Saudi Arabia and UAE topping many categories in terms of regional sales,” said Bowtell. “Australian meat and livestock is revered across the region for its nutritional value, halal attributes, food safety protocols and unsurpassed taste, texture and quality and our job at MLA is to ensure that all our customers in the region always make an informed choice about the meat and livestock they select, for whatever purpose. It is an absolute privilege to be able to work in a region that is experiencing such growth and the challenges this brings”, added Bowtell.
ORASCOM
Orascom Development Holding AG (Orascom Development) has held its ground-breaking ceremony marking the start of construction of the Andermatt resort, the first integrated holiday resort in the Alps. During this first development phase, the Chedi hotel, basic infrastructure as well as an 18-hole championship golf course will be built. It is expected to be operational by winter 2013-14. The project comprises six hotels with 844 rooms, 490 apartments, 20-30 villas as well as considerable infrastructure and leisure facilities (golf course, sports center, conference center and concert hall, modernized ski installations). Sales of the real estate units are due to commence this autumn. “The project is designed to the highest ecological standards and targets to be operated on a carbon-neutral basis. Furthermore, the center of the resort will be totally car free to reduce emissions and pollution. This milestone was reached in a short period of time and without objections,” the company stated.
MBC/ALBAIK
ALBAIK, Saudi Arabia’s chicken and seafood restaurant chain, has enlisted the support of the MBC media group as co-sponsors of the Nazeeh & Wartan anti-littering campaign. “We are very pleased that MBC is partnering with us in our efforts to keep our beautiful city clean and free from unsightly litter,” said Rami Abu Ghazaleh, CEO, ALBAIK Food Systems. “As an influential communications network, they are ideally suited to support Nazeeh & Wartan by broadcasting their environmental awareness messages to the widest possible audience.” MBC is participating in Albaik’s campaign by further delivering the anti littering messages from Nazeeh & Wartan and is also joining the duo in various campaign events and activities. A special feature of this year’s anti-littering campaign was the participation of the “Clean Environment Team Volunteers” made up of members from the Friends of Jeddah, part of the Jeddah Municipality Development programs, and Youth Teams from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth programs.
CITYSCAPE
Cityscape Dubai is taking place in Dubai from Oct. 5-8. “We have been emphasizing for some time now that the objectives for many developers exhibiting at Cityscape Dubai is to reassure existing and potential investors,” said Rohan Marwaha, MD, Cityscape. “Clearly, no-one is expecting to see multi-billion dollar project launches or major finance deals being brokered. Instead they will be focusing on transparent progress reports on existing projects with realistic completion milestones and handover dates.” He added: “Exhibitors and participants will continue to have access to private and institutional investors as well as other real estate professionals from around the world, which is critical if developers are to get their message across effectively to their target audience. While the quantity of participants may have declined from previous peaks, the quality is being maintained with strong participation by major players in regional and international markets,” he added.
WFES
Abu Dhabi, the emerging global hub for renewable energy, will be the venue for the largest and most diverse gathering of world leaders, investors, policy makers, researchers, financial institutions and experts dedicated to the sector from Jan. 18-21, organizer of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), have said. Held with the support of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the third edition of WFES will be hosted by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted renewable energy and sustainability initiative. The anticipation surrounding WFES 2010 is set to increase following the decision in June to base the global headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi. Sultan Al-Jaber, CEO, Masdar, said the expansion of WFES reflected the growing international profile of Abu Dhabi in renewable energy and the summit’s vital contribution to the sector, Frederic Theux, president of WFES organizer Reed Exhibitions Middle East, said.
MASTERCARD
The current financial downturn is not stopping consumers from doing their bit to help the less fortunate. A survey by MasterCard Worldwide found that 57 percent of consumers in the Middle East and Levant have plans to contribute toward a charitable cause in the second half of the year. Consumers in Kuwait (79 percent) and Qatar (75 percent) are opening their hearts and wallets as the highest proportion of consumers planning to make donations. Consumers in Saudi Arabia (64 percent), the UAE (52 percent), Egypt (49 percent) and Lebanon (28 percent) are also planning to make donations in the second half of the year. In the Middle East and Levant, men (60 percent) are slightly more inclined toward making a charitable contribution than their female counterparts (53 percent). “In the Middle East and Levant, it is interesting to see that the majority of consumers are looking to give a portion of their annual income to charity and help the less fortunate despite the financial downturn,” said Raghu Malhotra, area business head, Gulf countries, Middle East, MasterCard Worldwide.
