Dr Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital’s psychiatry department is organizing its 10th Annual Jeddah Psychiatry Symposium titled “Psychiatric practice in the medical field” in collaboration with its Continuing Medical Education committee from March 2-3 at the Jeddah Hilton, Under the chairmanship of hospital CEO and consultant psychiatrist Dr. Mohammed Erfan. The event will focus on the importance of cooperation between the various experiences in the field of mental health, especially across different cultures in the East and West; cooperation of different disciplines for the integration of biological and psychological treatments to provide the best care for psychiatric patients; areas of cooperation between psychiatrists in the Kingdom and other Arab countries, Europe and America; and the development of a holistic outlook of the psychiatric patient from the psychological, physical and social points of view are among the symposium’s objectives. Dr. Erfan said the hospital was involved in psychiatry for almost 40 years and it was organizing the event jointly with Saudi psychiatric Association and many eminent psychiatrists in the Arab region. Participants will include representatives of the organizations concerned with psychiatric services including Egyptian Psychiatric Association and Arab Federation of Psychiatrists. “Mental disorders are highly prevalent and so there is great need for focusing on the latest developments in psychiatry,” Dr. Erfan added.
Al Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Co. (AJVA), the Ford and Lincoln importer-dealer in Saudi Arabia, received the Ford Service Excellence Certified seal of approval after passing a rigorous three-day assessment of processes and metrics as part of Ford Motor Company’s Service Excellence program - a unique customer satisfaction initiative created by Ford to improve parts and service processes in order to deliver a unique service experience and outstanding customer satisfaction. Service Excellence has proven a runaway success at more than 2,000 dealerships in over 40 countries worldwide.
It includes 12 key elements, including convenient appointment times, immediate and personalized service reception where customers are part of the initial vehicle inspection and fixed pricing before the start of the repair, to name just a few of the processes. Certified Service Excellence is an accreditation program designed to ensure that customers have a consistent satisfactory experience when visiting a certified dealership.
AJVA President Abdullah bin Fahad Al-Kraidees said: “Al Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Co. continues to invest in its facilities and people, and has some of the most effective systems, like service excellence, to reward customers for investing in the Ford, and Lincoln vehicles that we offer. Ford Middle East’s Regional Customer Services Director Chris Noel said: “Service Excellence is a crucial element of the overall value that Ford and its dealers offer to their customers.”
Demand for STC’s VERVE fiber optics service launched last month is “rapidly increasing” after quickly gaining customer confidence and satisfaction as the real Internet service that is driving Saudi homes into the new era of speed and smart applications.
STC is the first in the Kingdom to provide fiber optics to the home (FTTH) and VERVE offers real Internet in the home with record high speeds ranging from 40 to 100 mbps based on the package and with an attachment speed reaching 10 mbps.
VERVE enables the whole family to browse, transfer data, upload programs and run all applications, whether current or future, such as interactive network games, video conferencing, e-learning, health care and other services through various Internet protocol packages in addition to unlimited download capacities. The wide range of packages, including open and limited, allows customers to select what suits them at prices that are the lowest in the region. Launched as part of STC’s commitment to providing its customers with the most technologically advanced services, VERVE is a quantum leap in broadband applications in the Kingdom and opens up a whole new world of fiber to the home technology that will change the lives of thousands of customers. STC launched VERVE, the commercial name for its FTTH service, at a press conference held early February in Riyadh. Customers can subscribe to the service by calling the Customer Care Center on 907 or visiting one of the company offices across the Kingdom.
Abdullatif Alissa Automotive Company (AAAC), dealer of GM cars in Saudi Arabia, opened “Chevy Gear” store for a wide range of Chevrolet and GMC products and accessories for (Corvette - Camaro).
They, as well, opened “Saudi Corvette Club” headquarters and a new showroom at Al-Sulaymaniyah branch on King Abdulaziz Road in Riyadh. Najib Abdulhatif Alissa, chairman of National Automotive Trading Company (NAT), and Steve Brown, sales manager of GM Middle East, along with high-rank delegates from GM attended the event. Also present were Issam Mojalad, CEO of NAT, and Riad Johar, GM, AAAC, members of the Saudi Corvette Club led by its head Khalid Al-Sodairy, and a large number of the company’s clients and senior staff. “Chevy Gear” is the first store of its kind in the Middle East and offering the largest collection of a wide range of Chevrolet, GMC, Corvette and Camaro products and accessories, in addition to personal collectibles and accessories of these brands. AAAC claims to be the first of all GM dealers in the Middle East to open this store. The guests and media toured the store to get a close look of its astonishing contents and were briefed by several company officials about the new showroom. AAAC, a major company in automotive business and one of the oldest and most prominent names in Saudi Arabia, has a team consisting of professionals and highly qualified technicians with vast experience. The company is well organized and has adopted the most advanced and most sophisticated technologies.
Tetra Pak, a world leader in food processing and packaging solutions, has unveiled its new DreamCap, an ergonomically designed drink opening designed for the 21st century consumer.
Showcased during Dubai’s Gulfood, described as the world’s largest annual trade event for the food and beverage industry, and the most influential trade platform for the MENASA region, the DreamCap enjoyed its global introduction in partnership with Al-Rabie, the first Tetra Pak customer in the world to adopt the new packaging closure.
The leading fruit juice manufacturer in the Middle East, Al-Rabie applied the closure to its popular 330ml range of juices and chocolate flavored drinks, in response to today’s consumer demands for easy, practical and safe on-the-go drinking solutions.
Jan Juul Larsen, MD, Tetra Pak Arabia, said: “The Tetra Pak DreamCap perfectly meets consumer lifestyle demands. Not only has it been developed for easy on-the-go drinking, it has been developed with the shape of the face in mind to make it as easy and practical as possible. We are delighted that the introduction of this innovative product to the world should be taking place here in the Middle East in partnership with Al-Rabie - this is affirmation of this region’s importance on a global scale.” Charles Brand, EVP, marketing and product management at Tetra Pak, said: “Innovation is a key element running through Tetra Pak’s complete portfolio of processing and packaging solutions and the new DreamCap is an excellent example.”
Jadwa Investment, a Saudi investment bank, was named the “2010 Best Asset Manager in Saudi Arabia” at the EMEA Finance-Middle East banking awards ceremony in Dubai last week.
It was selected for the market-leading performance of several of its mutual funds during 2010. Previous awards include the “Best Asset Manager in GCC” for 2010 from World Finance and the “Best Asset Manager in Saudi Arabia” for 2010 from Global Investor.
The company was recently given an MQ2 management quality rating from Moody’s, the first asset manager in the region to receive Moody’s MQ rating.
Ahmed Al-Khateeb, MD & CEO, Jadwa, said: “This prestigious award recognizes the significant investments we have made since 2007 to build a world-class asset management capability. Our team has consistently delivered market-beating performance, as our track record and award winning performance demonstrates.” Fadi Tabbara, head of asset management and chief investment officer of Jadwa, highlighted the 2010 performance and said: “2010 was another strong year for Jadwa. Our flagship Saudi Equity Fund was up 17.70 percent, compared to benchmark performance of 13.57 percent. Likewise, our GCC and MENA Equity Funds were up 19.76 percent and 19.35 percent, versus respective benchmarks of 16.53 percent and 14.57 percent. Our Jadwa Africa Equity Freestyle Fund was up 30.57 percent, making it the highest performing listed equity fund in the Kingdom.”
LG Electronics and Al Oyoon charitable organization have banded together to support Jeddah’s families affected by the recent floods and donate LG products to help them set up their homes anew. LG’s LCD screens, refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, mobile phones, etc., will be given to the families based on their requirement.
Each family will be given any two or three LG products. With the help of the charity organization, 70 families have been short-listed to receive these products from LG. “The floods have uprooted hundreds from their homes and are still in need of our support. Every individual, every brand, every company must do everything possible to help the affected people in areas best suited to their core strengths. This way alone will we be able to maximize our impact and attend to the needs and help the society and community during their difficult of time. Hence, as a corporate brand, what we can do from our end is to give away LG products to needy families so that they can be useful to them while setting up their homes. This is one of the noble cause initiated by LG,” John Lee, Jeddah-based managing director of LG, said, adding that this initiative is a part of LG’s global corporate social responsibility objective to give back to the community.” LG is also launching a blood donation campaign under the same social commitment umbrella, Mohammad Khan, LG’s marketing and PR manager for Saudi Arabia, said.
Gemalto, a world leader in digital security, has announced that Mobily, a major mobile operator in Saudi Arabia, has started deploying its bio-sourced SIM, made with renewable material and easily recyclable. Mobily is one of the fastest growing wireless service providers in the world with more than 18 million subscribers.
This represents the world’s first commercial deployment of its kind. The Gemalto product is fully compliant with telecommunications standards and its card body is certified 100 percent compostable. The innovation answers a major challenge: Reducing environmental impact while providing high-standard technical properties. The new card enables Mobily to convey its visual identity by displaying their branding with colors and graphics of the highest quality level, while keeping their logistics and warehouse processes unchanged.
This eco-friendly initiative demonstrates that reducing environmental impact can be a springboard for both innovation and business development in the telecom industry. “Our goal is to contribute to the ecological friendly community, while enjoying the same usage experience,” said Samer Aldameri, VP, products and services, Mobily. Gemalto’s bio-sourced SIM perfectly matches all of our needs. Mobily is always at the forefront of innovation, and Gemalto is proud to support them in deploying yet another breakthrough new to the world product,” added Philippe Vallee, EVP, Gemalto.
