Apollo Opens First Regional Office In Dubai To Triple Sales To About $300m In The Next 3 To 5 Years And Grab 10% Of Market Share

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India’s leading tyre manufacturer, the US$ 2 billion Apollo Tyres Ltd, announced recently its plans for the Middle East market at a media gathering in Dubai. The region will be catered to by exports out of India, with Dubai as the hub of operations.

The region has traditionally been one of Apollo’s strongest export markets, out of India, accounting for about 30% of export revenues. The company already has a distribution network in the Middle East, spanning 14 countries and 23 Business Partners. The Middle East also has infrastructure and tyre usage very similar to India’s, which is why Apollo’s products have always enjoyed high acceptance in the region.

Dubai, as the world’s largest free trade zone with strong financial systems and legislation, is the perfect business destination. Dubai is also strategically located with easy access to the 1.5 billion strong consumer market in the GCC, West Asia, Africa and East Europe. Dubai itself is the largest tyre distribution hub in the region, and provides a booming domestic market with 1 car to every 1.8 individual.

“As a company we are currently in our 2nd phase of global expansion. The Middle East region has always been a natural extension of our markets in India. Our tyres have enjoyed a very high demand in the region, for years now. However, due to capacity constraints at our end, we have not been able to fulfill the local demand. I am happy that we have crossed that. With an active sales and service team based here, we will now be able to provide our customers in the Middle East the service and operational excellence they deserve.” Said Satish Sharma, Chief, India Operations, Apollo Tyres Ltd.

“We plan to triple sales to roughly $250-$300 million in the next three to five years. The Middle East is our biggest export market, representing about 30-40 per cent of our export earnings. The equity of our brand is much ahead of its availability in the market”. He added.

To this end, Apollo recently opened its first and largest office outside its operations in India, Southern Africa and The Netherlands. This 2,000 square feet office located in the JAFZA Free Economic Zone will be the company’s base in Dubai, and the reporting base for employees in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Apart from an office, the company has also taken up an expandable 10,000 square feet of warehousing space in Dubai, to stock its tyres locally for speedy demand fulfillment in the region. This also enables Business Partners to have low inventories, cutting down on stocking costs; the ability to pay in local currency with no bank charges, and of course faster demand fulfillment to the end customer.

“The office, network of employees and local warehousing facility will allow us to address customer demands effectively; while our entire range of tyres tuned to this market, along with our service proposition, will allow us product leadership over time,” mentioned Satish Sharma, Chief, India Operations, Apollo Tyres Ltd. He added: “This is a high potential market, where the Dubai tyre distribution and re-export trade is valued at US$ 1.5 billion, and expected to grow by 30% in the next 5 years. In that time frame I am looking at Apollo garnering a high single digit, if not 10%, of this market’s share.”

Apollo Tyres has already invested around US$ 2,50,000 in creating appropriate permanent infrastructure for its business needs in Dubai; and is projecting investments and expenses of around US$ 1.5 million on an annual level, starting this year.
 

Fitness First Wellness Festival-Yogathon Spreads Awareness About Adopting Healthy Lifestyle

Fitness First, the world’s number one health and fitness club chain and a part of the Landmark Group in the MENA region, today announced more than 200 enthusiasts participated in the ‘Fitness First Wellness Festival – Yogathon’.

Organised to spread awareness about adopting a healthy lifestyle, the event saw people from all walks of life enthusiastically joining the 108 rounds of sun salutation at the Safa Park.

Participants were also offered free blood glucose level screening under the ‘Beat Diabetes’ programme, a Landmark Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, along with the campaign’s medical partner Zulekha Hospital. The event was also used as a platform to raise funds for Dubai Autism Centre.

Gary Knill, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Fitness First, MENA, said: “At Fitness First, our continuous endeavour is to reach out to more people and educate them about the significance of adopting a healthy lifestyle. The overwhelming response to this event has encouraged us to offer many more similar platforms in the future and reach out to even more in the community. Fitness First is also privileged to donate the event’s proceeds to the Dubai Autism Centre.”

Type-2 diabetes, which is largely prevalent in the UAE, affects almost 20 per cent of the local population. Through its message ‘Beat Diabetes. Get Active’ Landmark Group seeks to support events that help spread awareness about leading an active, healthy lifestyle.

Bhuvana Acharya, Head of Corporate Communications and CSR, Landmark Group, said: “As a responsible corporate citizen in the region, Landmark Group believes it is imperative to spread awareness on diabetes and lead a healthy lifestyle. ‘Fitness First Wellness Festival – Yogathon’ is yet another step in the direction of persuading more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and combat medical conditions including diabetes.”
Sun salutations are usually done early in the morning facing the sun as sunlight is a major source of vitamin D-producing ultraviolet B radiation that has a wide range of positive health effects. A 10-minute exercise provides a complete workout for mind and body. It also stimulates and conditions virtually every muscle in the body, and helps eliminate toxins.

Fitness First conducts a variety of yoga classes such as Hatha Yoga, Dynamic Flow Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Power Yoga and Gentle Flow Yoga to actively raise awareness on healthy living and as part of Fitness First initiatives.
 

Dubai Metro Scoops Princes Haya Award For Best Educational Research About Handy Services To Special Needs

Roads & Transport Authority – Manal Khalid:

The Dubai Metro has scooped the 3rd edition of Princess Haya bint Al Hussain Award for Special Education, in the category of the Best Educational Research, in recognition of the research conducted by the Rail Planning and Development Department, Rail Agency, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs. The study focuses on the needs of people with special needs when using the metro and the range of facilities provided to them right from the station through to the end of the journey.

Adnan Al Hammadi, CEO of Rail Agency, commended the continuing success made by the Dubai Metro, seen as one of the major infrastructure and transport projects worldwide, particularly as it managed over the last couple of years to bag a host of global awards such as Cityscape & Gulf Traffic Awards, Best Infrastructure Project Award in the Middle East’s Architectural Contest as well as other awards including the Middle East Railway Projects Award and Mead International Award (about quality in projects category).

“RTA seeks to have itself always branded with excellence through applying the best international practices and pursuing high quality operational mechanism, thus obviously contributing to strengthening employees’ confidence while carrying out the set plans with a blend of innovation and distinction. RTA sets the approach adopted by senior leaderships of the community as a strong basis for the implementation of its plans and vision for excellence and innovation in the quest for meeting the needs, aspirations and requirements of various community segments, whom it believes are instrumental for the success of any realized initiative or project”, Al Hammadi added.

“RTA places the people with special needs as a priority before implementing any project concerned with mass transport whether by using taxis, public buses or metro through establishing firm and clear safety principles regarding the provision of all services and facilities needed by this category when using these transport modes with a view to integrating them, being an essential component, into the community on equal footing with the other community members”, the CEO of the Rail Agency emphasized.

Al Hammadi dedicated this Award to His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, in acknowledgment of his continuing encouragement and unlimited support to the Departments and Agencies to take part in such important competitions which would add yet further successes and allow work to be performed at the highest level of excellence. He also commended the effort made by the concerned team at the Rail Planning and Development Department for participation in the important competitions held for adding further global and local awards to the Metro.

It is noteworthy that the Rail Agency’s Rail Planning and Development Department had taken keen interest over the last period on compiling this analytical study to identify the needs and requirements of people with special needs when using the metro with the aim of epitomizing RTA’s vision of “safe and smooth transport for all”. It was later apparent from the findings that about 87% of the people with special needs were satisfied with the facilities and services available in Dubai Metro.

MBA Students From The US Visit ENOC To Learn About Business In The Middle East

ENOC hosted a delegation of 35 MBA students from the Fuqua School, the business school of Duke University. The visit provided the students with an overview of the UAE’s and ENOC’s business dynamics as well as the opportunities and challenges of the energy services sector in Dubai.

Senior management from ENOC discussed various aspects of the company including its history, operations and new business opportunities.

ENOC regularly hosts students from all over the world to provide them with a closer look at Dubai as a business hub. In the past, ENOC has hosted MBA students from top schools in the United States, such as UC Berkley.
 

Emarati Students In UK Volunteer To Help DTCM Drive Awareness About UAE Heritage

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has announced that it has tapped the support of Emarati students in Britain for its exhibition at the recently concluded World Travel Market in London. The first-ever collaboration between DTCM and the students was hugely successful and was lauded for effectively disseminating information about the various travel and holiday offerings as well as festivals and tourist attractions in the UAE.

Saleh Al Geziry, Director of Overseas Promotions and Inward Missions, DTCM, said that the idea to partner with the students for the exhibition was part of DTCM’s strategy to achieve its core objective at the event, which was to raise awareness about the vibrant tourism sector of the Emirate, especially concerning the heritage tourism segment. On the other hand, the students have been able to gain practical experience that helped improve their know-how and expertise in the field of tourism.

In recognition of the students’ contributions, certificates of recognition were presented by Saleh Al Geziry to all the participating students. Those who volunteered to assist DTCM were Saeed Mohammed from the Faculty of Economy, Essex University; Mohammed Al Sayegh, who is pursuing a PhD in Microbiology at the University of London; Ahmed Al Mazmy, who is in his third year at the Royal College of Surgeons in London; Rashed Bin Mohammed Al Suwaidi, a sophomore at the Faculty of Economy in Richmond University; and Khalifa Hussein Al Suwaidi, a political science student at New Castle University.

The students, for their part, said that they were delighted to help DTCM and noted that the activity was greatly beneficial in helping them learn more about the tourism sector of Dubai, especially with regards to heritage tourism.
 

Painting Competition Held By ENOC To Raise Awareness About The Environment

Children choose to paint with the color green to depict their idea of an ideal and natural environment, at the ENOC booth in Dubai Festival City. The campaign aims to raise awareness on World Environment Day, celebrated, across the world on June 5, through educating people about climate change and key environmental issues.

ENOC collaborated with Dubai Silicon Oasis to highlight the importance of preserving and sustaining our environment by inviting children to participate in a drawing competition. Children with the best artwork received gift vouchers.

ENOC also showcased its environmentally-friendly products and services, such as Protec Green and Protec X-treme Energy. It also explained to passersby how the Waterless Carwash service functions and displayed images of the ENOC Green Station, set to open by the end of 2010.

 

Dubai Culture And Bidoun Projects Honour Participants Of ’Writing About Art’ Workshops

The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated authority for culture, heritage and the arts, and Bidoun Projects, an arts organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting contemporary artists from the Middle East, successfully concluded the first of its kind ‘Writing About Art’ workshops offering unique insights into art critique to professionals and aspiring writers.

More than 50 writers with a keen interest in the arts took part in the workshops held over the past five months. Experts from around the world engaged the participants in various aspects of writing about the arts, including art criticism, analysis against global benchmarks and a wider perspective of the evolution of the arts across the world.

Alia Al Hashimi, Senior Specialist at the Projects Department in the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority said: “The response to the ‘Writing About Art’ workshops, held for the first time ever in the region, has been overwhelming. The event offered a unique platform for artists, art professionals and art writers to come together, brainstorm and promote the standards of art writing. A genuine appreciation of the arts, followed by insightful writing, will help in shaping a stronger arts community.”

She added: “As the first group of art critics graduating from this initiative, the participants will help to engage the community in understanding and appreciating the arts. These art critics will in turn educate the general public about art, thereby facilitating greater interaction between the arts and its audience. They will also play a key role in further reiterating Dubai Culture’s goal to strengthen the cultural scene in the region by promoting original content creation from Dubai. ”

Dubai Culture and Bidoun Projects will explore opportunities in networking with regional publications, gallery directors, and publishing houses to promote the writings done by the workshop participants, to further strengthen art appreciation and awareness, thus creating a vibrant cultural scene in the Emirate.