Emirates Post Announces Graduation Of First Batch Of ICDL-Certified Employees

Emirates Post recently held its Graduation Ceremony at its headquarters for the first batch of employees that successfully completed the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) digital literacy program conducted by the ICDL GCC Foundation, the governing body and certification authority of the ICDL programs in the GCC countries and Iraq. The initiative is in line with Emirates Post’s goal to stay abreast of the latest developments in IT.

Speaking on the occasion, Salem Al Shaya, Assistant Director General, Operations, Emirates Post, commended the efforts of the Training and Development Centre to enhance the IT skills of Emirates Post’s employees and to familiarise them with the latest technologies and trends in this domain.

The event was attended by Saif Al Shehhi, Director of Emirates Post’s Training and Development Center; Jamil Ezzo, Director General of ICDL GCC Foundation; Rania Al Qaisi, Regional Director for Business Affairs, ICDL GCC Foundation; in addition to other senior officials from Emirates Post.

Al Shaya said: "Through its intensive sessions and courses, the Training and Development Centre contributes to developing Emirates Post’s strategies in line with our goals of strengthening the computer capabilities of our employees and leveraging their IT skills to provide higher quality of services to our customers. We are keen to keep pace with the rapid developments and take advantage of modern technologies that we can use to introduce new methods to cater to the market needs. We have full confidence in the supporting role of the ICDL program to expand the base of IT literacy in the society, in addition to achieving our strategic plans to enhance our position in the industry. In this regard, we aim to continue to promote digital literacy in our organization to ensure that we constantly provide the highest standards to our customers in all areas."

Endorsed by education ministries, universities and government organizations worldwide, ICDL is an inclusive digital literacy program that empowers individuals with the essential concepts of computer and practical use of common desktop applications. The program is based on a recognized global standard acknowledged through testing and proves that the certificate holder has fundamental skills in IT, using the computer & managing files, word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, and information & communication (Internet and e-mail).

All the programs and courses provided by the Training and Development Centre are recognised by "Train Post", subsidiary of the Universal Postal Union, while the Centre is also accredited by the ICDL GCC Foundation and Profile Company. The Centre has also received the prestigious International Business Award (Stevie Awards) from the United States, which is considered as the Oscars of the business world.

The Emirates Post Training and Development Centre, headquartered in Al Karama Post Office, Dubai, provides a series of training courses related to postal services and customer services, in addition to courses on the new services that have been developed by Emirates Post. The Centre recently conducted a training course about postal services for a group of employees from Qatar Post.

Pure Gold Jewellers Celebrates 20th Year With Biggest Promotion Ever

As part of its commitment to offer value-added benefits to its customers and to celebrate its 20 years in the industry, award-winning customer service jewellery retailer Pure Gold Jewellers has launched its biggest promotion ever whereby customers get a chance to own pure diamond jewellery for free.

Customers who will purchase any diamond jewellery from June 11 to August 14 will be entitled to a scratch card containing discounts starting at 65% and going up to 100%. This discount will be valid only on the items already invoiced.

“We are so happy that we have reached the 20th year milestone. This is a very significant year for us so we want to share this occasion with our loyal customers by giving away free diamond jewellery,” said Pure Gold Jewellers CEO and Managing Director Karim Merchant.

Merchant added that this is the very first time this kind of promotion is being offered in the jewellery industry. “I am sure our customers will be delighted to own a piece of high quality diamond jewellery at a very low price or even free of charge,” he explained.

The free diamond jewellery promotion is available across all Pure Gold Jewellers outlets in the UAE. In Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, customers will be given a guaranteed discount of 65 per cent on all their purchases.

Established in 1989, Pure Gold Jewellers has over 75 outlets across the GCC countries. It has become a favorite among customers for its lifetime repair and exchange guarantee policies and 100 per cent certification for all products.

Hobbies Club Embarks On Preparations For ’Rashid Summer Camp 2009’

The Hobbies Club, organizer of the ‘Rashid Summer Camp’, has signed a joint venture agreement with SAHARA Communications, subsidiary of SAHARA Group, to embark on promotional activities for the Rashid Summer Camp in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The agreement was signed by Mr Arif Al Abbar, Chairman of the Hobbies Club, and Mr Fahad Ahmed Al Deeb, Vice President of Sahara Group.

Established in 1996, the Hobbies Club is the region’s oldest educational and sporting club, and aims to support national youth and encourage young men and women to explore their hobbies by getting involved in sporting, recreational and educational activities through a range of educational courses, youth camps, awareness campaigns and joint programmes organized in collaboration with various ministries and government departments.

The Rashid Summer Camp 2009 is scheduled to take place this summer from 20 June to 20 July at the Hobbies Club’s Rashid Scouts Camp on Al Aweer Road in Dubai. Other subsidiary camps will be organized in Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain.

Commenting on the deal, Mr Al Abbar said, “A number of youth camps have been organized by the Hobbies Club over the past few years with resounding success. However, the Rashid Summer Camp, which is designed for students, is one of the largest youth camps in the GCC countries, as it attracts a broad participation and draws significant media coverage, particularly following the success achieved by the camp over the last few years”.

“The sports activities programme includes training in horse riding, shooting and swimming skills. Other programmes include cultural, educational and recreational activities aimed at keeping students busy during their summer vacation. We are seeking to capitalize on the leisure time of the summer vacation by exposing students to new skills, behavioural and physical development programmes in a fun and lovely environment”, Al Abbar added.

Mr Al Deeb said, “We are delighted to join hands with the Hobbies Club, as part of Sahara’s drive to play an active role in supporting community activities. Sahara has sponsored a number of community events over the last few years, as part of its belief in the important role of the private sector in supporting community initiatives. We call for private sector organizations to contribute to social and youth programmes and to serve the wider interests of the nation”.

High Visitor Turnout At Mega Deals

More than 21,000 visitors from the UAE and the GCC countries have thronged Mega Deals @ Dubai Festival City since last week’s launch of the ongoing 10-day automotive, consumer electronics and watches promotion at the award-winning Festival Centre, Dubai Festival City.

The event, held in a carnival-like atmosphere under a tent, began on May 14 and concludes on Saturday May 23. Opening-hours are from 2pm to midnight, Thursday & Friday. Timing for the last day is 10am to midnight, with the first two hours (10am-12 noon) reserved for ladies only.

Alongside an extension to opening-hours, additional sales and service personnel have also bolstered existing staff to support customers as they look, touch and experience automobiles, cameras, TVs, mobile phones, music and home theatre systems, DVD players, video games, home appliances, lap-tops, net-books and accessories.

Mega Deals @ Dubai Festival City features value driven propositions from Plug-Ins, Sanyo, Panasonic, Toshiba and Aftron. Automall, the pre-owned car division has also attracted eager buyers looking for best deals on Toyota, Honda, Chrysler Jeep, Dodge and Volvo vehicles.

On-the-spot prizes for quiz and photography competitions at the Panasonic Digital Experience pavilion, near Festival Square, are held daily. Customers also have a chance to participate and win great prizes in the grand raffle draw.

The Address Hotels + Resorts Offer Amazing Deals In Support Of Festival@The Dubai Mall

The Address Downtown Burj Dubai, the 5 star premium hotel of Emaar Hospitality Group, along with The Palace – The Old Town hotel has joined the excitement gripping the UAE during the month long Festival@The Dubai Mall. As a special offer, the two hotels are offering amazing room deals throughout the festival starting from AED 1,099, including breakfast.

Located in close proximity to The Dubai Mall, the hotels provide an ideal location for tourists and residents alike to enjoy a weekend of luxurious stay, indulge in world class shopping at the mall and try their luck at winning a total of AED 3.1 million in cash prizes. The special festival rates are available at The Address Downtown Burj Dubai and The Palace – The Old Town until 29 May, 2009.

Mr Marc Dardene, Chief Executive Officer, Emaar Hospitality Group, said: “Dubai’s reputation as a shopping destination is unchallenged. We have many customers from GCC countries, the Levant and the Indian sub-continent who make short trips to Dubai to enjoy the finest shopping deals. The Festival@The Dubai Mall is one of the best shopping festivals initiated this year and our special hotel package caters to those who want to participate in the festival while staying in the luxurious settings of our two hotels in Downtown Burj Dubai.”

Apart from the special package, The Address Downtown Burj Dubai and The Palace – The Old Town also offers its guests priority access to the various entertainment components within The Dubai Mall including free entry to Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo and the Dubai Ice Rink. The Address Downtown Burj Dubai also provides the opportunity to win an overnight stay by entering into one of the on-line competitions at www.festivalatthedubaimall.com.

The Address Downtown Burj Dubai offers 196 spacious and contemporary rooms located between the 7th and 12th floors, including 25 suites with spectacular views of Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest tower. The hotel also offers visitors unique restaurants, a dedicated spa and leisure facilities. In addition, many services are available around the clock including a modern fitness centre and a business lounge, strengthening the guest benefits differential of the hotel. For those wanting to extend their stay, the hotel also provides 626 well appointed serviced residences which combine the ease and luxury of a hotel, while offering the independence and privacy of a home.

The Palace – The Old Town, managed by The Address Hotels + Resorts, is the centrepiece of the Old Town Island in Downtown Burj Dubai and the hotel boasts a captivating Middle Eastern theme. The hotel offers 242 spacious and luxurious guest rooms, many of which overlook The Dubai Fountain, a magnificent sound, light and musical extravaganza.

Emaar Hospitality Group is the hospitality and leisure subsidiary of Emaar Properties. Two new The Address properties are also to open in Dubai – The Address Dubai Mall and The Address Dubai Marina this year. The Address Hotels + Resorts is one of the main sponsors of the Festival@The Dubai Mall.

Mega Deals At Dubai Festival City

The award winning Festival Centre at Dubai Festival City will host the country’s biggest ever retail promotion of popular brands of automobiles and consumer electronics during the 10-day Mega Deals carnival which begins on Thursday May 14.

The shopping and leisure extravaganza features outstanding value propositions for Toyota, Honda and Jeep alongside a vast array of consumer electronics and IT products from Plug-Ins, Panasonic, Sanyo, Toshiba and Aftron, all offering cutting edge technology and digital experiences.

Organisers of Mega Deals – Al-Futtaim — are banking on residents awaiting value-for-money offers ahead of the annual summer holiday period, as well the first wave of tourists from GCC countries and Iran heading into the city for the 2009 Dubai Summer Surprises.

Mega Deals, conveniently spread in-mall across the Festival Centre and under the canopy of a gigantic colourful tent (Thambu), will create more value for the consumer and thus create solutions to enhance lifestyles. The event is also designed to provide a focused, uncluttered precinct to consumers looking for value at a venue which has ample parking and is globally acknowledged as Dubai’s most popular shopping and leisure destination.

“The UAE has never seen such diverse products assembled at a single grand festive place by Al-Futtaim’s Automotive and Electronics divisions who have synergised their strengths and brand equity in one major extravagant exercise at Dubai Festival City, undoubtedly one of the finest shopping, leisure and entertainment venues in the Middle East,” said Charles Awad, Head of Corporate Communications, Al-Futtaim.

Mega Deals will raise the bar for retailing and will provide customer value. The onset of the annual holiday period will soon begin and as is the fashion, it brings out the pre vacation shopper in consumers. Residents and GCC visitors will not only receive no-strings-attached offers, but will also be able to enjoy pulsating ambience of the popular waterfront mixed use development which won four consecutive awards for excellence this year.

Specially dedicated vehicles will transport customers to Al-Futtaim Motors and Trading Enterprises showrooms for test drives on the popular models while the Al-Futtaim Automall team will be on hand to satisfy customers looking for deals on pre-owned vehicles.

Hundreds of staff will also be on hand to support customers as they look, touch and experience automobiles, cameras, TVs, mobile phones, music and home theatre systems, DVD players, video games, home appliances, lap-tops, net-books and accessories. Customers will also have a chance to participate and win great prizes in the grand raffle draw.

Saxo Bank Establishes Regional Office In DIFC

COPENHAGEN, May 6/PRNewswire/ — Today, the online trading and investment specialist, Saxo Bank, announced that it will establish a regional office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). The new office is designed to further strengthen the bank’s presence in the region and marks the first time that a Danish bank has established its presence in the Gulf Corporation Council region.Copenhagen-based online specialist, Saxo Bank announced today that it has received regulatory approval to operate a regional office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) under the supervision of the DFSA.Co-CEO and co-founder Lars Seier Christensen said: "We have been increasingly impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and the will to succeed in the Middle East. If you can build a ski resort in the middle of the
desert, you can do anything. Dubai remains one of the most important global financial centres and the GCC region will have an important role to play when this current financial crisis is over. Depending on market conditions we
intend to use our new office as the first step towards establishing similar presence in other GCC countries."H.E., Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the DIFC said: "Saxo Bank is a pioneer in its industry and the first Danish bank to establish a presence here. As a globally recognised financial institution, providing
state-of-the-art online investment trading services, we are delighted to welcome them to DIFC. There is a huge demand for the services they provide investors and the Middle East will benefit from their presence here."Saxo Bank specialises in bringing experience in the world’s financial markets in a highly professional, intuitive and cost effective manner to individual as well as institutional investors through its award winning, online investment trading platform. The bank has established a growing reputation and industry wide recognition for being the leading service provider for online investment trading and wealth management services through one, unique and easy to use facility for FX, CFDs, Stocks, Commodities, Futures, Options, other Derivatives, Fixed Income and Structured Products.Shailendra Robin Patel, CEO for Saxo Bank (Dubai) Limited said: "Even though most of our business is conducted online, Saxo Bank takes great pride in the high level of personal service and support we offer our clients and partners on the ground. Our DIFC office will enable us to bring our products and services closer to our clients and partners in support of our objectives to continue growing our business throughout the region".2008 was another record year in terms of income and profit for Saxo Bank. Operating income ended at EUR 338 million, an increase of 61% year-on-year. Reaching EUR 85 million in 2008, EBITDA grew 43% over 2007 while net profit increased 23% to EUR 45.5 million.Founded in 1992 by co-CEOs Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, Saxo Bank is renowned for its award-winning online trading platform, SaxoTrader, which is available directly through Saxo Bank or one of the Bank’s White Label partners. Saxo Bank has around 120 White Label Partners and has thousands of clients in over 180 countries.
 

American Students Delegation Reviews RTA Projects

The International Training Institute at the Sultanate of Oman stated that the Dubai Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is a cause of pride for GCC nationals, and a source of information for researchers & students in various administrative, economic and service fields.The statement was made when the CEO of RTA Corporate Support Services Sector Abdullah Al Madani received a visiting American student delegation currently on a practical training mission at the Omani International Training Institute, as part of a three-month internship in the GCC countries for the students who hail from several American universities.Al Madani welcomed the student delegation and the Institute supervisors promising to provide them with all information sought from various RTA agencies & sectors. “Diffusing the culture and furthering knowledge, particularly for academic purposes, is part and parcel of RTA policy; which seeks to realize its vision of providing Safe & Smooth Transport for All through sharing its successful experiments at the largest possible level.The student delegation and their companions from the Omani Institute attended to a thorough presentation of the achievements & services of the RTA delivered by Training & Development Section at Human Resources & Development Dep’t of the Sector, and were impressed with the economic, administrative and service development witnessed by the RTA. They stated that such a visit contributes to their internship; which includes a comprehensive tour in the GCC countries to review the key economic projects undertaken by GCC non-oil government authorities, under the supervision of the Omani Institute.The delegation, which consisted of nine students pursuing a specialty in global economic studies, pointed out that Dubai Metro was one of the distinguished and successful projects they witnessed, and added much input to their knowledge directly from the source. It also lauded the customer service system adopted by the RTA which they reviewed during their visit to RTA Main Customer Service Center, providing top-class facilities & extensive services to the public from centers spanning all parts of Dubai emirate.At the end of the visit, Marketing & Corporate Communication Dep’t at RTA Corporate Support Services Sector distributed souvenir gift items to the visiting delegation.
 

UAE Ministry Of Foreign Trade Releases First Issue Of ’Trade Affairs’ Newsletter

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Trade’s (MoFT) Trade Negotiations and World Trade Organisation (WTO) Department has released the first issue of the “Trade Affairs” newsletter. The specialized quarterly magazine has been launched in line with MoFT’s efforts to enhance its communication with the UAE’s trade and business community, keeping them up-to-date with the latest developments in WTO and about the trade agreements signed by the UAE with other countries. The newsletter will also cover the most important business news stories from around the world.

The newsletter also aims to fulfill the information needs of the economic and commercial sector in terms of information related to the international trading system which is supervised by the WTO.

H.E Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, UAE Minister of Foreign Trade explains that the purpose of this newsletter is to “enhance communication with the trade community in the country and the public and private parties who are interested in foreign trade affairs. This can be achieved by providing information, news, analytical studies and articles about commercial negotiations related to WTO, and news about free trade agreements that are being discussed among GCC countries.”

The first issue contains, among others, in-depth articles about GCC free trade agreements, WTO’s organizational structure, the UAE’s Foreign Direct Investment policies, the WTO’s approach to the global financial crisis, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and the Doha Round of Development Negotiations.

The newsletter has been distributed to some local governmental and private bodies, and an electronic copy of the newsletter can be received by sending an email request to wto-info@moft.gov.ae . The newsletter will be uploaded on the Ministry’s website later.

World’s Fifth Largest Insurance Broker, Lockton, Opens Office In DIFC

The world’s fifth largest global insurance broker, Lockton, announced today that it has been granted a licence by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) to operate as an insurance broker in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

The opening of the Dubai office represents Lockton’s first footsteps into the Middle East and North Africa region, with further expansion planned for the future. Dubai will be the company’s regional hub for the region. Lockton Dubai will operate as a treaty and facultative reinsurance operation, serving the needs of regional insurance companies. The office will be equipped to handle all classes of business backed by the support of the firm’s wholesale operations in London and other locations.

Nasser Al Shaali, CEO of DIFC Authority said: “The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has created the region’s premier regulatory framework and business-enabling infrastructure to support the growth and maturation of the region’s insurance market. We are very happy to welcome Lockton, the world’s largest privately held broker and the latest among several global insurance firms that have located themselves in DIFC to tap the vast opportunities offered by our region. The Middle East’s highly untapped market, rising awareness levels, the rapid growth of insurable assets, and various government initiatives that have made insurance mandatory for some types of risks, are driving the expansion of its insurance market. Among GCC countries, the UAE offers the most promising market for insurance companies, with the fastest growth rate and the highest premiums.”

The office will be managed by Wael Khatib, who has been appointed President, Lockton Dubai.

Julian James, Chief Executive Officer of Lockton International, said: “We are pleased to announce this news, which reflects our long term commitment to enhance our presence in the region and desire to be closer to our clients. The new Dubai office will further improve the levels of service that our clients deserve. The importance of managing risk effectively has never been more important in today’s current financial market. We look forward to adding value to Middle Eastern clients and helping them to protect their assets.”