Corporate News

Oct 10, 2008 (Arab News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DISY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- LASERFICHE: Palm tree-shaped islands. The world's tallest building. An indoor ski resort. In the past 30 years, Dubai has quickly blossomed from a regional business center to a global destination. But with 30 years of development comes 30 years of paperwork to manage which is why Dubai has gone digital. They have chosen a scalable, easy-to-implement Laserfiche solution to convert all of the city's paper into digital format. Now, an extensive back-file conversion project is under way, with Laserfiche poised to take over day-forward scanning as well. Dubai already had an expansive- and expensive-document management system in place when the scanning project began. Given such an investment, why, then, would they purchase a brand-new Laserfiche system for the project? The answer is simple: Simplicity. "The City of Dubai's existing document management system is complex and not very user-friendly or easy to implement," explains Mustafa Siddiqui, business solutions specialist for Pixel Digital Systems (PDS), a City of Dubai Laserfiche reseller. "We needed software that we could implement quickly, and that users could understand right away. We found all that in Laserfiche."

ESL: Emirates Shipping Line (ESL), a multiawarded global maritime company, has been recently nominated as one of the finalists of three prestigious international awards-giving bodies, reflecting the company's continued excellence in the global shipping trade. The nominations, which the company was able to come by within a span of one week, automatically qualify Emirates Shipping Line for the Shipping Line of the Year honors, which is handed out to the company with the most significant contributions to the shipping industry in its region. ESL has been nominated for the "Ship Owner/Operator" award in the Seatrade Middle East and Indian Subcontinent Awards 2008, while it will vie for the "Asia Pacific Shipping Liner Excellence Award" category at the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Logistics Excellence Awards 2008. The Lloyd's List Asia Awards 2008 has also named Emirates Shipping Line as one of the candidates for the "Asian Shipping Line of the Year" award. ESL FZE is registered in Dubai Maritime City of the UAE and commercially headquartered in Dubai and Hong Kong, two of the busiest commercial hubs in the world. Operated by a team rich in experience of managing maritime trade, the company has a focused goal of attaining superior service quality and customer intimacy, according to Vikas Mohammed Khan, chairman and CEO, ESL.

KHUYOOL: Khuyool Investments, one of the fastest growing property development firms in the Gulf, has unveiled a newly reworked corporate strategy to harness the full potential of the region's $1.9 trillion construction boom, as part of its activities at Cityscape Dubai 2008. The new corporate strategy for 2009 will fortify Khuyool's stronghold in the regional market and will carry forward the momentum generated by the company's highly successful strategic plans in the past two years. Khuyool is likewise presenting a number of premium real estate developments with four key projects collectively worth AED1.3 billion serving as its centerpiece showcase at Cityscape Dubai claims to be the largest business-to-business real estate investment and development event in the world. "The Gulf has been a global hotbed for construction and real estate development activities and it shows no signs of abating. The region's $1.9 trillion construction boom has opened plenty of opportunities for growth and we believe that such a competitive and rapidly evolving market requires a forward-thinking strategy that ensures both the sustainability of operations and profits and conformance with the evolving needs of property consumers. We have unveiled our blueprint for success during Cityscape Dubai, which has definitely excited both our current and prospective clients and partners," said Fahad Ali Mousa, chairman, Khuyool Investments.

AJMAN MARINA: Sheik Rashid Bin Humaid Al-Nuaimi, chairman of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department in Ajman, has appreciated the efforts made by the Ajman Marina Company to complete the Ajman Marina project to perfection, and commended the company's contribution in presenting the perfect image of the progress the emirate has made. The company said that it has sold all phase one plots of the project -- plots specified for sub-developers -- reaping sales revenues in excess of AED1 billion. The sold plots range from 4,000 to 7,000 square meters, and is distributed among investors of all Arab and Gulf nationalities, as well as investors from Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. Ajman Marina's Deputy CEO Abdullah Al-Duheim said: "There are 27 private plots in this spectacular project, so it was only natural for investors from across the globe to show an interest and buy these plots which they will, in turn, convert into projects and towers. "The emirate of Ajman is one of the emirates that have worked hard over the past few years to plan a revolutionary advance in all its sectors, and Ajman Marina is one of the important landmarks, serving as a benchmark for other projects. Once complete, it will present a new image of the emirate, which will enable Ajman to compete with other emirates on all levels."

STB: Singapore aims to transform its tourism sector into a key revenue generator by 2015, by which the nation targets to bring in $21 billion in tourism receipts and attract 17 million visitors annually by 2015. To ensure that Singapore remains a choice destination, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launched the Tourism 2015 roadmap, charting growth opportunities and strategies for the tourism sector, a result of which is a tourism landscape that has transformed over the last few years. Some of these attractions include the Singapore Flyer, the world's largest observatory wheel launched in March 2008, the 2008 FORMULA 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix in September 2008 and the upcoming two integrated resorts -- Marina Bay Sand and Resorts World at Sentosa -- opening in 2009 and 2010 respectively. These developments are expected to create a catalytic effect on the tourism and hospitality sector. By 2010, visitor arrivals are expected to surge to 14 million. The average number of visitors in Singapore at any one time is anticipated to increase from the current 90,000 to 140,000, a substantial 55 percent increase. Over the next three to four years, an estimated 15,000 hotel rooms will be added to the current room inventory of over 37,000 rooms to meet the projected demand created by this holistic and sustainable growth of the tourism sector. Plans have already been made to develop more hotels in key tourism or business areas at Singapore's Civic and Cultural District, Southern Waterfront, Singapore River, Chinatown and Central Business District.

NAJAH: NAJAH, the "most comprehensive" education, training and careers exhibition to be held in the UAE, will take place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center from Oct. 19-21. This year's exhibition features the expanded jobs.abudhabi.ae Careers Advice Lounge, which comes at a crucial time for professionals and businesses. The current global economic market is in a state of transition following the failure of several financial firms in the United States, restructuring of Wall Street and falling international stock markets. While the region's financial institutions have thus far been largely unaffected, the UAE and Gulf region will not be immune to the ills in a potential global economic recession. Being held with the support of UAE Minister for Higher Education and Scientific Research Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan and supported by the Abu Dhabi Education Council and the Ministry of Education, NAJAH's jobs.abudhabi.ae Careers Advice Lounge will feature personal career counseling with qualified professionals, while there will be a separate area featuring interactive seminars to discuss available employment opportunities. "NAJAH this year will be a vitally important resource, considering the expanding UAE job market and the shifting worldwide economic picture," said Christine Weaver, exhibitions director at IIR Middle East, the organizers of the event. "Job-seekers visiting NAJAH will find comprehensive career development seminars and programs," he added.

DNRW: In response to tremendous growth opportunities in global natural resources business sector, Dubai World has announced the formation of a new business unit, Dubai Natural Resources World (DNRW), designed to explore new long-term investment avenues, while contributing positively toward sustainable development. DNRW will drive the growth of the group's interests across the entire natural resources value chain, including oil and gas, alternative energy, mining and agriculture. It will adopt a strategy of deriving long-term returns from all natural resources in a safe, clean and sustainable way. The creation of the new subsidiary is in line with Dubai World's commitment to enhance Dubai's global profile, and ensure retaining a leading edge in its development and remains among the most favored partners of the world's fastest-growing economies. Dubai World Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem described it as a step in the right direction coming at the right time.

RAKAA PROPERTIES: Rakaa Properties, the real estate arm of Saudi Rakaa Holdings, attracted many visitors during its participation in Cityscape Dubai 2008. Projects developed by Rakaa, especially Falcon Crest and Dynasty Towers on Al-Reem Islands in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, as well as the advanced technology employed by the company, has been widely admired. The towers, with an investment value of AED1.5 billion, are being built using smart building technology. Abdul Rahman Al-Tasan, Rakaa Properties CEO, said: "The activity we have seen at Cityscape defines the appeal of the property market in the region, and is proof of the continuous rise and growth of the real estate market. "In addition, the projects launched and deals signed prove the significance of the growth the market is currently experiencing, and should form the parameters that will stabilize the market, giving way to authentic real estate investors and resulting in 'speculators' being booted out of the property sector," he added. Al-Tasan said that while nobody can deny that the recent international financial crisis has struck fear into the hearts of some investors, who were seen to recollect their thoughts and redirect their investments and capital, they will soon find that the real estate sector in the region is the safest and best developed. Dynasty Tower is designed for residential purposes only, reaching a height of 29 floors and housing 136 units with 1 to 4 bedrooms each. The 24-story Falcon Crest Tower is also specified for residential purposes, with ground spaces allocated for retail.

IFD MALAYSIA: At the Cityscape in Dubai, ALDAR Properties and Millennium Development International announced on behalf of Global Capital, an investment entity representing GCC and Malaysian Investors, the opening of sales for their new project Iskandar Financial District in Malaysia, which is located in southernmost tip of Malaysia adjacent to Singapore. The Iskandar project is a multibillion dollars financial district that will place Malaysia as an important Islamic financial center in Southeast Asia. The IFD project provides a world-class planned district for financial institutions, banks and corporate headquarters, commercial office buildings, shopping centers, condominiums and serviced apartments, 5-stars hotels, conferencing and meeting facilities as well as community service facilities. The project gains its importance from its unique geographical location at the crossroads of trade routes between the East and the West in a region that enjoys the availability of both air and land transportation services within Asia and the world. In addition, the project gains more benefits due to the presence of communication networks with high technology; also being close to Singapore -- about 20 minutes by car -- and being in the area between China and India whose economies are witnessing rapid growth. All these factors make IFD a favorite location for investment.

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