DUBAI, United Arab Emirates; 04 January 2011: Taif has been named as flydubai’s seventh destination in KSA, strengthening its commitment to the Kingdom and expanding its network across the GCC, Middle East, Africa, Indian Sub-Continent, Asia and Central & Eastern Europe.

flydubai CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said: “We are grateful to the Saudi authorities for their continued support of flydubai. Taif marks our seventh destination in KSA and is part of our strategy to connect the UAE to destinations previously under-served by direct air links. By continuing to identify emerging cities such as Taif, we hope to continue promoting new avenues for trade and commercial ties across our network.”

Situated 1,700m above sea level in the Hejaz province, Taif is a local beauty and holiday spot thanks to its temperate climate and beautiful scenery. With tree-lined streets, large souks and almost 3,000 gardens, the city is gaining prominence around the region as an alternative short-holiday destination. Located less than 100km by road from Makkah, Taif is also an alternative gateway for travellers to the holy city.

In tandem with developing its route network, flydubai has underscored the importance of Saudi Arabia to its growth strategy by increasing the frequency of existing operations to the Kingdom. The airline now flies twice daily to Damman and Riyadh following increasing demand for flights between Dubai and two of Saudi’s main business hubs.

“Our daily flights to Riyadh and Dammam have seen overwhelming success with business and commercial travellers alike and these extra flights are a direct result of increasing consumer demand for direct, convenient, low-cost links to the Saudi capital and Eastern Province,” added Al Ghaith.

With the launch of operations to Taif, flydubai will operate a total of 55 weekly flights to destinations across the Kingdom.

Flight Information

Flights to Taif will operate three times a week and will commence on 1st February 2012. FZ875 is scheduled to depart Dubai Terminal 2 at 1925hrs, landing in Taif Regional Airport at 2130hrs local time. The return flight, FZ876, departs at 2230hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0220hrs the next day. One way fares from Dubai to Taif start at AED 570 and fares from Taif to Dubai start at AED 600.

Fares include one piece of hand luggage weighing up to 7kg and one small laptop bag or hand bag. Checked baggage starts at AED 50 ($14) for 20kgs. A seat with extra legroom costs AED100 ($28) extra.

Flights between Dubai and Taif can be purchased from flydubai’s website (www.flydubai.com), its call centre (+9714 231 1000) and through travel partners.

Dubai – : VIPERA Cosmetics, a leading European cosmetics brand, entered into a strategic partnership with Zain Gulf Group in Saudi Arabia, where the group will now become the exclusive franchisee of VIPERA COSMETICS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This partnership expands VIPERA COSMETICS presence in the region with 60 planned outlets spread across KSA and establishes the Zain Gulf Group foray into the retail cosmetic sector. Established in the Kingdom for over two decades, the Saudi Group has partnered with renowned brands such as Aigner, Miss Sixty, Elle, Ted Lapidus among others in Watches and brands like Candydays in Hospitality Sector.

Saudi Arabia’s booming cosmetics market was valued at AED8 billion[i] in 2008, indicating a market growth of 20 percent in two years and estimated to be worth AED10 billion in 2010. Riding on this growth, VIPERA COSMETICS’ foray in to the country is appropriate as premium cosmetics command 38 percent[ii] of the total market, and the Kingdom dominates the Middle Eastern sector in terms of consumption.

Elaborating on the partnership, Mr. Ali Ahmad Al-Harthi founder of the Group said: “Saudi Arabia is home to the Middle East’s largest beauty market. We believe in VIPERA COSMETICS’ vision and our strong presence in the region with more than 150 outlets will help establish the brand. We share the core values of providing our customers with quality products and look forward to a beneficial and lucrative partnership.”

VIPERA COSMETICS will set up its ‘kiosks retail model’ across premium locations in Saudi Arabia utilizing the Group’s retail footprint. The kiosk format provides a strategic marketing platform, capitalizing on high traffic areas, allowing for greater visibility and easy access for customers to test products. “Significant purchasing power and the traditional use of color cosmetics by Saudi women, particularly eye and face make-up, provide a clear market opportunity for VIPERA.  The experience, infrastructure and resources of the Group will help us achieve our aggressive expansion plans for the country,” said Amit Gandhi, Director of VIP Ventures, the UAE-based promoters of VIPERA COSMETICS.

VIPERA COSMETICS’ superior color products, unique sales platforms and in-depth knowledge of the sector are set to harness the region’s significant purchase power.

Saudi Arabia will spend more than $100bn to build 16 nuclear energy plants over the next few years, a senior official has told a Saudi-US business forum in Atlanta.

Abdullah Zainal Alireza, Commerce and Industry Minister, also said the kingdom was keen to develop solar and other renewable energy technologies to reduce dependence on oil and gas, Saudi daily Arab News reported on Friday.

“We have allocated $3bn to produce solar energy panels in Jubail and Yanbu,” he was quoted as saying.

Last month, Saudi Arabia said it will begin the tendering process to construct the first nuclear station by the end of next year. The site of the reactor will be announced by March.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are investing in nuclear power to help meet rising domestic demand for electricity.

The forum also discussed new investment opportunities worth $385bn in the kingdom in the key sectors of education, energy, electricity and water, transport and logistics, petrochemicals and infrastructure, the paper added.

Alireza said Saudi imports from the US are expected to cross $95bn or 23 percent of the total US exports to Arab countries by 2012.

“This amount is expected to double by 2015,” the minister said.

To invest in booming AED10 billion Saudi cosmetics market; Plans 60 outlets across the Kingdom

Dubai – December 5th, 2011: VIPERA Cosmetics, a leading European cosmetics brand, entered into a strategic partnership with Zain Gulf Group in Saudi Arabia, where the group will now become the exclusive franchisee of VIPERA COSMETICS in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This partnership ex-pands VIPERA COSMETICS presence in the region with 60 planned outlets spread across KSA and establishes the Zain Gulf Group foray into the retail cosmetic sector. Established in the Kingdom for over two decades, the Saudi Group has partnered with renowned brands such as Aigner, Miss Six-ty, Elle, Ted Lapidus among others in Watches and brands like Candydays in Hospitality Sector.

Saudi Arabia’s booming cosmetics market was valued at AED8 billion  in 2008, indicating a market growth of 20 percent in two years and estimated to be worth AED10 billion in 2010. Riding on this growth, VIPERA COSMETICS’ foray in to the country is appropriate as premium cosmetics com-mand 38 percent  of the total market, and the Kingdom dominates the Middle Eastern sector in terms of consumption.

Elaborating on the partnership, Mr. Ali Ahmad Al-Harthi founder of the Group said: “Saudi Arabia is home to the Middle East’s largest beauty market. We believe in VIPERA COSMETICS’ vision and our strong presence in the region with more than 150 outlets will help establish the brand. We share the core values of providing our customers with quality products and look forward to a beneficial and lucrative partnership.”

VIPERA COSMETICS will set up its ‘kiosks retail model’ across premium locations in Saudi Arabia utilizing the Group’s retail footprint. The kiosk format provides a strategic marketing platform, cap-italizing on high traffic areas, allowing for greater visibility and easy access for customers to test products. “Significant purchasing power and the traditional use of color cosmetics by Saudi wom-en, particularly eye and face make-up, provide a clear market opportunity for VIPERA.  The experi-ence, infrastructure and resources of the Group will help us achieve our aggressive expansion plans for the country,” said Amit Gandhi, Director of VIP Ventures, the UAE-based promoters of VIPERA COSMETICS.

VIPERA COSMETICS’ superior color products, unique sales platforms and in-depth knowledge of the sector are set to harness the region’s significant purchase power.

21st November, 2011

Adobe Systems MENA announced that Alfalak Distribution, a leading IT distributor in Saudi Arabia, has been appointed as an official Adobe Distributor specifically for the Saudi Arabian market. Alfalak joins the company’s strategic network of Middle East and North African distributors which includes Logicom, Mindware, Disway and Grapheast. Alfalak will be supporting the full range of Adobe products to ensure availability for business users and retail outlets.

“During the past year, we have been carefully reviewing our distribution strategy in Saudi Arabia to ensure that we understand the needs of channel partners and customers, and have the ability to deliver products efficiently and effectively across the Kingdom,” said Abdallah Saqqa, General Manager, Adobe Systems MENA. “Alfalak has an extensive understanding and widespread penetration of the market in the Kingdom and we are pleased to welcome them to our network.”

Ahmed Ashadawi, CEO and President, Alfalak Electronic Equipment & Supplies Co. commented, “We are delighted to join the Adobe network as an authorized distributor. Through this partnership, we will be offering our customers in Saudi Arabia with optimal solutions, while complementing the growth strategy of Adobe in the Kingdom.”

A joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco has won approval from the Saudi government to study the possible development of Kidan area, in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter, the South Rub al-Khali Co (SRAK) venture said on Wednesday.

Kidan is rich in sour gas and is near the 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) Shaybah oilfield, one of the biggest in the world’s top oil exporter. Sour gas has high levels of potentially deadly hydrogen sulphide and therefore is tougher to produce than conventional gas reserves.

Officials from Shell and the joint venture have said further studies are needed to understand the economics of the field before deciding whether it can be developed.

SRAK will drill up to three appraisal wells and conduct extensive studies and aims to complete its appraisal by end-2013.

It submitted its plan last year to continue exploration in Kidan, an area already discovered by Aramco years ago, after announcing in 2009 gas had flowed from Kidan.

“The delineation is very likely to prove significant volumes of additional gas reserves,” said Sadad al-Husseini, an oil analyst and former top official at the Saudi oil giant Aramco.

“The kingdom and the Gulf has important sour gas reserves and these studies will facilitate the development of other similar accumulations,” he said.

SRAK said it completed drilling the first of three exploration wells it plans to drill as part of a second phase of gas exploration.

One factor that could improve the economics of the Kidan exploration area is its proximity to Shaybah, where infrastructure for both oil and associated gas is in place, Michel Faure, the Chief Executive of Shell Saudi Arabia told Reuters in an interview.

Saudi Arabia, which has kept its vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners, needs gas to help cover domestic fuel demand and conserve oil for lucrative export markets. It invited investors in 2003-2004 to find and produce gas in the desert in Saudi Arabia’s southeast, known as Rub Al Khali.

So far the four consortia have failed to find the volume of gas needed to fuel Saudi economic growth or guarantee returns for investors.

The former CEO of SRAK Kamal al-Yahya told Reuters in October 2010 he saw a potential for Kidan field and the surrounding area “to provide a significant future gas resources for the kingdom.”

Short films tackle issues from parental control to societal progress

Dubai, UAE; November 16, 2011: Five short films offering powerful insights into the changing face of life in the Gulf region will be screened in the ‘Gulf Voices’ segment of the eighth Dubai International Film Festival to be held from December 7 to 14, 2011.

Each of the films – from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait – stands out for its bold and innovative interpretation of complex and unusual issues, from the ties that bind within families to the fragility of social progress.

Kuwaiti director Mohammed Walid Ayyad’s I Wish We Were Dancers, for example, is the story of a girl with multiple sclerosis who is confined to a wheelchair, but has vivid dreams of being a ballerina. The film will make its world premiere at DIFF.

From Oman, directors Mohammed Al-Harthy and Shabib Al-Habsi’s Pillar considers the challenges of familial ties that bind, particularly parental control of children from a young age and into adulthood. The allegorical short is set in a castle, and will make it its world premiere at DIFF.

Three additional films were selected from this year’s Gulf Film Festival, the home of bold, innovative and contemporary cinema from the Arabian peninsula.

Six Blind Eyes, by acclaimed Saudi filmmaker, critic and founding member of the Saudi Film Competition Abdullah Al-Eyaf, follows a psychiatrist who takes on a case he could never have imagined.

Omani filmmaker Amer Alrawas’ Spices, which received the ‘Special Mention’ Award at the GFF Gulf Competition, interlocks four stories of four unrelated individuals: an infertile woman seeking a cure, a 90-year old man waiting, a child preparing for change, and a blogger, at the same moment in time.

Bahraini director Mohammed Jassim’s The Power of Generations shines a light on the rapid developments that the region has witnessed, and addresses the fragility of progress. The thought-provoking film won the second runner-up prize in the GFF Gulf Competition for short films.

Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director of the Dubai International Film Festival and Director of the Gulf Film Festival, said: “These five filmmakers are powerful voices for the contemporary Gulf region, in the subjects they choose to focus on, the way they interpret them, and the style of their execution.”

The Gulf Voices showcase will screen to the public at VOX Cinemas, Mall of the Emirates, from December 8 to 14. The DIFF Box Office opens November 22, 2011.

The eighth edition of DIFF is held in association with Dubai Studio City. Dubai Duty Free, Dubai Pearl, Emirates Airline and Madinat Jumeirah, the home of the Dubai International Film Festival, are the principal sponsors of DIFF. The Festival is supported by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.

Accreditation for the Festival is open. For more details, log on to www.dubaifilmfest.com. For more and updated information about DIFF, please visit www.dubaifilmfest.com or join DIFF on     and 

Release Date: 3rd November 2011

UAE firms are expected to increase exports of local products and services to Saudi Arabia’s booming construction sector over the coming year, as a result of their recent participation at Saudi Build 2011, the Middle East’s largest construction and building material exhibition in the region.

An extensive business matchmaking event, organised by Dubai Exports, an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), witnessed a strong response from Saudi Build key buyers and investors. The event served as an important venue for mutual trade cooperation between companies from both countries including discussion of government facilities and services provided by Dubai Exports.

Engineer Saed Al Awadi, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Exports, said that Saudi Arabia’s booming building and construction sector provided potential opportunities for UAE exports. “Our successful participation at Saudi Build signifies a continuous growth of the country’s exports in the construction and building materials sectors. The business matchmaking event, one of our supports to UAE companies, provided them with a venue to meet with key buyers which aims to increase their export opportunities in regional markets such as Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The matchmaking event, which was attended by 35 local companies and more than 35 major Saudi buyers, resulted to overwhelming sales and business leads of export opportunities. Among the local companies that participated in the event were based in Dubai Investment Park and other companies from the manufacturing sector.

“We are keen to enter new markets for our companies at Dubai Investment Park and Saudi Build is an important exhibition for us to introduce our products to the Kingdom as well as enhance the awareness of the services our companies can provide to the construction sector. We have had remarkable success in our latest participation at Saudi Build and Dubai Exports’ support and the matchmaking event it organised was key in closing deals during the show,” said Abdul Aziz Al Serkal, Chief Executive Officer, Masharie, the private equity arm of Dubai Investments.

Saudi Build 2011, the largest business to business construction fair in the Kingdom, provided contractors, real estate developers and building owners with a full range of building solutions.

Dubai Exports supports local firms to Saudi Build and Anuga 2011 exhibitions 

Release Date: 19th October 2011

Dubai Exports, an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), is continuing to spearhead the exports from the country through creating long term valuable overseas opportunities for UAE companies particularly in the building materials and food & beverage sectors by participating at Saudi Build, the Middle East’s largest construction and building material exhibition in the region; and Germany’s Anuga, world´s leading food fair for the retail trade and the food service and catering market.

The participation of Dubai Exports is built on its previous successes at both events last year after achieving record export orders for the exhibiting local companies. This year, Dubai Exports is hoping to set a new record through extensive business matchmaking events that took place on the sidelines of Saudi Build and Anuga.

“Dubai Exports is continuously looking for ways to aid local companies to expand their presence and increase their export opportunities in the Kingdom and Europe particularly in Germany. Through the Saudi Build and Anuga exhibitions, Dubai Exports is able to strengthen the country’s trade relations with the two countries by enhancing awareness on the products and services our local companies can provide in the construction and building sector as well as the food and beverage industry,” said Engineer Saed Al Awadi, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Exports.

Research produced by Dubai Exports showed that Saudi Arabia remains one of the main export destination markets for Dubai-based products and services. In 2010, Dubai’s direct export to Saudi Arabia amounted to AED2.47 billion, while direct re-export was valued at AED3.34 billion. Meanwhile, Free Zone exports posted AED21.03 billion in the same year.

“Through the matchmaking events supported by our overseas trade office we hope to identify export opportunities for Dubai and UAE exporters in the Kingdom. We are expecting to further increase our exports through linking out exporters with key buyers in the construction sector from Saudi Arabia and the region. We are confident that our activities with lead to future business deals for UAE firms,” Al Awadi added.

Dubai Exports worked with companies in the building materials and services sector to assist them in securing the deals. Current estimates showed that over AED1 trillion is expected to be invested by GCC countries in various construction and infrastructure-related projects over the next decade. Some of these projects are continual projects offering UAE companies long term opportunities.

Similarly, in the food and beverage sector, Dubai Exports has also sought to raise the capabilities and skills of domestic’s producers so that they can enter foreign markets particularly Europe. Dubai Exports is showcasing various products from the UAE at Anuga exhibition, which will help raise the global profile of the country as an exporter of high quality products as well assisting firms to penetrate foreign markets.

The Dubai companies that exhibited at Anuga were able to take advantage of the presence of an expected 150,000 trade show visitors from throughout the world as well as approximately 6,500 exhibiting companies from various countries representing the international food industry. The Dubai companies also networked and discussed business opportunities as well as learned the latest trends and newest markets in the food industry. 

Research from Dubai Exports showed that Germany is an important market for Dubai with its total direct export to the country amounting to AED1 billion in 2010, while exports from the Free zones was valued at AED1.2 billion.

“The Anuga exhibition provided an excellent opportunity for UAE companies to showcase their products and services, and present the latest in the UAE’s food industry including Dubai’s export capabilities,” Al Awadi said.

During the Saudi Build and Anuga exhibitions, Dubai Exports provided various services to the local exhibitors such as readiness assessment for exporters, and general information about the construction sector in Saudi and the food and beverage industry in Germany.

Riyadh-Saudi Arabia: 08 October, 2011 – Schneider Electric today launched EcoStruxure™ solution architecture, which unites its wide-spectrum expertise in power, data centers, process and machines, building control, as well as physical security to deploy intelligent energy management solutions for customers in Saudi Arabia seeking to optimize energy efficiencies across multiple domains of their business.

Capacity constraints, efficiency losses due to poor system design, lack of standardization, low adoption of renewable energy are some of the factors that contribute to the ongoing energy obstacles companies face in Saudi Arabia.

Christophe Campagne, Country President in Saudi Arabia, Schneider Electric, said: “Most companies are seeking to maximize their efficiency levels. By providing our customers with clear and comprehensive reference architectures across key environments and applications, we intend to reduce inefficiencies and increase a company’s ability to make invisible energy waste both visible and actionable. With EcoStruxure, we are able to leverage our world-class competencies to deliver solutions to our customers at all levels of energy utilization.”

The promise of EcoStruxure relies on two main principles:

Firstly, EcoStruxure is based on the most comprehensive portfolio of purpose-specific applications in five domains of expertise that are essential to solve the energy equation:

-       Power: Complete power management solutions for facilities, plant and large sites operations that enable efficient, safe and reliable electrical distribution

-       Data centers: APC by Schneider Electric’s award-winning InfraStruxure™ architecture for data centers uses a modular, scalable approach to optimize power and cooling utilization and mitigate inefficiencies from overbuilding

-       Process and Machines: Automation solutions dedicated to industrial and infrastructure companies or machine builders with focus on flexibility, scalability, performance and ease of use

-       Building Control: Management solutions that focus on reducing installation and operational costs while enhancing end-users’ comfort through real time temperature, lighting and shutter control

-       Physical Security: Architectures include Pelco by Schneider Electric, with industry leading technology in access control, intrusion detection and video surveillance to minimize costs and efficiency losses from unplanned downtime while providing comprehensive risk analysis

Secondly, EcoStruxure is able to connect these five domains of expertise within an open and flexible ecosystem of technology that relies on the use of IP and web services, allowing purpose specific applications to connect whenever needed, at the right level.

Campagne added: “Through EcoStruxure we aim to develop and deploy an integrated architecture that ties together Schneider Electric’s five key domains of expertise to make energy safe, reliable, efficient, productive and green. Our offering answers customers’ needs for connecting solutions that create an intelligent energy management system across all application areas – Schneider Electric is building such architecture.”

With EcoStruxure, businesses can anticipate better results and improvements in operations through systematic energy visibility and real time control of any energy usage. It is also possible, for example, to embed video surveillance in any applications, enhancing safety while cutting operating costs. Energy waste in all forms – from electricity and water to mechanical and human – can be captured and mitigated to achieve improved efficiency.

Leveraging Schneider Electric’s strong understanding of operating processes within buildings, data centers, industry and infrastructure, EcoStruxure is the perfect tool to adjust any business process real time, in close coordination with energy inputs. The company will be rolling out EcoStruxure reference architectures as well as corresponding training throughout the following year in Saudi Arabia.

For more information on EcoStruxure and how Schneider Electric can be your complete, one-stop solution provider, please visit www.schneider-electric.com/sa