The launch came during a press conference held by ArabCrunch in cooperation with Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship at the headquarters of the Royal Scientific Society.

“ArabCrunch.NET will facilitate knowledge transfer and enable veterans from Silicon Valley to work with and mentor young talent from the MENA region,” said Bassel Yassine Ojjeh, a former Senior Vice President of Yahoo!, Inc. USA, a serial entrepreneur and Board Member of ArabCrunch Group, who led the round of funding. “We’ve built ArabCrunch.NET to fuel innovation, create a knowledge based society and an environment for job creation in the region that will serve high tech professionals throughout the 22 Arab countries and the western hemisphere.”

“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to be the first dedicated group that focuses on accelerating the innovation cycle both here in Amman and throughout the Arab world,” said Gaith Saqer, Founder of ArabCrunch Group. “Ever since we launched ArabCrunch.com in 2008, we have been committed to finding the most compelling technological innovations that impact the Arab world – this next chapter allows us to help foster collaboration on a scale never seen before in our region. We have built a social platform that connects participants and helps them find crucial resources, build strategic partnerships and promote services.”

Since it’s unveiling in 2008, ArabCrunch.com has grown to one of the most widely read technology blogs in the Arab world with over 30,000 monthly visits. Founded on the principle of “professional blogging,” ArabCrunch.com has become the primary source of information about the latest technological advancements relevant to the Arabic world. An Arabic version based on “citizen journalism” was launched last month and has met with great success.

- ENDS-

About ArabCrunch Group:
ArabCrunch Group’s mission is to inform, impact, inspire and create an Arab centric technology ecosystem that delivers information, and connects Arab entrepreneurs both in the region and throughout the world via its properties, ArabCrunch.com, ArabCrunch.NET and ArabCrunch.com/ar. About Arab Crunch. The mission of ArabCrunch.NET is to help accelerate entrepreneurship and technology innovation in the Arab world by delivering an online social platform that connects participants of the technology ecosystem.

About Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship:
The QRCE is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in October 2004 and is now a complement of El Hassan Science City. The center’s mission is to support economic development through offering a package of services to promote excellence and market technology. The centre particularly targets college students, researchers, inventors and initiators to enhance and build their personal capacities. QRCE offers this group consultation and works to develop their sense of excellence and initiative through a set of programs including Queen Rania National Entrepreneurship Excellence Competition, Technology Commercialization Program, Connect Jordan and Princess Sumaya University for Technology’s Entrepreneurship Society (DART).

For more information please call:
PR Launchers – Tel: +962 6 569 1861 – Fax: +962 6 569 1863
Email: info@PRLaunchers.com Web: www.PRLaunchers.com

Accordingly, Al Basel will coordinate dialogues and facilitate meetings between Jimmy Carter and prominent regional personalities and organisations to advance humanitarian causes. Al Basel Consultancy will also promote literature from the Center to further enhance cultural and historical relations between the US and the Middle East. The Carter Center was set up in 1982 to advocate human rights and lessen human suffering. Since its inception, it has helped improve the quality of life for people in more than 70 countries.

“It is truly an honour working with such a famous historical figure, distinguished author and respected statesman. This is the perfect time to promote Jimmy Carter’s humanitarian philosophies as embodied by his Center across the Middle East, as more businesses in the region are turning to corporate social responsibility to balance development with social welfare. We look forward to promoting the Carter Center and its activities in the region,” said Al Basel Consultancy’s CEO Basel Al Kasem, shortly after meeting Jimmy Carter to discuss areas of cooperation and how the region as a whole can benefit from the Center’s programs.

The Carter Center operates in partnership with Emory University and is governed by a Board of Trustees which includes prominent business persons, educators, former government officials and renowned philanthropists. President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his humanitarian achievements through the Center. His book, ‘Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope’ chronicles the 25-year history of The Carter Center and has become a major source of inspiration among human rights advocates.

Further to Basel Al Kasem’s meeting with Jimmy Carter, Omar Al Kasem from Al Basel Consultancy met with John Hardman, President and CEO of Carter Centre, to discuss the finer points of cooperation between the parties to promote the Centre in the region.
- ends -

DLA Piper has a global commitment to sustainability across all its offices which includes programmes designed to reduce business travel and offset emissions, purchase items manufactured from sustainable sources, and recycle plastic, paper, glass and cartridges.  In addition, DLA Piper is the first international legal practice to achieve certification in the globally recognised environmental standard ISO 14001 across all its offices worldwide.

Accepting the award on behalf of DLA Piper, Elaine Kelly, DLA Piper Regional Facilities Manager in Dubai, said:

“DLA Piper’s corporate responsibility programme focuses on creating sustainable, empowering initiatives throughout the Middle East.  We are committed to reduce our environmental impact and conduct our business in a responsible manner.”

The Sustainable Initiative Award win follows a week-long internal campaign – EnergySMART – to reduce energy output in all regional offices at DLA Piper.  The campaign concluded in early May.

Organised by ITP business publishing, the award ceremony gathered more than 200 of the region’s leading facilities management professionals including developers, service providers, contractors and building owners.

The facilities management Middle East awards aim to raise the profile of the industry and reward and recognise those who have made significant contributions to the progression and development of the region’s facilities management (FM) industry.  The awards acknowledge the leaders as well as the  newcomers who have invested in technology, implemented winning strategies and invested both time and resources to ensure the local industry not only meets international standards but often exceeds them.

David Church, DLA Piper Regional Managing Partner for the Middle East, commented:

“This award recognises the enormous effort DLA Piper has undertaken to create a sustainability programme which distinguishes us as an environmentally responsible company.  We will continue to invest in sustainability and expand our current initiatives even further.”

Walid Akawi, CEO of ITP publishing group, said:

“We are proud to hold the second facilities management Middle East awards and are delighted with the level of interest and participation that the industry has shown this year.  The winners were well deserved and our congratulations go to them all.”

Fourteen awards were presented at the ceremony in categories that covered a number of fields, from innovative IT in FM to landscaping contractor, training and development.  The winners were judged by a prestigious panel of industry figureheads, selected from within the Middle East facilities management industry.  DLA Piper was one of six businesses shortlisted for the Sustainable Initiative Award.

In comparison with other markets in the Gulf region, the global crisis has impacted heavily on Dubai because of its high level of integration with the global economy as a regional hub and the extensive speculation in real estate assets prior to the market’s peak in the third quarter of 2008.

The decline in the value of the index can be attributed to the convergence of a number of interrelated and overlapping factors including the availability of finance, expatriate job security concerns and transparency about delays and postponements.  Colliers’ analysis also highlights a key change in the market as professional investors, focused on the yield generated by a property, became the primary purchaser type as end-users and speculators fell away from the market.

Commenting on the Q1 2009 report John Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Colliers International, said: “Negative sentiment is the key factor driving the decline in the Index and the availability of finance continues to impact the market.  End-users are concerned about job security and therefore unwilling to enter the market, even if finance is available to them, while the price/yield gap is tempting professional investors to wait for further declines.”

Davis added: “On a more positive note, the Index remained unchanged in March 2009.  However, we would caution that it is too early to say whether the halt in the decline of the Index can be sustained, especially over the traditionally quieter summer months.  We expect the last quarter of 2009 to be a barometerfor signalling future trends in the market.”

The House Price Index also analyses the trends for prices achieved for completed properties as opposed to properties still under construction.  When the Burj Dubai development was included in the results, the Index indicates that completed properties fell 31% and properties under construction fell 56%.  Excluding the Burj Dubai development, completed properties fell 32% and properties under construction declined 51%.

 
Key findings:

• Decline in the overall index of 41% between Q4 2008 and Q1 2009
• Year-on-year decline of 34% between Q1 2008 and Q1 2009
• Blended average rate for residential property in Q1 2009 down from AED 1,770/ft² (AED 19,053/m²) in Q4 2008 to AED 1,037/ft² (AED 11,162/m²)
  Apartment prices decreased by 42% in Q1 2009 compared to Q4 2008
• Villa prices decreased by 40% in Q1 2009 compared to Q4 2008
• Townhouse prices decreased by 42% in Q1 2009 compared to Q4 2008
• Currently the index is at approximately the same level as Q2 2007
• Decline in the index value can be attributed to the convergence of a number of interrelated and overlapping factors including: availability of finance; expatriate job security concerns; transparency, or lack thereof, about delays and postponements; professional investor as primary purchaser type as end-users and speculators fall away from the market
• Including the Burj Dubai development, completed properties declined 31% and uncompleted properties declined 56%
• Excluding the Burj Dubai development, completed properties declined 32% and uncompleted properties declined 51%