Preceded by a “Business Integration” workshop, the trade mission aimed at stimulating and promoting the Jordanian consulting sector within the GCC, introducing to both public and private sectors the benefits and services provided by its members that could enhance companies’ capabilities and competitiveness.

“Our trade mission succeeded in raising awareness regarding the importance of the consulting sector, its role in developing productivity, and its ability to assist in running projects seamlessly by minimizing technical and management crisis they might face,” said Tamara Abdel Jaber, Chairperson of the Board of Directors IMC–Jordan.

Tamara illustrated that the trade mission embodied the strategic project goals, funded by the European Union (EU) in cooperation with Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO), which aims at developing the consulting sector inJordan, mainly the much-needed ability to export its services to neighboring countries.

Abdel Jaber praised the efforts and support of both the EU and JEDCO, estimated at 117 thousand Euros, the project is considered vital for IMC-Jordan in the development of its services in order to provide exposure and visibility for its members and enhance their capabilities in providing the regional markets with the necessary Jordanian expertise.

In addition to presentations and sessions, IMC–Jordan exhibited the governing criteria and standards for the sector’s stakeholders, over viewing the “Best Practices,” and “Benefits of Management Consulting” documents drafted by IMC–Jordan to provide the basis for comprehensive occupational standards for the management consulting and training sector.

Additionally, IMC–Jordan presented the “Classification System”, which provides an online data bank enterprises can utilize to determine the consultants they could employ categorized according to experience and specialty.

“This mission embodied the role, status, and objectives of the Institute that aims at organizing the sector according to international standards to ensure a consistent level of services, as a flight from randomness and haphazard practices,” said IMC–Jordan Executive Director, Reema Nasser.

“We had a real chance to introduce the vision and mission of IMC–Jordan to the participants, in addition to gapping the communication bridges between the members and their colleagues in various Arab countries. We motivated and encouraged them to establish similar institutes capable of serving and supporting various sectors, since consulting and training are cornerstones of modern economy,” she added.

It is worth mentioning that the annual income of the Jordanian financial and management consulting, training, and business solutions sector is estimated at USD 220 million, with the Gulf having the largest slice of the Arab cake, albeit a modest one considering the annual income of the global market of the consulting sector is estimated at USD 250 billion.

- Ends –

Institute of Management Consultants and Trainers IMC-Jordan was established in 1995, is a private not-for-profit association that aims to effectively represent, promote, and advance the Jordanian management consulting profession and training professionals to the best interest of their clients in Jordan and abroad, through various activities including certification programs, training, networking, regulating, establishing standards, guidance and creating database.

IMC is concerned with organizing and upgrading the management consulting and training professions, training of management consultants, and certifying eligible members to the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation.

*****

For more information, please call

PR Launchers / Tel: 00 962 6 55 20 681 – Fax: 00 962 6 55 20 681

Email: info@PRLaunchers.net – Web: www.PRLaunchers.net

Basic problem is not based on supply and demand
The global economic impact of the unrest in the MENA region, in particular Libya, and the resultant rise in the oil price, is expected to be an important point of the discussions at this leading industry event.

Dr Elkareish says the risk to the global economy posed by sustained high oil prices is a factor that should not be overlooked: “If tensions in the MENA region die down quickly and the price of oil returns to pre-crisis levels, the global economic recovery will not be affected dramatically. However, if these movements spread, and a collection of countries see deep cuts in oil production, high oil prices could pose a real danger to the global economy.”

He continues: “Effective steps to avoid a future oil crisis must be taken. Since the basic problem is not based on supply and demand or free market fundamentals, but instead is based upon speculatively inspired psychological perception, remedial action based upon economic factors seems appropriate. The main oil producer, Saudi Arabia, must add additional spare production capacity to cover any loss of capacity elsewhere.”

Impact of international clean fuel standards on Arab countries
The largest refiners in the region will attend the Middle East Downsteam Week in May where OAPEC’s Dr Elkareish will specifically focus on clean fuels regulations and Arab countries’ strategies to improve refined product specifications, including current specifications of refined products in Arab countries and the expected time schedule for meeting international clean fuels standards. He will also address the main reasons why refiners in Arab countries are not able to meet international clean fuel standards in addition to plans already implemented for improving refined product specifications in Arab refineries.

More high profile experts at Middle East Downstream Week include:
* Jasem Ali Al Sayegh, General Manager, ABU DHABI OIL REFINING COMPANY (TAKREER)
* Jean Jacques Mosconi, Senior Vice President, Strategy, TOTAL
* Solomon Mirza, Vice President, Strategic Planning and Capital Allocation, SHELL
* Bakhit Shabib Al Rashidi, Deputy Managing Director, Planning and Local Marketing, KUWAIT NATIONAL PETROLEUM COMPANY (KNPC)
* Dr Partha Maitra, President, Petroleum Business, RELIANCE INDUSTRIES
* Norman Gilsdorf, President, HONEYWELL PROCESS SOLUTIONS
* Nabeel Al Ruwaidhi, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Business Development and Strategic Planning, OMAN OIL MARKETING COMPANY SAOG (OOMCO)
* Mohamed Mezal, Refinery Operations Planning Manager, THE BAHRAIN PETROLEUM COMPANY (BAPCO)
* Dr Halim Hamid Redhwi, Assistant Supervisor, DHAHRAN TECHNO-VALLEY (DTV) and Professor, Chemical Engineering Department KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND MINERALS (KFUPM)
* Hamid Reza Seyed Jafari, Director of Corporate Planning, NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL REFINING AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANY (NIORDC)
* Ali Mohammed Al Jaberi, Ruwais Refinery Division Manager, ABU DHABI OIL REFINING COMPANY (TAKREER)

Major operating companies attending the 2011 Middle East Downstream Week include: Saudi Aramco, SATORP, ADNOC, TAKREER, ENOC, KNPC, Reliance, Sumitomo Chemical Asia, Total, Shell, BP, BAPCO, Oman Oil Marketing Company, Sabic and Aden Refinery Company among others.

Event dates:
* Axens Middle East Refining Seminar: 8 May 2011
* Downstream Integration Workshop: 8 May 2011
* Main Conference: 9-10 May 2011
* Middle East Fuels Symposium: 11 May 2011
* Site Visit: TAKREER Ruwais Refinery: 11 May 2011

Event website: www.wra-medw.com
Event location: Beach Rotana Hotel and Towers, Abu Dhabi

For more information, interviews and media accreditation:
Communications manager: Annemarie Roodbol
Tel. +27 21 700 3558
Fax. +27 21 700 3501
Mobile: +27 82 562 7844
Email: annemarie.roodbol@clarionevents.com

Media Contact: Susan Furness at Strategic Solutions for ArabianMoney.net
Email: susan@strategicsolutionsonline.com Tel: +97150 6556126
Editor’s Notes:
ArabianMoney is the only independently written investment newsletter published in the Gulf, and sent out monthly to subscribers all over the world who pay an annual fee.

Editor and publisher Peter Cooper was the founding editor of Gulf Business magazine in 1996 and one of the founders of the AME Info news service in 2000.

ArabianMoney also has a free-to-view website, www.arabianmoney.net whose readership grew by 76% in August.

Peter Cooper’s property columns formerly appeared in Freehold Monthly and Property Monthly but are now only available to readers of the ArabianMoney newsletter.
For more information: Please visit www.arabianmoney.net

The new efficiency aims to enable businesses to build information systems that are more flexible, cost effective and help people to understand and respond to changing business conditions with greater insight and speed than ever before.

Addressing a press conference at Gitex, Charbel Fakhoury, General Manager, Microsoft Gulf said, “As countries in every corner of the globe work to emerge from tough market conditions, Microsoft is committed to providing innovative technology products and services that will provide the fuel to help reignite the engine of economic growth. We believe that our software solutions for the new efficiency can help companies manage the short and long end of a downturn by driving down costs and improving operations. This year is an exciting year from a product launch and innovation perspective and it will really lay the foundation for Microsoft in the region for the next 2 years.”

Anil Kumar, General Manager Personal System Group HP Middle East, “said, “Our customers are asking us how they can use technology to drive down costs and enhance operational efficiencies. With new offerings such as Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server, organizations can realize significant cost savings. These new technologies have the potential to reshape the workplace and deliver dramatic benefits to the enterprise and will enable companies to unleash the full potential of their people to build profitable relationships with customers, spearhead new innovations and drive business success.”

With Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft is building on the award-winning foundation of Windows Server 2008 by expanding existing technology and adding new innovations that enable customers to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. New virtualization tools, Web resources, management enhancements and exciting Windows 7 integration will help customers increase the reliability and flexibility of their server infrastructures.

Microsoft will also launch Exchange 2010 which is the latest version of Microsoft’s premier enterprise messaging and collaboration solution. As Exchange continues to grow in market share, it has become the cornerstone of Microsoft’s vision for unified communications. With new deployment and storage options, enhanced inbox management capabilities and e-mail archiving built-in, Exchange 2010 helps organizations lower costs and achieve new levels of reliability and performance.

“For Microsoft, this is about more than just the Windows business – it’s about technology and product innovation and engaging with our regional partners, customers and governments to help drive socio-economic growth,” added Fakhoury.

Windows 7 is available to for a Gitex-only preview to visitors of the show.. With Windows 7, Microsoft is delivering a foundation for unmatched customer experiences across applications, services, and devices. It delivers innovative new features and simplicity that enable end users to be productive no matter where they are or where their data resides.

Microsoft Gulf is playing a leading role at Gitex Technology Week, including high level speakers who will deliver a range of presentations throughout the exhibition. In addition, Microsoft will host an ‘experience stand’ at Gitex Shopper to showcase how users can take advantage of the powerful new functionality of Windows 7, Windows Phone, and Windows Live.

-Ends-

The Amman-based company said that it has started to overcome the effects of the slowdown that has negatively impacted its activity during the past few months, adding that the firm has picked up at a pace parallel to that of regional and international peers.

Javna, which is active in the Gulf region and North Africa, resorted to economic precautionary measures with a view to survive the sweeping crisis that hit the company’s key markets.

Javna’s CEO Mansour Mansour said that the company’s board handled the economic problem with professionalism and transparency, adopting an approach based on redistributing the company’s operations among its branches to ease the financial burden and reduce expenditure.

He added: “The fact that Javna has several branches operating in Arab and European markets, especially those among the least hit by the crisis, has helped us overcome this undesirable situation. Besides, the wide clientele base expanding across sectors was also a positive factor, not to mention the strategic partnerships Javna entered at the beginning of 2007 and 2008 with Asian firms and international organizations that partly helped address the crisis.”

It is worth mentioning that the ICT sector has been the third industry most harmed by the global financial crisis after banking and real estate.

Mansour emphasized that stability is gradually returning to Gulf markets, where Javna is the most active, pinpointing the findings of a recent study conducted by Leaders Presents. According to the survey, 53.4% of business leaders and top executives in the Gulf area said that they increased their investments during 2009 despite the consequences of the global crisis.

The study also revealed that 34.6% of investors did not trim down their investments in the period in question, compared with 12% who restructured their investments.

The survey, which involved 600 business leaders and top executives in the region, forecast that the Gulf area would recover from the effects of the global financial crisis early 2011 at the furthest, as 11% of respondents said that recovery would be complete at the beginning of 2010 and 38% said full recovery will occur mid 2010, whereas 50% said it would take until early 2011 to see the region completely healthy again.

Ends

Held under the theme “Investment Horizons & the Gulf Common Market within the Global Financial Crisis,” the latest round started yesterday (Monday, April 27, 2009) and ends today (Tuesday, April 28, 2009) at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center, KSA and the Kingdom Hall of the Four Seasons Hotel. The 2009 edition envisions further diversification of the region’s economic structure through strategic investments. In his speech, H.E. Al Saleh proposed strategies that the Gulf could take to minimize the effects of the crisis and capitalize on current opportunities.

H.E. Al Saleh said: “One important aspect that has helped the Gulf avoid most of the negative effects of the crisis is the active commercial relations among its members. In 2007, trade within the region amounted to AED 40.4 billion, representing a growth rate of 12 per cent. Most of the Gulf’s countries rank among the top 10 trading partners of the UAE. Our volume of trade with Arab countries rose to AED 32.3 billion in 2007, representing a solid 13 per cent growth.”

“There are several steps we can take as a region to combat the present and future effects of a crisis; we could establish a common Gulf mechanism for handling such events, particularly an early warning system for the trade sector. We could manage our industries to complement each other, and encourage diversification so that we can reduce our dependence on products and services provided outside of the region. We can also establish centers that promote inter-Arab exports and focus on competitiveness particularly in non-traditional markets,” added H.E. Al Saleh.

In addition, the Director General called for more market openness, urged attendees to avoid protectionist policies, and encouraged improved relations with developing countries in general and Asian countries in particular. He said the crisis should be used as an opportunity to invest further in trade and commerce infrastructure. The MoFT official also referred to UAE policies that have helped it strengthen its regional and international commercial and economic presence.

“The UAE has drawn from lessons from the past to maintain a trade policy that focuses on diversity. We have been promoting non-oil exports to enhance our competitiveness and integrate more into the global market. Our success in this regard has been commended and certified by several prominent organizations such as the World Trade Organization. While we are also affected by the global crisis to a minimal degree, the Ministry and other key UAE organizations will continue to monitor the impact of the downturn and make the necessary adjustments,” concluded Al Saleh.                                     

H.E. Al Saleh further assured that the UAE Government has excellently handled the hardest phases of the financial crisis and has outlined the appropriate solutions for immediate implementation. He said that the desired results can be slowly seen in the way the business community has started to restore its confidence in the domestic markets. The Director General explained that the government was able to accomplish in just a short period of time what they expected to attain in two years.

The MoFT official expressed optimism and downplayed criticisms on the government’s   capabilities, saying that their achievements spoke for themselves. He affirmed the robustness of the Emirates’ financial establishments, pointing out the absence of any collapse or bankruptcy in the sector and the majority share of local money in bank deposits. He added that the government has pledged to provide guarantees on deposits.  H.E. emphasized that the government remains committed to completing ongoing infrastructural projects and that additional developments would be announced despite the global economic recessions. He finally noted the increase in the 2009 federal budget.

Investment Horizons 2009 partners include the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, the Federation of GCC Chambers, the Council of  Saudi Chambers, the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, and the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The forum will discuss the challenges posed by the crisis on Gulf investments as well as their recommended solutions; the role of Sovereign Wealth Funds; the status of Gulf baking services amidst the crisis; and the future of Islamic banking. The event will also analyze Gulf stock markets, the growth rates of the region’s economies, and the significance of both the Gulf Common Market and united GCC currency.