Armani Hotel Dubai opens in Burj Khalifa

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Fashion maestro Giorgio Armani and Mr Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman, Emaar Properties PJSC, cut the ribbon to officially open the world’s first Armani Hotel in Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building on April 27, 2010. Located on floors concourse to 8 and levels 38 & 39 of Burj Khalifa, Armani Hotel Dubai has 160 guest rooms and suites, eight restaurants, exclusive retail outlets and a spa.

Armani Hotel Dubai’s opening will be followed by the launch of Armani Hotel Milano in Italy; Armani Resort in Marrakech, Morocco; and Armani Residences villas in Marassi, Egypt.

Fast Rent A Car reveals Expansion Plans

Fast Rent A Car, the UAE’s leading locally-owned vehicle rental company, has announced its expansion plans for 2010. The company intends to meet rising demand by adding a net 900 units to its fleet – a 13 percent expansion that will see the number of its current units reach nearly 8,000 by the end of this year. The additions will boost what is already the widest-ranging fleet in the UAE and reinforce Fast Rent A Car’s position as a market leader.

The company will acquire a total of 2136 vehicles in 2010, 900 of which will contribute to its fleet expansion, while the remainder replace 18 percent of its current fleet as part of Fast Rent A Car’s policy to remove vehicles older than two years. As the first stage of implementing this expansion plan, the company has invested 22 million dirhams on 345 new vehicles in the first quarter, ranging from economy to luxury models. The announcement reflects Fast Rent A Car’s steady growth during the economic slowdown. Read more

SonicWALL Unveils Project SuperMassive

Next-Generation Firewall Technology Provides Application Control & Full Malware Protection at up to 40 Gigabits/Sec

Marking one of the most significant milestones in the company’s 19-year history, SonicWALL today unveiled Project SuperMassive, the industry’s first next-generation security platform and technology capable of detecting and controlling applications, preventing intrusions, and blocking malware at up to 40 Gbps without introducing latency to the network. Project SuperMassive comprises key elements, including: SonicWALL’s Massively Scalable Next-Generation Network Security Platform architecture, SonicWALL’s Next-Generation Firewall technology, and SonicWALL’s patented Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (RF-DPI) engine.  At more than 10 times the speed of today’s fastest technologies, Project SuperMassive revolutionizes application visualization and control, and is capable of protecting the world’s highest performance networks from malware of all kinds. Today, companies are being forced to choose between performance and security, since existing security architectures have not been able to keep up with the volume of network traffic, especially with the explosion of rich media and the rise in malware-ridden social media applications. Read more

Emirates NBD opens new Priority Banking centre in Tourist Club Area Abu Dhabi

In line with its expansion plans in the UAE capital, Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, announced today the official inauguration of a priority banking centre in the Tourist Club Area in Abu Dhabi. The priority banking centre is part of Emirates NBD’s network of 14 branches in the emirate, along with 48 ATMs and Cash Deposit Machines (CDMs).

The news comes at a time when the bank intends to significantly increase its presence in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, with a strategic expansion plan to be rolled out this year.

“I am extremely pleased to announce the inauguration of our new priority banking centre in an important central district of Abu Dhabi,” said Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Group Deputy CEO, Emirates NBD. “The Tourist Club Area is one of the fastest growing hubs of the city and home to many of its residents and businesses and the introduction of the priority banking center represents another step in our strategy to extend our services in the UAE capital and be closer to our customers,” he added. Read more

The right talent critical to business longevity in the emirate

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Today, a global expert on recruitment and people decisions outlined the critical importance of succession planning and the need to recognise and develop the leadership talents of Gulf nationals to ensure the region’s future economic success and sustainability.   Mr. Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Senior Advisor at Egon Zehnder International (EZI), one of the largest privately-held executive search firms worldwide,  was in Dubai for a series of talks and workshops with business leaders in the Emirate on issues vital to business success and longevity.

“When you make the wrong people decisions, the results can be incredibly damaging, leading to the loss of jobs, a fall in revenue or share prices, and – potentially even more damaging – a decline in trust among in business leaders and consumers,” said Mr. Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, author of the highly-acclaimed business book best-seller Great People Decisions.  “All of these can have extremely negative consequences for investment and growth. If more businesses in the UAE are to develop into globally recognised and trusted brands, it is essential that the people leading those companies have the skills that their role demands, and that they in turn are supported by management teams with talent matched to their responsibilities.” Read more

Sea Dubai Sailing Team prepares for RC 44 Austria Cup Match Race

A new helmsman joins the Sea Dubai Sailing Team for the fleet race in the RC44 Austria Cup, April 29 – May 4, in Lake Traunsee, Gmunden. German born Harm Muller Spreer, famous for his TP 52, Platoon and the Dragon class hopes to carry his success to the team and add to their winning streak this season in the Al Maktoum Sailing Trophy. Spreer brings a vast amount of experience to the established team under the skilled leadership of match racing skipper Markus Wieser.

Already in town for four days to assemble the boat and gain valuable time on the water the Sea Dubai Team have been focused on getting their new fleet racing skipper up to speed at the helm. ‘The boat is a racing machine and it takes time to get used to the handling of it,’ said Markus Wieser. ‘We expect to meet all kinds of conditions on the lake this week and we want to be ready for anything. Last year we broached when we lost the spinnaker in strong winds here on the lake, it was one of our worst moments so we are preparing for all conditions.’

Under the Fly Emirates, Edox Swiss Watches and MarinePool flag the boat is one of an ever-increasing number of sailing initiatives the UAE. Over the last year the Emirates has spread its sailing portfolio to include the Louis Vuitton Trophy in November and the Volvo Ocean Race stop over in 2011. ‘Sailing is a wonderful sport and traditionally inherent in our country, it seems a natural progression to support and be part of the development sailing internationally,’ said Saeed Harib, CEO of Dubai International Marine Club.

The RC 44 Austria Cup Match Race lasts for two days with a spare day on the third day to finish any incomplete matches and then it will finish with three days of fleet racing. The Championship Tour will then head Copenhagen, Demark in June, Valencia, Spain in July, Puerto Calero, Spain in October and Miami, USA in December. The RC44 class is now recognized by ISAF and will hold its first World Cup in Puerto Calero.

Western Union President and CEO Christina Gold Announces Her Intention to Retire

The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) today announced that the Board of Directors has named Chief Operating Officer Hikmet Ersek, 49, to succeed Christina Gold, 62, as President and Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2010.  The Board also elected Ersek to the Board of Directors, effective April 26, 2010.

Western Union’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jack M. Greenberg, said, “During her tenure at Western Union, Christina has been instrumental in transforming the Company into a global leader in money transfer, creating a network of 420,000 agent locations in over 200 countries and territories, with 7,000 employees.  Since she joined the Company as President in 2002, Western Union‘s revenue has nearly doubled and its market share has significantly expanded.
“We greatly appreciate her contribution to the Company, her cultivation of the next generation of leadership and her skillful management of a seamless executive transition plan,” Greenberg added.  “Her graceful and inspirational presence will be sorely missed.  We are fortunate that Hikmet Ersek has deep global experience, a strong track record of business performance, and is now ready to lead Western Union.” Read more

GCC tourism to Flanders increases by 24%

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The number of GCC visitors to Flanders has increased by 24% in 2008, according to statistics released by the Tourist Office for Flanders. Visitors from the Gulf region spent more than 50,000 nights in the Belgian region of Flanders during 2008.

According to the Tourist Office for Flanders, which will participate at this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATN) in Dubai from 4 – 7 May 2010, there are many different sights to discover for GCC travellers. “We are delighted to report that the number of visitors from the Gulf region to Flanders has increased massively over the past years,” said Piet Jonckers, Marketing Director at the Tourist Office for Flanders. Read more

UAE and Yemen to enhance cooperation in postal matters

A delegation from Yemen General  Post Authority, headed by Mr. Saleh Abdulla Baswad, Deputy General Manager, signed a series of agreements with Emirates Post to enhance cooperation in areas of parcels, IFS money transfer, quality and automation.

The agreements were signed on behalf of Emirates Post by Mr. Salem Al Shaya, Assistant CEO of Operations, Emirates Post.

“The visit of Yemen General Post Authority comes as a follow-up to the recent high-level meetings between Yemen and the UAE, headed by H.H Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has called for stronger relations between the two countries,” said Mr. Al Shaya. “We believe this visit of Yemen General Post Authority will mark a new chapter in postal cooperation between UAE and Yemen. Read more

Graphic Designer wins an iPad from Jacky’s Electronics

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Jumping atop Burj Khalifa, changing their names to Jacky’s and a lot more creative and innovative ideas were among the things people would do to win an Apple iPad for free but an artistic video executing what the participant would actually do to be the new owner of the iPad has bested the rest and was hailed the winner of the first Facebook competition of Jacky’s Electronics.

Glenn Roxas, a graphic designer, took a creative 1-minute video of himself to let everyone know about Jacky’s iPad competition by going around Dubai Superman-style, walking on the middle of Sheikh Zayed Road, and socialising with other nationalities.

“I shot the video one half day and I wasn’t really expecting to win. Thank you Jacky’s for holding the competition and I can’t wait to use my new iPad in rolling out my creative ideas,” said Roxas. Read more

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