Acxiom Corporation, a global leader in marketing services and technology, has been ranked as the No 1 company in customer satisfaction by the 2010 Black Book of Outsourcing, “the leading independent benchmark for customer satisfaction, and the only survey based solely on customer feedback". Acxiom achieved the No. 1 spot in all nine categories measured including requirements awareness, shared goals, financial benefits, risk mitigation, partnership approach, problem resolution, corporate reputation, skills and resources, and future orientation. The top honor as the leading IT outsourcer comes on the heels of late last year in 2010 Black Book of outsourcing survey that placed Acxiom’s ITO services in the top one percent from over 2,700 global outsourcing service providers evaluated. “Acxiom has been a trusted and valued partner for over a decade,” said Malcolm McRoberts, chief information and technology officer, Deluxe Corporation. “They are not only able to understand our business and technology needs, but their excellence in service is unsurpassed. We view them as a key resource as Deluxe continues with the success of its transformation.” Yousef Hamidaddin, CEO Acxiom MENA, said: “Acxiom MENA has retained its top clients in Saudi Arabia such as Sony, P&G and Saudi Arabian Airlines for almost a decade helping them to optimize customer value at every interaction. We have a client-centric approach that ensures our clients get the products and solutions that meet their specific needs.”
The number of factories in Jeddah’s Second Industrial City, when completed, will be 400 with investment standing at SR25 billion. Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Zainal Alireza, who is also the chairman of the board of directors of Modon (Saudi Industrial Property Authority), signed contracts for infrastructure projects for the 1st phase of the new industrial city amounting to SR1.7 billion on an area of 8 million sq. m.
As for the infrastructure, the systems provided by Modon will contribute in reducing power consumption to 50 percent of energy.
“Modon has made laudable efforts in better serving the factories to focus on their basic industries and providing them with their logistic needs within a comprehensive program aiming at upgrading the industrial cities’ infrastructure. Modon is keen on presenting a prototype for future cities in providing clean energy and the economic benefit will be substantial,” a Modon statement said.
“Modon is eager to cooperate with highly reputable contractors and designers to achieve the best results with best international standards.”
Modon’s Director-General Tawfig Alrabiah and the National Trigeneration CHP Company (NTCC) signed an agreement to provide the new industrial city with district energy services on a BOT basis.
This will provide the city with about 100,000 tons of cooling and produce electrical power of about 80 megawatts. NTCC CEO Salah Al-Afaliq said he was hopeful of reducing plants’ costs.
HSBC Saudi Arabia Ltd., 40 percent owned by the Saudi British Bank, has won the MENA Fund Manager Awards for the Fund of Funds of the Year for its HSBC Amanah Multi Assets Growth Fund and the Sector Fund of the Year for its HSBC Amanah Saudi Industrial Companies Fund.
Both awards were received based on the funds’ performance in the year 2010.
The HSBC Amanah Multi Assets Growth Fund (AGP) is an open ended Investment Fund which aims to achieve, over the long-term, capital growth through exposure to a diversified selection of global, emerging, regional and local equity markets funds. The fund also invests in Shariah-compliant money market and fixed income funds. The HSBC Amanah Multi Assets Growth Fund achieved a return of 8.88 percent during 2010 while its two years cumulative return was 38.41 percent. The HSBC Amanah Saudi Industrial Companies Fund is also an open-ended investment fund with the aim to achieve, over the long term, capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of Shariah-compliant equities of industrial companies listed on the Saudi stock market. The fund’s one year return was 17.58 percent while its two years cumulative return was 72.57 percent as at Dec. 31, 2010. Osamah M. Shaker, MD and head of investments, said: “We combine our local market knowledge with HSBC’s global investment expertise to deliver optimal investment solutions, and our product range is geared to ensure that investors with different risk profiles are able to select a fund that matches their investment needs.”
Year’s first bargain on books is back with a bang. A huge collection of books is on sale at unbelievable discounts at this year’s first grand book sale. The event continues till Feb. 25 at Dunes International School, old airport road, Alkhobar.
The event received overwhelming responses in the last couple of years in Dubai, Muscat, Doha, Bahrain, Riyadh and Jeddah and has become the signature event of Pioneer House the organizer of the event. Tahir Rafiq of Pioneer House said in his inaugural message: “We are excited to organize the year’s first grand books sale first ever in Alkhobar. The response of last year’s grand books sale in Riyadh and Jeddah was amazing. This time we have added many more titles and increased the categories of books.”
The event offers an ideal opportunity to both serious and casual readers to take home their favorite titles at incredibly low prices.
He added: “Our main aim of this event is to ensure that books across categories are made available at affordable prices. We would want to trigger the development of the reading habit especially among the younger children. The unbelievable discounts have been made possible because the company buys bulk to lower costs.”
There is a large range of books available on sale including those on health and fitness, cookery, management, science, travel and leisure, biographies, dictionaries, fiction and nonfiction, children and teenage books, encyclopedias and a large variety for pre-school children.
Honda Motor Co. (Middle East Office) has announced the launch of its all-new Odyssey in GCC markets.
The completely redesigned 2011 Honda Odyssey improves on its award-winning, class-leading design with a more distinctive style, higher fuel economy and greater interior versatility. Improvements to the fourth-generation Odyssey represent a new Honda vision for the “ultimate in family transportation.”
The 2011 Odyssey’s enhanced aerodynamic shape with a lower roofline contributes to class-leading highway fuel economy, while the improved interior packaging maintains similar functionality as the previous model.
A wider stance creates a more accommodating interior while accenting the exterior’s dynamic appearance. Significant improvements for convenience include a new “3-mode” second-row seat design along with a simpler-to-operate, 3rd-row “Magic Seat”. The third row provides improved legroom, along with better visibility from the side windows - a functional improvement resulting from the exterior’s signature “lightning-bolt” belt line. The 2011 Odyssey dramatically departs from conventional MPV styling with its low and wide stance. The interior of the car embraces a “cool and intuitive” theme consistent with its increased levels of technology and family versatility. The dashboard’s simple and clean lines accent the depth of the cabin for an open and spacious feeling. The Odyssey exemplifies quality from its ergonomically friendly controls.
