Just Another Ordinary Day in Saudi

Excerpted from Arab News

Winners at the 2005 Saudi Achievement Awards ceremony, held at the Al-Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh (see No. 13):


1) Best Corporate SMB Solution: CISCO
2) Best Open Source Co.: Holool

3) Best Aviation Co. of the Year: Al-Wallan Aviation. The award was presented to Saad Al-Wallan, CEO, Al-Wallan Aviation. Having been in the field of aviation for years, Al-Wallan established his own private aviation company and is now the sole agent in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, Jordan and Yemen of LearJet and Cessna Citation, both aircraft that are made specifically to transport VIPs and businessmen in the most luxurious atmosphere.

4) Best Automotive Co.: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors (BMW). The award was presented to a representative of Mohamed Yousuf Naghi, chairman and CEO of Al-Naghi Companies.

5) Best Property Developer: Dar Al-Arkan. The company is the only real-estate developer in the market which has taken upon itself the establishment of projects that are worth SR800 billion for middle class citizens. In addition, it has launched the first real-estate fund for housing units on a lease basis which extends to 20 years.

6) Best Corporate Social Responsibility: Al-Jiwar Co. Jiwar Al-Haram is one of the leading companies in real-estate development in the field of religious tourism. Today the company is constructing housing units near the Grand Mosque of Makkah worth SR8 billion. The company is well-known for supporting charitable and social projects all over the Kingdom.

7) Best Courier Co.: UPS.
8) Best E-Government Solution: Zuhair Al-Fayez Co. for IT Solutions.

9) Best Initiative and Innovative Co. of the Year: IJADA. The award was given to Bakr Binladin on behalf of the company. The company has developed many IT solutions for Saudi companies. It has also participated in increasing the operational efficiency needed by companies in various sectors.

10) Best Retail Co. of the Year: Al-Othaim Commercial Co.

11) Best in Corporate Banking: The Saudi Investment Bank. The award was delivered to Saud ibn Saleh Al-Saleh. The bank is known for providing many services to a large diversified sector of consumers.

12) Best in Retail Banking: National Commercial Bank. The award was presented to Abdul Hadi ibn Ali Shayef. NCB, which is among the oldest and well-known banks in the Kingdom, has undergone expansions since last year by developing several branches inside commercial sectors which stresses its focus on consumers.

13) Best in Hospitality: The Al-Faisaliah Hotel. The award was given to Michael Gibb, managing director, regional vice president. The hotel is among the finest in Riyadh.

14) Best Businesswoman of the Year: Princess Hessa bint Khaled Al-Sudairy (Unique Female Services Center). She is considered among the first Saudi businesswomen to establish a center that specializes in the training and rehabilitation of Saudi women and in several areas like management, training and computer science.

15) Best in Business Development: Oracle.

16) Best Petrochemical Co. of the Year: SABIC. The award was presented to Prince Saud ibn Abdullah ibn Thunaiyan Al-Saud, CEO. It is among the leading companies in the world in petrochemicals. It is also a powerful economic force for the Saudi industry.

17) Best Corporate Communication Mechanism Book Writer: Abdullah ibn Hamoud Al-Shehri from Saudi Association for Media and Communications.

18) Best Corporate Campaign: STC.


19) Public Relations Man of the Year: Sultan Al-Bazie (Dar Tariq Media). His efforts helped in the success of the first municipal elections in Riyadh. Coordinating between the Saudi media, the foreign media and government sectors, he was able to tackle his mission successfully.

20) Business Management: Prince Turki ibn Abdullah ibn Abdulrahman Al-Saud (Dar Al-Riyadh Holding Co.). Under Prince Turki’s leadership, the company has gone global and is maintaining a steady development and productivity rate.

21) The Man of the Year 2004 in Business: Prince Faisal Bin Salman, chairman, SRMG.