Saudi Arabia Online Information Resource

Saudi Arabian property and land developer Abdul Latif Jameel Land has won a global award in the category of residential development in Saudi Arabia by the 2019-2020 Arabia Property Awards. It marks the first time Abdul Latif Jameel has been recognized globally for its achievements in the Saudi property industry. The official announcement was made on June 12 at the Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square, London. 

The company was also shortlisted for the “Property Management Company of the Year” award by the Facility Management Middle East Awards, making it the first Saudi-owned company to be shortlisted for this award. The awards ceremony was held at the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai on June 19. The nomination comes one year after J-One’s community facilities were first opened in Jeddah.

J-One is a development of 242 premium apartments with integrated community amenities in the Al-Salamah district of northwest Jeddah. 

With the objective of rethinking the standard isolated, vertical apartment complex, J-One’s built-up area of 64,000 square meters offers an eco-friendly residential option with communal facilities such as indoor and outdoor pools, a health club, a home theater, cafés, lounges, a gaming room, beauty salons and modern minimarkets. A daycare nursery is also available for residents with young children, while more than 300 parking lots and a CCTV network offer convenience and security.

The project, announced in 2016, was completed within 19.5 months.

As Abdul Latif Jameel Land’s first residential development, the project aims to showcase the company’s capability to build future communities in Saudi Arabia. 

Fady Jameel, deputy president and vice chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel, said: “We are proud that Abdul Latif Jameel and J-One have been recognized at this year’s Arabia Property Awards and Facility Management Middle East Awards. As a pioneering project for both Abdul Latif Jameel Land and Saudi Arabia, this award is testament to our future potential in delivering upon the residential development and housing ownership goals identified in Saudi Vision 2030.”

The Dubai, Africa & Arabia Property Awards are the largest and most widely recognized industry awards across Africa and the Middle East. The awards are judged by an independent panel of over 80 industry experts, focusing on design, quality, service, innovation, originality, and commitment to sustainability. The Facility Management Middle East Awards are the Middle East’s leading awards celebrating outstanding business performance in facility management. 

Abdul Latif Jameel Land aims to address Saudi Arabia’s need for contemporary housing and has over 150 active development projects for delivery in the next five years.

The Company for Cooperative Insurance (Tawuniya) has been recognized as the “Best Insurance Company Offering Electronic Services” in Saudi Arabia in 2019, by Global Banking and Finance Review.

A judging committee analyzed Tawuniya on the quality of its electronic services, development of its communication and technical systems and customer experience.

The company had embarked on a process of digital transformation that saw continuous development of its information infrastructure and the upgrade of systems and applications.

Tawuniya has succeeded in raising the level of cybersecurity and has consistently developed electronic services to meet the expectations of its customers.

Majed Al-Bahiti, vice president of marketing and communication at Tawuniya, said: “This award is an addition to the many awards and accolades Tawuniya has earned over the years. It is a recognition of the company’s efforts in line with the complete transformation of all operations and insurance services using modern IT and communication systems, which has enabled the provision of services to customers at any time, from anywhere and using all devices.”

He added: “This award is also a validation of the success of our strategic vision to keep up with the developments in the market and support society, the economic and regulatory environment through the support of digital transformation and innovation. We are constantly developing products and services, and establishing modern channels that allow the use of advanced information and communication technologies to sell insurance products, improve services and upgrade technical capabilities and skills, and continue to empower Saudi talent to work in the insurance sector.”

Tawuniya recently became the first insurance company in the Kingdom to be granted the ISO 27001 international certificate for electronic information security.

HSBC Saudi Arabia has once again won Euromoney’s award for the “Best Investment Bank in Saudi Arabia” for 2019. The award was recently presented during the Euromoney Awards for Excellence ceremony held in Dubai. 

Rajiv Shukla, acting CEO of HSBC Saudi Arabia, said: “We are pleased to have won this prestigious award yet again, which is a recognition of the outcome of our strong commitment in offering the best investment banking services and products to clients, stakeholders and markets in the Kingdom. We aim to continuously provide the highest level of services through our dedicated and experienced team in the Kingdom and by leveraging the expertise of the broader HSBC Group for the benefit of the Kingdom.”

The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are among the most respected awards for financial services across the world, and are a benchmark within the industry for class-leading products and services.

DUBAI: Newly appointed Saudi Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema bint Bandar met with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to discuss opportunities to further strengthen the countries’ partnership.

The Saudi Arabian embassy in the US, in a tweet, said the two senior officials explored “ways to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s close partnership with the United States on countering the financing of terrorism, as well as US support for the Kingdom’s economic reforms.”

HRH Ambassador @rbalsaud met with Treasury Secretary @stevenmnuchin1 to explore ways to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s close partnership with the United States on countering the financing of terrorism, as well as U.S support for the Kingdom's economic reforms. @USTreasury pic.twitter.com/to4ZOHCMfu

— Saudi Embassy (@SaudiEmbassyUSA) July 18, 2019

Princess Reema, who assumed her new office on July 4, earlier met with US President Donald Trump to present her credentials as the Kingdom’s top diplomat in Washington.

Princess Reema became the Kingdom’s first female ambassador after being nominated to the post on February 23 – to replace Prince Khaled bin Salman who was appointed deputy defense minister – and took her oath before King Salman in Riyadh in April.

DUBAI: King Salman has invited an Indonesian man, who is reportedly 140 years old, and his family to perform Hajj, the Saudi embassy in Jakarta said on Wednesday.
“The Custodian of the Two Holy mosques invites elderly Indonesian man and his family to perform Hajj,” the embassy tweeted.

RIYADH: The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance has started preparations for its Hajj season book distribution program. The ministry will provide pilgrims with books concerning the rituals upon entry to the Kingdom, as well as the Holy Qur’an and translations of its meanings. Finally, pilgrims will be offered guidance books upon their departure.

The program aims to spread legitimate awareness among pilgrims and promote adherence to the correct methods of belief, worship and behavior. 

The undersecretary of the Department of Publications Affairs and Scholarly Research, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed Al-Hamdan, said that it has approved 52 books in more than 30 languages for this year’s Hajj season. He added that more than 8 million copies of the Holy Qur’an, ritual books and manuals will be distributed.

Al-Hamdan said that the Islamic electronic library had issued a platform containing all of the ministry’s written and audio versions of the books of Hajj and Umrah to every international airport in the Kingdom, several exit-port centers and some mosques and important sites. The platform is available to all at www.islamic-ebook.com. SPA Riyadh

RIYADH: More than 21,000 people from 162 countries have so far applied to take part in two prestigious Saudi-organized religious competitions.

Launched earlier this year by Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of the Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA), the Qur’an and Adhan recital contests will offer a winners’ prize pot of SR7 million ($1.9 million).

The initiative aims to highlight the diversity of the Muslim world’s cultures and enhance the image of Islam internationally.