The Address Has Changed...

Thank You all for being a part of BizzWhizz Dubai, I am sure this support will continue on our new address www.bizzwhizzdubai.com . Looking forward to seeing all of you there...Lets get the party rolling...!!

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Blue Banana Comes to an end...

Blue Banana comes to an end

An interesting and unique concept that has been in the market for over four years now has finally come towards its end forcing the founder, Simon Ford, to leave the country as the company was on its verge towards bankruptcy.

Simon Ford has written a letter to the public apologizing for the actions that he undertook and promising to pay back every debt that is owed to them.

Personal Letter from Simon Ford,

bluebanana.com

Dear all bluebanana.com customers, suppliers, and people whose lives have been effected,

I wanted to write a letter to the Dubai public to apologise for the set of circumstances that have lead to the closure of bluebanana.com and my departure from Dubai. I am not trying to justify that what has happened is morally correct, it most certainly is not, but there is a very stark reality in doing business in UAE which unfortunately results in the most horrible decisions having to be made.

We have continued to work with financial institutions and suppliers over the course of the last few days to see if the business can continue in some capacity, but this has now become impossible, resulting in the immediate closure of the business.This letter is a formal and personal commitment to repay every last Dirham to everyone who is owed money from bluebanana.com.

This includes every customer whose experience hasn’t been honoured, our suppliers who have been so supportive over the last few years and have now been let down in an unprecedented way, every bank who has believed in us and lent us money, and of course every employee of bluebanana.com, all of which have worked so incredibly hard over the course of their time with the business and have been put through absolute hell during the last few weeks and

certainly the last few days.

On a personal level, I have been through the most soul destroying and emotionally horrific 4 days of my life, and am likely to continue to do so for some time as my integrity is repeatedly called into question and rumours of me stealing people’s money, amongst other accusations, grow out of control in Dubai.

The reality is I have left with nothing but the simple fact that my business’s failure has effected many people’s lives in an unimaginable way and left many people burdened financially with unpaid dues. For this I am eternally sorry and am committed to taking personal responsibility to paying back everything that is owed, no matter how long this may take.

The unfortunate reality is that the businesses debt accumulation has grown exponentially since the last quarter of 2008, with further liabilities being accumulated with the desperate objective of keeping the business alive and avoiding what so many other businesses have done, simply stopped paying their staff.

Tragically, the debt of the business reached a level on Thursday 18th June that personal threats were being made against me and my family which left me no choice but to leave 4 years of passion behind and take my family out of the country before start of business Sunday 21st June. I have since been informed that certain individuals arrived at my place of residence in Dubai at the start of Sunday, confirming that the follow through on many of the threats was very real.I am not running away from debt, I am purely protecting those dearest to me and getting out of a country which, due to the lack of structured bankruptcy laws and a banking system which has zero flexibility on loan repayments, drives people to make horrible decisions.

During the course of this week, a large number of bank loan payments would have cleared from the bluebanana.com account which would have resulted in no cash left for my team to make their own financial commitments.

Removing this cash has allowed payments to be made to creditors, plus money which is currently being transferred to employees accounts in Dubai. I apologise if this is viewed as the wrong thing to do, but I feel that my priority had to be to ensure that staff had something, if not all of their salary, together with short term loan payments to allow the restructure of personal liabilities over a longer period of time.

For those people who feel the need to create elaborate stories regarding my departure, this I suppose is inevitable, but I ask to you to consider the truth and watch as I fulfil my commitment to repay everything owed.I have set up an email account for people to contact me with regards to specific outstanding payments, but will proactively contact all outstanding on our records over the course of the next 48 hours.I am sorry DubaiYours

Sincerely,

Simon

Bluebanana.com

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/559936-simon-fords-emotional-letter-in-full

The company was involved in providing unique gift experiences to people which included skydiving, jet fighter flights, scuba diving and many others.

According to Simon Ford, he had to take the step of fleeing from the country because unfortunately the country does not have proper bankruptcy laws to protect the entrepreneurs and thus many who are unsuccessful in business would need to take such drastic decisions.

For a more detailed article on this topic visit the link
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/559928-bluebanana-boss-tells-of-horrific-ordeal-as-firm-goes-bust

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Setting up a Freelance Activity in Knowledge Village (KV)

Setting up a Freelance Activity in Knowledge Village (KV)

Knowledge Village is a free zone that recognizes the possibility of freelance professional to set up their activities. Since it is a knowledge based environment there are only a certain range of activities which could be set up in the free zone. They are as follows: -

Activities

Trainer : - Individuals providing training to professionals in the areas of IT, Media, Business and Management, Logistics, Languages, etc.

Tutor/Coach: -Individuals coaching students on any curriculum specific to secondary and tertiary education

eLearning Advisor: -Individuals offering eLearning support services

Researcher: -Individuals conducting research on various fields

Education Support Services: -individuals providing various services for the education system such as entrance exam coaching, curriculum design, application assistance, etc

Human Resources Advisor: -Individuals who provide Human Resources services

As a freelancer, a person can obtain a license within KV. The license will make the person as the sole practitioner and will be allowed to conduct business on their birth name instead of a name of a company.

Costs: Freelance Permit Dhs 7,500/- annually

Open Offices : All open offices are furnished with one executive desk and chair, and a storagepedestal and cabinet with key. Each open office has a partition running from floor to shoulder height between desks to offer privacy, within a shared environment.
Rental rates: Dhs 15,000/- per desk, charged annually Dhs 5,000/- joining fee, one time payment

In addition to the rent payment, we require a security deposit of Dhs 5,000/- to be paid in advance for each office, the deposit is refundable providing that the terms of the lease agreement have been honoured.


Document required of Application for Freelance Permit:

· Application form (KV- BC Application form - attached)
· Business Plan
· Passport copy with residence visas page (if applicable)
· CV (with personal details: Tel, email, permanent residential address…)
· Copy of your educational certificates / degrees
· Application fee as per form attached

Freelancers / Business Owners :

Annual Visa Sponsorship Charges: - AED 1350/ person


The above written information has been taken from the Knowledge Village website, for more information and contact details.

Visit: - http://www.kv.ae/en/cms/bCenter.asp?menu=side&menuid=134


Post your comments for any opinions or suggestion for people.......

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DAMAS Plans IPO

Damas International Limited, the international integrated jewellery and watch retailer, has annouced that the company has raised $270.6 million in its initial public offering (IPO). The IPO price was fixed at $1.00 per share. The price was derived via a book building exercise.

The company received strong interest from a broad base of high-quality institutional investors from both the GCC and Europe which the company believes will form a strong share register when trading of its shares starts on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), it said.

The Damas group operates in 18 countries, with 438 stores around the world as at December 31, 2007, and has an extensive retail network with stores primarily located in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and North Africa.

Damas is the leading jewellery retailer by number of stores in both the UAE and GCC region as a whole, with 212 stores and 338 stores respectively, said a statement.

The market capitalisation of the company is expected to be $968.6 million, based on the offer price and the number of shares in issue after the IPO, it said.

Damas intends to use the net proceeds from the IPO primarily to expand its store network. The proceeds will also be used to fund selective acquisitions, investments and alliances that complement the Damas brand and for further vertical integration through investment in manufacturing operations, to allow the Company to capture an increasing share of margins in the manufacturing process. In addition, the proceeds will also be used to restructure a portion of the Company’s existing debt as well as for other corporate purposes.

Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) and HSBC Bank are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the transaction. - TradeArabia News Service

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UAE Shares Rise on Q2 Earnings

UAE shares advanced for a second day yesterday as companies began to report good second-quarter earnings. The Dubai Financial Market (DFM) General Index and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) General Index both gained 1.8 per cent to close at 5,540.17 and 5,043.36 respectively.

The Dubai International Financial Exchange, meanwhile, plans to start using Nasdaq OMX Group's trading platform from July 4. DIFX, one of the UAE's three exchanges, will trade equity derivatives later this year, pending regulatory approval.

Gulf General Investment Co, which has 30 subsidiaries and affiliates, grew 4.9 per cent to Dh8.07 as it announced a surge in profit. The company's net income jumped 94 per cent to Dh505 million during the first six months from a year ago while revenue grew 54 per cent to Dh4.3 billion for the same period.

The country's second-largest mortgage lender, Amlak Finance, increased 4.2 per cent to Dh4.69 after Shuaa Capital raised its recommendation on the shares. It was raised to "neutral" from "sell" at Shuaa with a price estimate of Dh4.86.

Ajman Bank topped DFM with a jump of 15 per cent to Dh2.76 followed by Deyaar Development, which added 7.8 per cent to Dh2.22, and Dubai Islamic Insurance with a gain of 7.4 per cent to Dh3.75.

National Bank of Fujairah was among the big gainers on ADX with an increase of 9.9 per cent to Dh7.25. Shares in Sorouh Real Estate Co recovered from losses in the past two weeks, advancing 3.1 per cent to Dh9.65 while Aldar Properties added 1.2 per cent to Dh12.80.

"Investors are expecting good earnings especially in the banking and real-estate industries," said Sherif Abdel Khalek, regional sales executive at Beltone Securities Brokerage, in a Bloomberg report. "Our region's growth is much better than the rest of the world."

The report said Qatar's Doha Securities Market Index advanced yesterday along with the UAE bourses. It added that companies in the UAE, whose economy will grow 7.2 per cent, are expected to report an average 14 per cent growth in second-quarter earnings.

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New Islamic bank plans $9bn Bahrain Listing

A group of Gulf banks and investors plan to raise $9 billion by selling shares in a planned Islamic investment bank. The bank will tap the rising liquidity in Muslim nations, a senior banker said.

The bank, tentatively named Ummar Bank, will have a paid-up capital of $11 billion, of which $2 billion will be raised in private equity placement, Sheikh Saleh Kamel told Reuters in an interview. Billionaire Kamel, the largest shareholder in Albaraka Banking Group, chairs the General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, which is leading the project.

He declined to say when the IPO, the largest in the region, would take place, only that the stocks would first be floated on the Bahrain stock exchange. Albaraka's chief executive officer Adnan Yousif said in February that the bank plans to start operations in 2009.

"We will raise $2 billion in private equity … and the remainder of the normal shares will be raised in public offerings," Kamel said on the sidelines of an annual Islamic Development Bank governors' meeting in Jeddah.

"We started collecting funds for the private equity in May and we hope to complete this in June. We have raised (about) $500 million," Kamel said.

Among firms that have so far contributed are Albaraka and Kuwait Real Estate Bank. "Dubai Islamic Bank and Kuwait Finance House are studying the project … IDB (Islamic Development Bank) have studied the idea and we are awaiting its board to make a decision," Kamel said.

The bank will aim mainly at creating a market for Islamic financial paper and develop new instruments, Kamel said.

"This will be a unique and global player. It will help Islamic banks raise liquidity by providing easy to trade and wholly sharia-compliant instruments."

A feasibility study for the bank was conducted by Ernst and Young, which said in February that the value of assets under management in Islamic institutions has been growing at over 20 percent a year and reached $900 billion in 2007 and is set to hit $2 trillion by 2010.

"The investment funds that (Ummar Bank) will launch will be worth ten times the capital … we will issue asset-backed sukuk (Islamic bonds) worth up to $100 billion," Kamel said.

"This is not a lot when you know that Islamic banks have more than $200 billion invested in global commodities markets which is not benefiting anyone," Kamel added. -Reuters

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International CES/hometech opens Doors

International CES/hometech, the UAE’s leading consumer electronics show, opened its doors today (25/5/08), with this year’s exhibition expected to be the biggest and most exciting yet.

The show features hundreds of exhibitors in the fields of Consumer Electronics, Home Automation, Networking, In-Car Entertainment, Home Appliances and Gaming.

International CES/hometech is the region’s most popular platform to showcase the hottest new products and trends, as well as the latest technology and innovation in intelligent home systems and timesaving state-of-the-art domestic devices.

“Last year’s event was a tremendous success. This year the International CES/hometech show floor has expanded by 50 percent to accommodate the exhibiting companies and increase in visitors,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), sponsor of CES/hometech.

“The Middle East and North Africa has a consumer electronics business worth $7 billion a year, with double digit annual sales growth predicted through 2010, so this year’s show promises to be the most exciting yet.”

International CES/hometech features many of the world’s top brands and equipment, from the latest laptops and sound systems to 3D TVs and personal flight simulators, as well as the unique Last Gadget Standing contest.

An annual favourite at the International CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, the world’s largest consumer electronics tradeshow, Last Gadget Standing is making its debut in Dubai. Hosted by technology expert, author and columnist Robin Raskin, the contest will see 10 of the world’s top gadgets compete on stage to be the last gadget standing.

A conference runs alongside the show, featuring talks from Noel Lee, Head Monster of Monster Cable, and senior executives from world-leading electronics companies such as Microsoft, Sony and Intel.

The keynote address will be delivered by Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister for Foreign Trade, in which she will discuss the importance of innovative technology to successful business leaders.

The show is brought to Dubai in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association, which organises the world’s largest consumer electronics show, the International CES, every January in Las Vegas.

International CES/hometech runs until May 27 at Dubai International Exhibition & Convention Centre, and is open from 10am to 7pm.

The International CES/hometech is the Middle East’s dedicated exhibition for Consumer Electronics, Home Automation, Networking, In-Car Entertainment, Home Appliances and Gaming.

About CEA:

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $161bn consumer electronics industry. More than 2,200 companies enjoy the benefits of CEA membership, including legislative advocacy, market research, technical training and education, industry promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES – Where Entertainment, Technology and Business Converge. All profits from CES are reinvested into CEA’s industry services. Find CEA online at www.CE.org.


For media information contact:

Sharon Pereira on sharon@matrixdubai.com or Shady Naseraldeen on Shady@matrixdubai.com.

Matrix PR, Dubai
T: +9714 3430888

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GCC in need to create 300,000 more Jobs

The GCC region needs to create over 300,000 jobs and the private sector's role is crucial in creating a huge number of jobs, a senior official at the Economic Development Board, Bahrain, said.

The role of the private sector as a major driving force for social development and in providing the key impetus for economic growth in the region was highlighted at a World Economic Forum panel discussion between leading Arab experts at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.

Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, EDB chief executive, took part in the discussion as a member of the Bahrain delegation, emphasising the need for massive investment in educating the youth to provide them with necessary skills for the workplace, to ultimately be well prepared for the challenges of the future. He said that by looking at the examples of smaller countries such as Singapore, Switzerland and Ireland, one can see that investments made in young people have created massive wealth, skilled workers and increased productivity.

He said: "Singapore, for example, has limited natural resources but has still succeeded in overcoming these limitations to develop a highly skilled workforce across various professional classes." Shaikh Mohammed further pointed out that the region's workforce still depended on the public sector for employment even though, according to a McKinsey report, over the past 10 years, the private sector managed to create about 55,000 medium- and high-skilled jobs in the GCC.

The report further underlines that to absorb the number of GCC nationals with a secondary-school degree or higher, the annual figure must rise five-fold, to almost 300,000. To provide a living wage, these jobs must pay at least twice what the private sector jobs offer at present.

Following the panel discussion, Shaikh Mohammed implored, "We can no longer sit back. Now is the time to think of our future generations, and the starting point has to begin with educational reforms.

"We need investments in vocational and technical training if we as a region are to avoid a skills crunch in the years to come. And let us not forget the private sector. They have a pivotal role to play in the design and implementation of future educational and skills training."

This future, he added, is one where the Gulf states are no longer exporters but importers of labour and that the region's economic stability is guaranteed by a highly skilled and flexible workforce. The EDB is a strategic partner at WEF. In a delegation led by Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance, leading executives and government officials of Bahrain addressed a high-power gathering in several panel discussions to focus on its agenda for a number of key social and economic issues.( via Bahrain Tribune )

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Abu Dhabi Plans to Involves Private Sector in Tourism Policy Making

Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED) would review laws concerning the economy for government consideration to make Abu Dhabi a preferred destination for foreign investors.

In its five-year strategy plan for 2008-2012, which is part of the 2030 economic vision for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the newly setup Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development(ADCED), which will maintain an interface with private sector, said it would consult private sector representatives on issues of economic policy.

"We will also develop a process to integrate feedback from public-private communication forums into policy recommendations," said Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, director general of ADCED.

He said that the council was established to facilitate economic diversification and growth through greater understanding, cooperation and engagement between the public and private sectors of Abu Dhabi.

In order to achieve this, Al Muhairi said that the ADCED aims to be involved in the coordination on a forum for the private and public sectors that will lead to an objective, creative and open environment for discussing and debating economic issues; enhancing public-private sector partnership; having in place the ideal resources and processes to provide insights and actions on economic issues and creating an enabling environment for attracting foreign direct investment.

Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi said that the council's vision concentrates on private and public partnership to accelerate Abu Dhabi's position as a sustainable and diversified international economic hub. "The Council's mission is to develop policy recommendations and kick-start initiatives that promote sustainable and diversified economic growth by improving Abu Dhabi's infrastructure and business environment, as well as enhancing human capital development," Al Mokarrab concluded.

On the strategic focus, Mohamed Al Hameli deputy director general of ADCED said, "The Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development (ADCED) will continue to foster and support economic development within the emirate through the initiation of targeted initiatives in privatisation, economic restructuring, and policy development." (via Khaleej Times) End Post

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