News

The Davos-based World Economic Forum (WEF) named a Syrian entrepreneur to be among 200 of the most distinguished young leaders in 2009. Abdulsalam Haykal, founder and CEO of Transtek Information Systems and Haykal Media, was selected as a Young Global Leader by WEF’s selection committee, composed of top media leaders and chaired by Queen Rania al-Abullah of Jordan.

Dear Forward Readers, we dedicate our January 2009 issue to the souls of those who were slaughtered in Gaza, where children, women and youth are still falling victim to the atrocities committed by the Israeli war machine. Our editor-in-chief, Sami Moubayed, opens this issue with an editorial titled, “Justice for Gaza,” and goes on to shed more light on future Syrian-U.S relations in the first interview to be ever conducted by a Syrian media outlet with an American president. In the interview, former U.S president Jimmy Carter tells Forward Magazine he “will be carrying some good greetings to the leaders of the new administration, through my meeting with President Assad.” In our new corner, “Abdul Asks,” Forward Magazine’s CEO and publisher Abdulsalam Haykal poses the question of whether Syria was more Asian or European, igniting thoughts we received from our interactive readers on our blog (fwmagazine.wordpress.com), LinkedIn and Facebook. Last but not least, we invite you to take a moment to protest the atrocities committed against Gaza by communicating your thoughts to U.S elected representatives on www.fw-magazine.com/gaza

The endorsement of the private sector in Syria to the Global Compact has been beyond expectation- more than 15 private sector and non-governmental organizations have signed up to the GC, and 25 development project Concept Notes were formulated and will be used for mobilizing resources from the private sector.

On the occasion of International Education Week (November 17-21, 2008), the American Embassy inDamascus announced that, during the 2007-2008 academic year, 517 Syrian students began or continued their studies at American colleges and universities. This number is an 11.9% increase over the number of Syrian students studying in the U.S. during the previous year. This increase follows a four-year decline in the numbers of Syrian students studying in the United States.

Striving to continuously offer finer retail products, Bank Audi Syria amended its housing loan conditions, as of 2008. The maximum length of the Flexipay housing loan, the bank said, has been extended to 20 months, rather than 17. Customers can now obtain Traditional or Felxipay loan with no more than two visits to any of Bank Audi’s branches in Syria. The first visit requires presenting an application with all required documents, while the second is to execute the loan, if the bank had granted the final approval. Speaking about the new facilities, Bassel Hamwi, Bank Audi general manager in Syria, said: “Quality and innovation are among the fundamental principles of Bank Audi-Syria. We are committed to presenting the best services, with highest quality, to our clients.”

Around 80 journalists from the Middle East and North Africa converged late October on a major Nokia press conference at the Dead Sea, Jordan. An impressively organized event, the Nokia gathering was rumored to have cost it around $1 million, a worthwhile investment to make its voice louder in the region.

A first-of-its-kind international art exhibition is on display in the Old City’s historic Khan As’ad Pasha this month, an extraordinary – and free – show marking the closing of the year of culture and the potential opening of more high-profile exhibitions in the future. The Victoria & Albert Museum, the legendary institute in London, has brought more than 100 rare ceramic pieces from all over the world, ranging from 1,500 BC to the 20th Century to Damascus as part of a traveling tour.

Mario Group has signed a contract with Raymond Weil, becoming their exclusive agents in Syria. Raymond Weil, the Swiss watchmakers, produce some of the finest watches in the international market. While Raymond Weil watches have been selling in Syria for over 30-years, by institutionalizing the sale, Raymond Weil hopes to enhance sales and create more customer loyalty to its watches. Mario Group recently created a special maintenance center for Raymond Weil, and will be selling wristwatches in Syria with a two-year warranty. The company produces watches that sell mid-range of the luxury watch market. The watches are tested for quality. Raymond Weil wanted his company to design innovative watches with creative designs. The watchmaker’s latest model is Nabucco which is available at Mario Group.

SHABAB announced that its one-year «Business Awareness Program» has come to an end in July 2008. The program included a tour of schools during the academic year 2007-2008, conducted by 157 volunteers from the business community. Over 4,000 students benefited from this program, spreading across 141 schools in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Latakia, and Deir ez-Zour.

Workshops were held in Damascus, attended by  volunteers from companies and NGOs, addressing marketing, customer service, human resources, and management. «The Business Awareness Program» is one of the many programs conducted by SHABAB, part of the Syria Trust for Development, which is headed by First Lady Asma al-Assad, aimed at bridging the gap among young people between the educational and the professional phases of their life.

Syria will start importing wheat for the first time in 15-years, after drought hurt the crop. “We will likely make a decision about quantity in a couple of days,’’ Adnan Ramadan, a senior official at state-owned grain exporter Hoboob. “It won’t exceed 100,000 tons.’’ Expectations are that farmers harvest 2 million metric tons of wheat per year through June 2009, half the previous year’s crop. “The harvest was below expectations this season because of the drought,’’ Ramadan said. “We have halted exports for the past year to build our stockpiles. We will use imports to add to that.’’ Demand in Syria, a country of 19 million people, is increasing because of refugees from neighboring Iraq, according to the U.S. report. Syria exports wheat to countries including Jordan, Yemen and Egypt.