Business Club

Jordan Ahli Bank has published its third “Sustainability” report in both Arabic and English according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards/Core Option. The report highlights the direct activities and operations in various economic, environmental and social fields during 2019.

It also shows that Jordan Ahli Bank is committed to sustainability management related to operations and planning that serve stakeholders in line with sustainable development goals 2030, announced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Mohammad Daoud, CEO of Jordan Ahli Bank, expressed his satisfaction with the results of the report which reflect the pioneering position of the bank. He said: “We, at Jordan Ahli Bank, believe in the importance of the sustainability of our operations and long-term objectives.

We also are committed to integrating sustainability into our banking and financial operations and creating greater value for our stakeholders. In 2019, we developed the Department of Social Responsibility to be called ‘Social Responsibility and Sustainability Programmes’ ensuring that our sustainability approach is integrated into our business strategy and developing a long-term sustainability strategy for the bank.

This resulted from our belief that the banking sector is capable to face the economic, social, environmental challenges. Moreover, we are committed to enhancing the diversity and comprehensiveness to help create a better future for our customers and our communities.”

Forbes Middle East has recently named Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) on its list of “15 Eco-Friendly Initiatives in the Middle East”, in recognition of its climate protection efforts.

The conferment was made after QAIA successfully renewed and extended the highest level of the airport carbon accreditation (ACA) Programme —Level 3+ “neutrality” — until May 2022.

Being the first airport in the Middle Eastto have reached this advanced ACA level, QAIA consistently deploys best environmental practices and updates its energy conservation procedures to reduce its carbon emissions, while paving the way as a national, regional and international leader in environmental management.

These efforts to protect the climatesuccessfully culminated in an 8 per cent drop in carbon emissions per passenger between 2018 and 2019. As operator of QAIA, Airport International Group has long been committed to operating a pioneering green airportand supporting the 13th United Nations Sustainable Development Goal “Climate Action”. 

In partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women),  The Housing Bank has recently hosted a workshop on best practices for reaching women entrepreneurs through gender-responsive services.

The workshop engaged members of the bank’s senior management including Ammar Safadi, Housing Bank CEO, on the integration and delivery of gender-responsive financial services.

The workshop was organised by Aya Consulting in partnership with UN Women under the programme, “Strengthening the Resilience of Syrian Women and Girls and Host Communities in Iraq, Jordan”, which is generously supported by the European Union, through the European Union Regional Trust Fund to the Syria Crisis, the EU MADAD Fund.

Safadi underscored the importance of empowering Jordanian women and particularly women entrepreneurs during the workshop and the centrality of gender-responsive product development strategies to help women entrepreneurs access viable financing opportunities.

He asserted the Housing Bank’s commitment towards leveraging its extensive network and innovative strategies to support national efforts to achieve sustainable financial inclusivity by delivering services that target all segments of society. 

Through its collaboration with the Housing Bank, UN Women seeks to underscore the importance of delivering gender-responsive service to accelerate the realisation of sustainable financial inclusivity, helping women to gain equal and equitable access to financial services in Jordan. 

Grand Hyatt Amman, in collaboration with STS PayOne, activated a contactless “PayOne SmartLink” payment method to eliminate physical contact between guests and hotel employees to maintain a safe transaction.

Through the SmartLink process, a secured link is sent to the guest by SMS and e-mail. By clicking the link, the guest can view an electronic invoice of the payment amount, enter his or her card information to complete the payment process and receive an immediate electronic receipt. The entire paperless process does not involve a Point of Sale device and can take place before guest arrival, during check-in or from the comfort of the guest’s room without exposing guest’s sensitive card data to the hotel staff.

Ashwini Kumar, the hotel’s General Manager said: “Grand Hyatt Amman continues to embrace the latest technological options available in the market to ensure the well-being of our guests and employees. Our purpose of care is a cornerstone for our actions which we take in delivering a personalised guest experience.”  

General Manager at STS PayOne Janti Abdallah said: “We are pleased to be selected by Grand Hyatt Amman as they adopt the latest self-service hospitality trends that include contactless payments and digital messaging. Our solutions help hotels streamline their revenue collection while improving the guest experience.”

Jordanians and expats are overcoming restricted COVID-19 related travel this year by enjoying all that Jordan has to offer. By turning to Aqaba Seasons quarterly guide this month, you can find out all that is going on there and beyond.

Produced and designed by Al Marji’ Publications and distributed free of charge in Aqaba, Amman and the Dead Sea, Aqaba Seasons’ autumn edition is packed with information for adventure-lovers, hikers, swimmers and history and nature enthusiasts.

To learn more about the exciting things taking place in Aqaba and its neighbouring areas, you can read the digital edition of Aqaba Seasons at  https://familyflavours.com/booklets-2/ or call Al Marji’ Publications (+962-6-4637575) for a complimentary hardcopy.

Beecell, a leading digital media company, has expanded its services to reach the West Africa region; Ivory Coast, by providing value-added services to mobile subscribers, including mobile games, video content and other interactive services to Ivory Coast’s 25 million people with nearly 21 million being mobile phone subscribers.

Bashar Al Hantouli, CEO of Beecell, said the company’s expansion will increase its ability to penetrate the African continent markets where many of its markets are still virgin and have an immense potential to grow.

Beecell is one of the leading Digital Media companies, specialised in several Digital Media products, including: direct carrier billing, digital content production, 2D & 3D animations — TV production, content management and aggregation, digital advertising and social media management, E-commerce, data management and visualisation, bulk SMS, interactive storytelling, and digital transformation.

Through its office and partners in 22 countries, Beecell reaches more than 300 million mobile subscribers in the MENA region.

Dipping into another year, Family Flavours celebrates health and wellbeing in its September 2020 edition. The cover photo this month of Marian Wahhab, by Portrait Photographer Anastasia Casey, represents the magazine’s mantra: turning challenges into opportunities in the era of COVID-19.

Thus, the fashions in Family Flavours are inspired by COVID-19 masks and how they can be turned into something fashionable with advice from the Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS).

On the occasion of World Heart Day, Clinical Dietician Ayah Murad, introduces us to food that maximises heart health.

Cardiologist Marwan Jumean advises how to look after the heart in the era of the coronavirus. Also, our health partner RHAS stresses how every move we make helps our heart health. 

HUAWEI CONNECT 2020 has opened at the company’s annual flagship event for the global ICT industry. Hosted physically in Shanghai and virtually around the world, it is a platform where Huawei discloses its major strategies for the coming year.

In 2020, as 5G has been rolled out at scale worldwide, connectivity, cloud, AI, computing, and industry applications have all come together to create unprecedented opportunities for the ICT sector. Therefore, the focus of this year's HUAWEI CONNECT is: Creating new value with synergy across five tech domains.

Moving forward, Huawei will focus on applying ICT technologies to industries and providing scenario-specific solutions along with its partners to help enterprises grow their businesses and help governments achieve their strategic goals of boosting domestic industry.

At the event, Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping delivered a speech, titled "Creating New Value with Synergy across Five Tech Domains". Guo said, "As more and more governments and enterprises go digital and embrace intelligence, the ICT sector will see incredible potential for growth.

We look forward to opening this new chapter together with our partners." Guo shared Huawei's leading practices in helping build smart enterprises, campuses, and cities, by integrating ICT technology with industry know-how and providing scenario-specific solutions to create value for governments and enterprises in regard to their major business systems.

A host of local champions who recently took part in the Jordan Digital Motorsports Cup are preparing to compete in the regional “GR Supra GTCup” online tournament-with the support of Markazia Toyota.

The digital tournament is slated for 24 and 25 September, drawing the participation of 40 contestants from across the region.

Representing Jordan in the tournament are Nadim Haddad, Izz Bustami, Abdullah Bustami, Moath Sheshani and Hamzeh Fayez — with the qualifying stage taking place on September 24. Thirteen contestants will qualify for the final race, which will be held the following day, where they will be competing against one another for the grand title.

“We’re very pleased to have such a distinguished group of national champions representing our beloved country during the regional ‘GR Supra GTCup’,“ said Nadim Haddad, Markazia managing director. 

OFFTEC, a subsidiary of OFFTEC Holding Group PLC, has signed a partnership agreement with the global company HP to provide its customers with a diversified array of innovative printing technologies.

OFFTEC had been awarded earlier the role of HP Managed Print Services (MPS) Premier Partner.

“Our collaboration with HP presents our customers in the Jordanian market with the latest technologies pertaining to the management of printing systems, hence steadily paving the way towards new accomplishments and successes,” commented OFFTEC Printing Solutions General Manager, Ehab Oweis.