Business Insight Issue 27 - 2016

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Editor’s Foreword can’t believe it is the summer issue already for 2016! A lot has passed since the last issue of business insight magazine and everyone has been hard at work trying to tie up the last little bits before their summer vacation. Also, lets not forget that at the end of May were the DMCC Member Awards!

These awards have changed this issue of Business Insight. Being a judge meant I was privileged to see the huge array of businesses that applied for the awards. It was enlightening to see the number of businesses who were nominated by other companies – A testament to great relationships and networks. The DMCC decided to host an awards ceremony as they wanted to formally acknowledge the amount of work each and every one of you put into running your business. They know how tough being a business leader can be and wanted to celebrate the community.

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On going through all of the nominations, the amount of work that you do struck me. Each and every one of the nominations had some fabulous accolades that they could shout about. Each and every business was worthy of winning, but sadly there could be just one for each of the 21 categories.

In this special edition of Business Insight Magazine, I wanted to highlight the achievements of each of the winners in the Success Series. Every single one of the awards was highly contested, but many times, the one thing that set apart a winner from the others, was often their outside business interests – In other words their Corporate Social Responsibility program.

This highlighted to me just how important a CSR program is for a company. It really is differentiator between one business and the next. So just a couple of questions to leave you with... If it is one of the differentiators for judges in an awards ceremony, how important do your staff/customers and potential investors view it? Is it time for your business to give back a little?

Publisher & CEO Liam Williams liam@flipflopmedia.ae Managing Director Harry Norman harry@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9062 Business Development Executive Paul Davis info@flipflopmedia.ae +971 04 369 9061 Editorial Editor Tanya Selley tanya@flipflopmedia.ae +971 4 369 9063 Staff Writer Rachel Stracey info@flipflopmedia.ae Design & Photography Head of Design Marlou Delaben design@flipflopmedia.ae Operation Steve Miller Operations@flipflopmedia.ae circulation & Production Circulation and Distribution Manager Antonio de Marco circulationdm@flipflopmedia.ae Database and Circulation Manager Aaliya Khan databaseandcm@flipflopmedia.ae

Enjoy!

Production Manager Juan Vasquez productionmanager@flipflopmedia.ae

Tanya

Digital webmaster@flipflopmedia.ae

Talk to me at tanya@flipflopmedia.ae and let me know what information you need to take your business forward — and I will try to help you in the next issue.

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Registered at Fujairah Free Zone PO Box 26734 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 369 9063 Fax: +971 4 369 8989 www.flipflopmedia.ae printed by Printwell © Copyright 2016 FlipFlop Media All rights reserved While the publisher has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

The Winners Issue DMCC Member Awards Legal Landmark Decision in Saudi Arabia Technology Reinventing the Data Centre for Cloud Business Incubator What UAE Jobseekers Want

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Contents Foresight Page 16 – Central Banks are Ready for Anything Page 22 – The DMCC Members Awards

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Success Series Page 34 – The DMCC Members Awards Winners

Money Page 46 – Beyond the Bulls & Bears

People Page 50 - New Staff Required?

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Legal Page 52 – Landmark Enforcement Decision in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Marketing Page 54 – Using Generated Content

Technology Page 56 – Preventing DNS-Based Data Exfiltration

Business Incubator Page 60 – Customer Service Defines Customer Experience Page 62 – Cyber Security Education Efforts Yielding Results

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EXPERT PANEL

Jonathan Hall Founder and Managing Director Mulverhill Associates

Caroline Jones Director Infopod

John Brash Founder & Chief Executive Brash Brands

Yogesh Mehta Managing Director Petrochem

Hind Abdulrazak Creative Director Audax Investment

Sara Abdulrazak Managing Director Audax Investment

Dr. Tommy Weir Founder Emerging Markets Leadership Center

Jeffrey Rhodes Founder & Managing Consultant Rhodes Precious Metals Consultancy DMCC

Louis Lebbos/ Founding Partner Astro Labs

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Muhammed Mekki Founding Partner Astro Labs

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foresight

Central Banks Are Ready For Anything

By Christopher Dembik, Head of Macro Analysis, Saxo Bank

It is already halfway through the year and the news is alight with Brexit. But should this be our only concern? Christopher Dembik, Head of Macro Analysis, Saxo Bank reviews the year so far and tells Business Insight his thoughts on what we should focus on in the coming months s is currently being seen, the outcome of the UK referendum has increased volatility in financial markets (and will continue to do so in the coming weeks), whilst potentially penalising economic growth if the uncertainty around the UK exit process is not quickly removed. The rapid and efficient actions of central banks, especially the Bank of England (BOE) and the Swiss National Bank, have helped to stop the panic in the aftermath of the referendum.

However, new actions may be needed in case of higher volatility Leading indicators confirm a deteriorating global economic outlook, which reiterates that the return of sustainable growth is far from assured. The global manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is about to enter into contraction. This could lead to a downward revision of International Monetry Fund (IMF) growth forecasts at the end of the quarter.

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Global Overview Growth in the US, Europe and China is very disappointing as indicated by the Citi Economic Surprise Index although the US has improved over the last weeks, which reduces the risk of recession in the short and medium term. After a good start early in the year, growth is showing significant signs of slowdown in Japan since the beginning of June. In the course of two weeks, Japan’s Index dropped from an annual high of 76.8 to 40. Uncertainties about the consequences of Brexit will certainly weigh on business confidence and on investment in the medium-term, which could accelerate the economic slowdown, at least for Europe.

The negative trend in the manufacturing sector confirms the risk of global slowdown. The global manufacturing PMI is at a critical level at 50 in May and is expected to contract moving forward. Due to the weakness of the economic activity in developed countries, and the structural challenges of emerging countries, the official targets of global growth will certainly not be achieved. By the end of the third quarter, it is likely that the IMF revises downward its

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European Union flag in front of the Berlaymont building (European commission) in Brussels, Belgium

According to Bloomberg, the probability of a US rate hike in July is at 4 percent and in September at 15.5 percent

forecast for global growth that is currently comprised between 3.1 percent and 3.2 percent (3.4 percent at a first estimate). The current level of global growth remains below the annual average growth of 3.46 percent over the period 2000-2007. In the US, Markit manufacturing PMI has made a rebound to 51.4 in June but the trend has been fragile in 2016.

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United States The Federal Reserve System (FED) had held June rates steady and signaled a shallower pace of rate rises next year and in 2018. The Fed also lowered its long-term projection for interest rates to 3 percent. The central bank still wants to normalise its monetary policy but it looks more and more challenging considering the slowdown in job creations and the international context. The FED of New York (FRBNY) Nowcast for Q2 GDP shows momentum slowing further. In those

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circumstances, it is very unlikely the FED will be able to hike rates twice this year. The central bank has a very narrow window of opportunity to act. At the time of going to print, a rate hike is inconceivable on July 2627 given the uncertain consequences of Brexit.

It also appears compromised in November because of the US presidential election. The only viable option for the FED is a single hike for the balance of this year in September if economic and financial conditions are favorable. Currently, the market anticipates no

The great uncertainty remains about the economic policy that the Japanese government will implement in the coming months

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Federal Reserve Building Washington

The negative trend in the manufacturing sector confirms the risk of global slowdown. The global manufacturing PMI is at a critical level at 50 in May and is expected to contract moving forward

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hike in 2016. According to Bloomberg, the probability of a US rate hike in July is at 4 percent and in September at 15.5 percent. Given the experience of the Bank of Japan, the FED does not believe monetary policy is the panacea to strengthen growth and avoid an economic slowdown.

Janet Yellen rightly pointed out at the last meeting

that one of the main causes of lower growth is low productivity. In that sense, she takes on board the concerns expressed by her predecessor, Alan Greenspan, when he said: “We are in trouble basically because productivity is dead in the water�.

From a macroeconomic perspective, the productivity growth in the US has

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Bank of England

In case of higher market volatility, the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are ready to intervene in order to provide more liquidity to the market

never been so low for such a long period of time since the early 50s. This is a major longterm challenge for the US economy and a key point to watch in the upcoming meetings.

The answer to low productivity is to promote workforce excellence, through training, and robotise production process. The FED has clearly little or no way to fight the structural transformation of the US economy.

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Western Europe Brexit was a shock because of the huge gap between market expectations and the official outcome of the UK referendum.

Although it is still too early to assess exactly the economic implications of Brexit, it is likely that the uncertainty surrounding the political process that is about to start will have a negative effect on investment and growth in Europe. In case of higher market volatility, the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are ready to intervene in order to provide more liquidity to the market.

Considering yield premium in the euro area and the financial situation in the United Kingdom, there is no need for emergency ECB / BoE response for the moment.

Even before Brexit, the process of economic slowdown was triggered in Europe. It will only accelerate. The leading growth indicator CEPR EuroCOIN points to significant slowdown in the euro area in the coming quarters. The strategic mistake of the Eurozone is to rely too much on monetary policy and to neglect fiscal

policy. Declining interest rates represent an historic opportunity to invest, especially in infrastructure and new technology. In the case of Germany, the only country to have very sound public finances, 80 percent of Bunds are in negative yields. Yet the country does not borrow to invest. In September, the ECB will conduct a review of the monetary policy framework, especially regarding the corporate purchases that began on June 8 for a total of about 5 billion euros per month. It will probably open the door to further easing in the medium term.

Asia Pacific The great uncertainty remains about the economic policy that the Japanese government will implement in the coming months. It postponed raising the consumption tax until the fall of 2019 and seems to have no concrete strategy in order to strengthen growth and inflation. Economic stagnation is set to continue with GDP expanding 0.5 percent in 2016 according to the World Bank. Risks are rising linked to

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the depreciation of the yuan, investors need to keep in mind it will have much larger implications and financial consequences than Brexit and it could reactivate the currency war.

Central and Eastern Europe Poland in is deflation since July 2014 and the situation is unlikely to improve in the medium term.

In Hungary, inflation remains very weak.

However central banks of both countries have opted for interest status quo in the long term. They are facing a difficult challenge that consists in boosting inflation without penalising economic activity. The Hungarian central bank is expected to keep its base rate at 0.9 percent and the Polish central bank at a record low of 1.5 percent in the coming months. Despite deceiving economic growth in both countries in Q1 (-0.1 percent in Poland and 0.9 percent in Hungary), there is no political pressure for a return to easing.

Bank of Japan

higher yen and elusive consumption growth that may push GDP lower than expected.

The current negative trend in the industrial production confirms the downturn and the failure of Abenomics.

Quantitative and qualitative easing caused a temporary burst of industrial production in Q4 2013 and Q1 2014 but it vanished very quickly. Another ‘lost decade’ looms for Japan. To counter this risk, Japan could be the first country to launch helicopter money that consists in theory, to make direct transfers to households and the private sector financed with base money.

The idea is gradually gaining ground: the economic and tax committee of Shinzo Abe’s government proposed last year to unleash “vouchers” or “gift certificates” to lowincome young people to stimulate nominal demand. It does not exactly correspond to helicopter money but it is the same logic aiming to boost consumption and growth.

The most undervalued risk this summer is a significant devaluation of the Chinese yuan. At the time of going to print, it is not yet well priced in by the market, as investors have been obsessed with the UK referendum.

For now, the adjustment of the exchange rate against the US$, which has led the Chinese currency to lowest value since December 2010, went smoothly. It did not cause investor panic, as was the case in January 2016. However, a

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The most undervalued risk this summer is a significant devaluation of the Chinese yuan more significant devaluation could occur.

The evolution of China’s foreign exchange reserves can provide clues about a forthcoming devaluation. In May 2016, the reserves reached US$3.1 trillion, which represents a drop of 16 percent compared to January 2016. The IMF established the country cannot afford to let its reserves fall under the minimum threshold of US$2.8 trillion. Otherwise, the People Bank of China (PBC) would not have enough reserves to react to external shock and it would be forced to let the market decide the exchange rate of the yuan. In case China decides to accelerate

Nordic Countries The leading indicator CLI indicates a decoupling economic trend between the Nordic countries.

On one side, Sweden and Denmark could experience further economic slowdown. On the other side, the economic growth in Norway could strengthen, driven by rising oil prices. The economic downturn has already started in Sweden. After peaking at 4.8 percent in Q4 2015, GDP is now declining. In Norway and Denmark, the turnaround is not yet observable in GDP figures but it should be noticeable by the end of 2016.

MENA Despite political risk related to the strengthening of presidential powers and stricter control of the action of the central bank, the economic momentum remains positive in Turkey. GDP growth has declined since the beginning of the year but it is still above its moving average, especially thanks to strong domestic consumption and weak Turkish lira that boosts exports (US$12 billion in April). l

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Success Series

THE DMCC HOSTED THE DMCC MEMBERS AWARDS ON MAY 31ST IN ALMAS TOWER. With a gala dinner and the who’s who of business leaders in attendance, the awards were to celebrate the achievements of the DMCC business community and give credit where credit is due

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Success Series

In a change to the Success Series, rather than interview one person, Business Insight wanted to highlight the Success of the DMCC Business Community through the winners of the DMCC Member Awards 2016.

With categories ranging from Best Customer Service Award to the Business Leader of the Year, the awards highlighted businesses from all sectors of the DMCC community and unearthed some hidden gems of businesses that people may not have heard of before So who won?

BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR Sudhakar Tomar – Hakan Agro Sudhakar Tomar, Managing Director of Hakan Agro DMCC, has been included in the Forbes list of “Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World 2016“. The prestigious award was presented to Sudhakar Tomar at a glittering ceremony held at Waldorf Astoria, Dubai Palm Jumeirah on 3rd May 2016, to celebrate the achievements of Indian leaders in the Middle East. His Excellency Mr. T.P. Seetharam, Ambassador of India to the UAE delivered the keynote speech at the event. This year’s event was the fourth edition of the awards that recognize the most powerful and successful of Indian business leaders in the Arab world.

Commenting on the award Sudhakar Tomar said that he is: “honored and humbled,” and dedicated the award to 1000 + strong team of Hakan Agro group and the millions of poor farmers in Indian subcontinent and Africa that he supports in his work with CICILS-IPTIC. Tomar’s global commodity supply chain business has 26 overseas offices, warehouses, processing and logistics facilities that currently export 54 different food products from 52 countries to over 1000 customers in 82 countries.

If managing this empire wasn’t enough, his ability to juggle both growing his hugely successful business, and his work with UN through CICILS-IPTIC where he works tirelessly to improve Food Security, reduce malnutrition, increase rural education which in turn all assist with alleviating poverty is what really makes Tomar stand out from the rest.

BEST COMMODITIES COMPANY AWARD Shalina Group Shalina Resources Ltd has established itself as a rapidly growing copper and cobalt producers in the DRC. “Chemaf SARL”, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shalina Resources, operates the Etoile mining concession and processing facilities located at Usoke Avenue in Lubumbashi, Katanga, but their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives also set them apart from many other commodity companies in Dubai. In Maji the Shalina Group built a sustainable solar-powered potable water plant in Takoradi, Ghana. The water pump can pump water from a deep well, run the water through a filtration system and provide up to 10,000 litres of clean potable water to over 5,000 people every day. They also operate an Agricultural Cooperative where they empower women by teaching them how to cultivate over 30 different types of vegetables. They also provide the equipment and the ongoing technical expertise. In this project, more than 20 women not only earn their livelihood but also enhance their dignity and quality of life for themselves and their family.

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Success Series

BEST ENERGY COMPANY AWARD Foster Wheeler Kentz Energy Services As a new start DMCC company in 2013, Foster Wheeler Kentz rapidly expanded the team to over 130 personnel, located on 3 floors of Tiffany Tower, to perform services for the Middle East oil and gas industry. High-speed internet linkages were introduced to allow the operation of sophisticated computer modeling tools to develop the highly complex computer modeling, that is employed in the design and detailing of petrochemical facilities. In addition, the application of world-class communications facilities allowed the necessary connection for video, data and voice transmission between Dubai and multiple locations worldwide. Adapting to the flow of the oil and gas based economies; Foster Wheeler Kentz investment in technology has enabled the company to flex services to accommodate variations and maintain a high level of service provision to meet demands as they arise. To date the Foster Wheeler Kentz has forged links with a number of client organisations and is in the process of attracting further projects to maintain the operations in the DMCC area.

BEST DIAMOND COMPANY AWARD Brinks Diamond Brinks involvement with diamonds far exceeds just the diamonds themselves. Their involvement throughout the diamond logistics supply chain speaks volumes, starting at the mines and through all the processes to the polished stone. Committed to the Kimberley Process, Brinks manage the entire logistics process and trade show process.

BEST GOLD & JEWELLERY COMPANY Dhamani Dhamani are a vertically integrated Fine Jewelry Company – from loose diamonds and gemstones – to In-House Designing and the manufacturing of Fine Jewelry.

For more than 45 years, Dhamani has built a heritage and world-class skills in satisfying the needs of their global customers for fine Jewellery with its skilled workmanship and ethical sourcing. With 16 Fine Jewelry Brand Stores in the region alongside – 2 Offices and 1 Fine Jewelry manufacturing facility - Dhamani won the “Bareeq Excellence Award” for best practices and outstanding service from the Dubai Municipality for following Good Trade Practices, and holds the prestigious selling rights for the unique 99-facet “Dubai Cut Diamond”. These exclusive rights were awarded by DMCCGovernment of Dubai.

BEST EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT AWARD Scafa SCAFA, or Dubai’s School of Culinary & Finishing Arts is a full service culinary arts institute, train aspiring professional chefs, and offer professional style programes for home cooks, classes for children and team building events for teams of 10 to 200 participants. They are now going international with locations in Pakistan and Lebanon. When asked what they believed was their best achievement, Zaigham Haque, CEO, Scafa replied: “The best accolade for SCAFA must be the placement of two of our graduates, Rahul Ramnani and Mark Brown, into NOMA, Copenhagen, the world’s best restaurant. With a 100 percent placement record, SCAFA students are making their mark on the UAE and wider culinary landscape.”

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BEST CUSTOMER SERVICES AWARD Senses Salon DMCC Senses salon goes above and beyond to exceed clients’ expectations and satisfaction, and pride themselves on being the only salon that they are aware of that is ISO 9000 compliant. All staff has a shared vision and dedication towards excellence that is evident on visiting them.

BEST HOSPITALITY ESTABLISHMENT AWARD Movenpick Hotel Jumeirah Lakes Towers With occupancy of 94.5 percent, The Movenpick JLT is outperforming their competition set with RGI (Revenue generation index) #1 out of 6 hotels. Winners of many awards including Best Room Night Penetration for 2015 in Dubai from Expedia, Best New Hotel Construction & Design category at the prestigious Arabian Property Awards 2015, The Movenpick also takes the safety of its residents as being of the highest importance, having been certified with Excellence by Dubai Civil Defense (March 2016) as per the Fire Drill Conduction which ensures the safety of hotel guests, staff and community in case of unexpected incidents. They have also 3rd party inspection certification for safety by Bureau VERITAS, assuring the safety for the building and hotel guestrooms.

The Movenpick JLT is also the only hotel within the DMCC to be certified for Sustainable Business – Green Globe with 72 percent against the accredited criteria.

Additional Green initiatives include replacing entire Hotel Guestrooms and public areas with the LED bulbs saving energy by 60 percent.

BEST MARITIME COMPANY AWARD Monjassa DMCC In the region since 2006, Monjasa have relocated their CEO from Denmark to Dubai to reinforce the strategic nature that the region plays in their plans moving forward. With Monjasa DMCC now hosting the company’s expansion into oil trading, Monjasa are not just about being the best Maritime Company. With the Monjasa foundation, they have supported more than 100 small and large-scale projects to provide opportunities for children and young people. Most notably Smile Train, where they provide life changing cleft lip operations for children. Millions of children globally are unable to eat or speak properly, often resulting in no education and no working future, as they are unemployable. A simple 45-minute procedure, performed in over 85+ countries has resulted in more than one million lives being transformed. Every 5 minutes, another child receives treatment. The sustainable model of the charity means that the doctors are trained to train other doctors to perform the procedure within the communities. The charity also provides any follow up dental care, orthodontics and speech therapy that may be needed for the child to reach their potential.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AWARD Hakan Agro With the CEO, Sudhakar Tomar’s vision of alleviating malnutrition and improving food security, it is no wonder that he is the Founding Member & Honorary Chairperson (Communications & Sponsorships), Global Pulse Confederation (representing over800 Million farmers producing 70 million tons of pulse production, valued at US$ 100 billion).

Hakan Agro has raised over US$ 3.5 million in sponsorships and donations for the confederation.

In 2015, Hakan Agro were advisors to the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi on improving malnutrition and food security in India and many of their recommendations are reflected in the Indian Union budget of 2016.

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Success Series

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE AWARD

Duplays A Dubai SME100 Company, Duplays is the largest organizer of sport and activity in the UAE with 90,000 registered members and thousands of active members playing each week. With a diverse choice of sport (ranging from cricket and basketball, to ultimate Frisbee (yes it’s a sport!), they offer competitive leagues to recreational (social) leagues for all ages.

BEST MARKETING CAMPAIGN AWARD Beehive Group DMCC Beehive grew in reputation by focusing on their core market. With campaigns in the press it was their Digital Elevator screen campaigns that Beehive ran (targeted at the investor) in a digital campaign in the elevators of residential/commercial towers that enabled businesses to get the investment that they needed.

BEST SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN AWARD Souqalmal.com In the past 3 years, Souqalmal.com has shown consistent growth, particularly over the past 12 months with a quarterly growth of over 50 percent. Total revenues registered a percentage growth of more than 250 percent throughout 2015. Being 3.5 years old, this is a testament of the validity of the Business Model and the strength of the team.

Their online marketing campaigns constitute one of our main channels in delivering the leads where some of these campaigns have reached approximately 900,000 people with over 2.1 Million impressions across Facebook. From Q1 to Q4 of 2015, our paid marketing grew by 385 percent.

Our Facebook Audience is more than 68,000 Fans with a percentage growth of more than 65 percent in the last 8 months and an average of 10,000 posts likes. Souqalmal have almost 11,000 followers on Twitter with an average engagement rate of 2.5 percent and more than 140 percent growth in the followers’ database in the last 8 months.

BEST TECHNOLOGY COMPANY AWARD Escotech DMCC Also known as Pointr Labs, Escotech DMCC is a leading edge software company that has developed and patented the best performing indoor positioning and navigation technology available today. With a multi-cultural team is comprised of talented engineers that graduated from MIT, Cambridge and Imperial College London, in less than 3 years they have expanded our operations to offices in Istanbul, Munich, Dubai and North America.

To date, they are the only company that provides actual step-by-step indoor navigation.

Escotech have secured key global clients that include Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, Virgin Trains, Harrods of London and recently started a project with Emirates in Dubai – Which is no surprise as their data analytics platform provides key reports and insights on how a venue is used including heat maps, dwell times, visit frequency and footfall. The software provides two-way communication between the venue and its end users and is capable of sending proximity and context aware notifications. These notifications can be utilised for both operational and marketing communication channels.

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Success Series

MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT AWARD Maestrano EMEA DMCC Maestrano is a unique offering for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that have struggled for years with access to good tools to run their business.

Maestrano provides popular Cloud business tools and
applications on a low cost monthly subscription for all sizes of businesses. Launched commercially in 2014 and with offices in the US, Australia, Singapore, London and Dubai, Maestrano is well on track to reach millions of SME users in the coming 18 months.

MOST INNOVATIVE START UP Geeks Technology DMCC Geeks Technology have rescued 3,500 phones, saved 2,400 laptops, resurrected 600 tablets and ultimately have 6,500 happy customers. They are a technology driven company based on location services (they come to you) so your day isn’t interrupted.

Every Geek is rigorously verified and certified so you can be assured that your private data remains private. Geeks are focusing on developing the best technology and an IT management platform for outsourced IT needs.

FINANCE AWARD Beehive Group DMCC Established in November 2014 Beehive, the first Peer to Peer (P2P) lending platform in the UAE, has rapidly grown into a leading disruptor in the fintech industry, providing an alternative finance solution to the conventional sources.

Globally, the P2P lending industry was estimated at US$60bn in 2015, and is forecast to deliver almost US$300 billion of financing by 2020. Whilst a highly successful concept in the West, the concept of Peer to Peer lending was only introduced to the MENA region when their CEO, Craig Moore identified the opportunity and decided to establish Beehive as the first P2P lending platform in the UAE with Sharia compliant lending options also being made available.

In their 17 months of operation they have registered almost 3500 investors and funded over AED 34 million to more than 70 UAE based businesses. They provide a win-win solution with their businesses saving an average 30 percent on cost of finance and their investors getting average returns of 12 percent. They have built a strong brand in the UAE and have earned significant media coverage across WSJ, Bloomberg, Reuters and CNBC, as well as regular coverage in local press.

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Success Series

MOST SUCCESSFUL COMPANY AWARD Mercuria Mercuria Energy Group is one of the largest energy traders globally. The core business of the Mercuria Energy Group is the trading of physical commodities and benefits from optimizing the commodity supply chain to its customers. Mercuria has a close relationship with both suppliers and buyers of commodity products, maintaining deep and real-time market intelligence and can therefore respond efficiently to its customers’ needs. Market risks are mitigated through the use of an extensive range of financial hedging instruments.

One of Mercuria’s key strengths is the diversity of its operations, and its ability to capture opportunities across regions and commodities. Over the last 12 years, they have developed into a diversified commodity trading business. From a strong base in the crude oil sector, it has expanded into a wide spectrum of energy and commodity products, now trading refined oil products, biodiesel, natural gas, power, emission certificates, coal, freight, and metals and most recently diversifying into petrochemicals and LPG, with a broad geographical diversification with offices in 26 countries across the globe. Today, Mercuria holds in excess of US$ 1.2 billion of fixed asset investments. The assets are primarily a mixture of upstream and midstream assets. Upstream assets create access to flows in crude oil, coal, gas and power whilst the midstream assets enhance trading optionality via access to terminals, storage and blending.

LEADING WOMAN IN BUSINESS AWARD Ambareen Musa – Souqalmal.com In the past 3 years, Souqalmal.com has shown consistent growth, particularly over the past 12 months with a quarterly growth of over 50 percent. Total revenues registered a percentage growth of more than 250 percent throughout 2015. Being 3.5 years old, this is a testament of the validity of the business model and the strength of the team that she has built.

FREE ZONE PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD Amit Dhamani Amit Dhamani is the founding board member of the Dubai Diamond Exchange (DDE) and is an active participant in international trade activities, having been a speaker at various international forums such as The International Colored Gemstones Association (ICA Congress) May 2007, The China Summit of 2008, Gemological Institute of America (GIA) Symposiums USA 2006 and again in 2011. He is also presently the President of The Harvard O.P.M 39 Alumni and is often found in and around the DMCC with delegations from around the world promoting the DMCC Free Zone.

Best Commodities Company AWARD Olam For more information on Olam and the extraordinary work that they are doing from farm to table, turn to the following page.

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Success Series

A global leader in commodities

Established in 1989 in Nigeria exporting raw cashew nuts to India, today Olam is a leading agri-business supplying raw materials and food ingredients to over 16,200 customers worldwide. We are present in over 70 countries, supported by a team of 62,500 people lam’s heritage lies in the origination and traditional supply chain segment, sourcing products for our global customers in the food, textile, wood and tyre industries. However, we are constantly seeking unique opportunities, and our adjacencybased growth strategy has helped our business model grow in depth as well as breadth. Today we work across 47 products in 16 platforms, achieving global market leadership positions in many of them, including cocoa, coffee, cashew, rice and cotton.

O

One of the world’s largest farmers We have our own rice and peanut farms; we manage both pasturebased and feed-lot based dairy farms, as well as almond, cocoa, coffee, palm and rubber plantations; and we have natural forest concessions rights.

Excelling in procurement and logistics We source from 4 million farmers, predominantly small-scale, moving

produce through often challenging terrain to get it to market. The combination of our own growing plus direct farmgate buying gives us unique insight into the supply side of the business and means we can offer a high degree of traceability to our customers, as well as enabling us to manage various risks along the chain.

Market intelligence is gleaned from a multitude of sources to help customers make informed procurement decisions backed by Olam’s world-class trading and risk management guidance.

Processing to requirements The range of our processing capability is broad, from primary washing of coffee cherries right through to tailored customer recipes for pasta sauces, specific colours of cocoa powder and our own range of packaged food developed for the West African market taste. Our passion for R&D and our close partnerships with key customers drives the innovation around our products.

For every 3 chocolate bars that are consumed in the world, 1 is made from beans handled by Olam.

Informed decisions Since 1989, when Olam first began exporting cashew from Nigeria, the company has invested in its fundamental research teams in key origins assessing production.

Commodities in numbers

The amount of coffee handled by Olam annually equates to 2,000 cups consumed every second.

We plant, harvest and process enough tomatoes to top 3.2 billion pizzas every year.

The quantity of rice we handle annually could provide everyone in the world with 3 servings.

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Rice harvesting in Nassarwa State, Nigeria

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Variety of Chili Spices

47 agri-commodities 4 million farmers 70 countries 199 processing facilities • 12.5 million metric tonnes (2015) • Listed on the Singapore Exchange

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Success Series

A strategic hub for MENA Backed by a global footprint, Olam has developed a strong position in the MENA region establishing the wholly-owned free zone entity Olam International Dubai Multi Commodity Centre (DMCC). From this strategic hub, we offer a wide range of products and services – vendor management, warehouse management, and just-in-time delivery. Olam International’s Edible Oils, Grain, Cocoa, Sesame, Sugar, Dairy and Spices and Vegetable ingredients teams have their regional trading desks in Dubai servicing needs of the customers in the region.

Recognising MENA’s huge commercial potential as a major consumption market, Olam began shipping coffee into Algeria in 1997, and has today built up a strong position across the region as a quality supplier and distributor of coffee, cocoa, dairy products, edible nuts, rice, tomato paste, cotton, grains, sesame, spices, sugar, pulses and beans.

We also have a strong presence in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt and are developing new opportunities in many other parts of the Middle East. In Sub Saharan Africa our operations extend from Nigeria and Ghana in the West, Uganda and Tanzania in the East, Gabon and Republic of Congo in central Africa, down to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.

“We continue to see potential in the MENA region and remain committed to its growth.

We applaud the local Governmental agencies, such as the Dubai Economic Department, DMCC and Chambers of Commerce, for making it easier to do business in Dubai and offering incentives for global corporates to relocate some of their businesses here.”

DMCC award winner Olam was delighted to win the DMCC 2016 Members Award for Best Agriculture Company.

“It really is fantastic to receive one of the awards when you consider that over 12,000 companies are based in the Free Zone. “And we extend many congratulations to our fellow winners who are all helping to make the DMCC a thriving commodities marketplace.”

Ravi Pokhriyal, President MENA & West Africa Olam

Ravi Pokhriyal, President MENA & West Africa Olam For further information visit olamgroup.com and follow us @Olam

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Success Series

Tailor-made risk management and OTC solutions Three complementary businesses make up our Commodity Financial Services (CFS) segment: Market Making and Volatility Trading, Risk Management Solutions and our Fund Management business, Invenio. All use knowledge of, and expertise in, commodity and derivative markets to deliver tailor made solutions to our customers.

Established in 2003, we decided to leverage our knowledge of leading-edge risk management practices to develop our ‘latent asset’ in the space of both commodity and derivative markets. Today, CFS has already achieved a leadership position on the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) and a steadily growing share on the Intercontinental Exchange / Chicago Board of Trade (ICE/CBOT).

Olam’s Risk Management Solutions (RMS) provides a range of bespoke customised, client-centred solutions to producers, distributors, manufacturers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, endusers, importers and exporters across the globe including our various business partners on the physical side of Olam’s business.

The array of customised overthe-counter (OTC) solutions, with competitive pricing, precisely caters to each of our clients’ need of commodity price risk management. Olam’s background in commodities gives us a unique advantage in this area, enabling us to provide our counterparties with the most appropriate and cost effective solutions that are hassle-free in their execution and documentation.

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Dairy factory in New Zealand Onion harvesting in USA

Dairy Olam is among the top 5 traders of dairy ingredients in the world, servicing mostly medium and small distributors and consumers.

Commencing in 2004 with the supply of our first consignment of milk powders into Algeria, we have since grown into a dairy business with extensive operations across more than 20 countries worldwide. We currently supply the complete range of dairy ingredients including: • Powders – Whole milk, skimmed milk and butter milk powders.

• Fat products – Butter, anhydrous milk fat and butter blends.

• Cheese – Hard, semi-hard and soft cheese, analog cheese.

• Whey and milk derivatives – Sweet whey, demineralised whey, de-lactosed whey.

• Milk and whey protein concentrates, permeates and lactose

Spices and Vegetable Ingredients Our product portfolio includes dehydrated vegetables, spices, tomato products, and specialty vegetables, of which, we are leaders in product quality and variety, food safety and risk management, and sustainability across the global supply chain. This leading position has come about as a result of our direct grower origination and processing capabilities in major producing countries, as well as our significant manufacturing operations in the USA, China and Vietnam.

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Success Series

Soluble coffee grown in Colombia

Coffee With over 20 years in the business and a strong presence in almost all of the large coffee-producing regions, Olam provides a comprehensive supply chain solution that links millions of coffee growers to our roaster clients, specialising in every supply chain stage from procurement, wet and dry milling, classification, transportation and risk management, to marketing processed coffees.

We have our own plantations in Brazil, Laos, Tanzania and Zambia. Our manufacturing facilities for soluble coffee are close to consumption markets in Spain and Vietnam.

Cocoa farmer in Côte d’ Ivoire

Pest controller reviewing almonds in Australia

Cocoa Olam has built its cocoa business by combining our unparalleled strengths at origin with market presence as well as research, information, analysis and futures market expertise. Over a number of years we have clearly demonstrated our capability in the supply chain to offer traceability, transparency and trust for our customers.

Following the acquisition of ADM’s cocoa business in October 2015, Olam Cocoa is now one of the top 3 integrated suppliers of cocoa beans and cocoa products globally and has established a new dynamic in the industry.

The superior qualities of the deZaan™ and Macao™ cocoa powder portfolios are experiencing significant growth in demand from customers across the Middle East and North Africa.

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Edible Nuts For manufacturers seeking to capitalise on the health benefits of nuts or simply seeking texture and flavour, Olam’s Edible Nuts business, which has a presence in 80% of producing countries, provides: • Almonds from Northern and Southern hemisphere drip-irrigated orchards, guaranteeing year round supply; • Cashews from multiple origins with significant investment in sustainability programmes, and differentiated product mixes • Natural and semi-finished hazelnut kernel products from Turkey, manufactured in accordance with customer specifications at Olam’s state-of-the-art ingredients factory in Giresun; and • Peanuts from all major producing origins as well as ingredients such as dry roasted peanuts, peanut paste and granulated peanuts.

For further information visit olamgroup.com and follow us @Olam

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MONEY

Beyond Bulls & Bears By: Franklin Templeton Investments

we all know that Brexit sent shock waves throughout the world, but what has the affect of Britain leaving the EU had on the world’s largest economy - the USA? Frank Templeton Investments explain the reaction of the financial markets

he political and economic uncertainty created by the UK referendum result has further obscured the global outlook, leaving few obstacles in the way of lower interest rates. Central banks in many parts of the world were already committed to substantial monetary easing to combat deflationary forces, and those that were not—such as the US Federal Reserve (Fed)—now have little incentive to swim against the tide. The forces of populism that have been unleashed since the global financial crisis show little sign of diminishing, raising the possibility of further rejections of the market-friendly orthodoxies of globalisation through the ballot box.

Following the decision by UK voters to leave the European Union (EU), negotiations between the two parties could be extended and painstaking, and both sides seem likely to stick to their entrenched positions. However, the longer the

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United Kingdom’s position remains unresolved, the greater the negative impact for both parties could be. In terms of monetary policy, we had expected the Bank of England (BOE) to move into easing mode, (though it chose not to do so at its July meeting), but we think the European Central Bank (ECB) will try to gauge the impact of the UK result, rather than rush to alter its current program of bond purchases or cut interest rates further.

US Bonds The record lows seen in Treasury yields signal to us how much the US bond market and indeed US monetary policy are being driven by international rather than domestic factors. Clearly, there are significant concerns about the global backdrop, but the Treasury market appears to bear little relation to the state of the US economy, where growth remains

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MONEY

Central banks in many parts of the world were already committed to substantial monetary easing to combat deflationary forces, and those that were not—such as the US Federal Reserve (Fed)—now have little incentive to swim against the tide. The forces of populism that have been unleashed since the global financial crisis show little sign of diminishing, raising the possibility of further rejections of the market-friendly orthodoxies of globalisation through the ballot box moderate but respectable, even allowing for any potential future downdraft from the UK referendum result. With yields on sovereign bonds in numerous countries now negative, Treasuries may stay attractive to investors on a relative basis despite being in unprecedented territory historically.

June heralded a fresh downward leg in the pattern of falling US bond yields prevalent so far in 2016. Yields began moving lower early in the month following May’s disappointing US payroll report, and the move accelerated sharply following the unexpected decision by referendum voters in the United Kingdom to leave the EU. Even before the UK referendum result and the resulting spike in market volatility, the Fed had adopted a cautious tone.

Subsequently, investors concluded there was a negligible chance US policy rates would be raised for some time to come, as the Fed remained on hold while assessing whether the US economy had been materially impacted.

With market sentiment heavily favoring such views, a far stronger-than-expected payroll report for June had little impact initially on the Treasury market.

The record lows seen in Treasury yields signal to us how much the US bond market and indeed US monetary policy are being driven by international rather than domestic factors.

Clearly, there are significant concerns about the global backdrop, but the Treasury market appears to bear little relation to the state of the US economy, where growth remains moderate but respectable, even allowing for any potential

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future downdraft from the UK referendum result. With yields on sovereign bonds in numerous countries now negative, Treasuries may stay attractive to investors on a relative basis despite being in unprecedented territory historically.

Risks Minutes from the Fed’s June meeting underlined that policymakers were mindful of the potential risks to the US economy and global markets even before the UK referendum result. Following the UK poll, Treasury yields fell to unprecedented levels, with the yield on the 10-year note reaching a new closing low of 1.36 percent in early July. In the fed funds futures market, expectations about the timing of the next US interest-rate rise were pushed back significantly - the fourth quarter of 2018 at one point. However, June’s strong payroll report did lead to a limited re-evaluation by investors about the shorter end of the Treasury curve.

Following the data, fed funds futures moved to allow higher possibilities of an interest-rate rise before the end of this year (still only a 20 percent chance).

Despite the headline monthly payroll number of 287,000 being well ahead of consensus expectations other parts of the report were more equivocal, notably wage data, in which a monthly increase of 0.1 percent in average hourly earnings failed to meet expectations, despite the

annual increase being 2.6 percent.

The pattern of subdued inflationary pressures was also in evidence in the Fed’s favored measure, the core personal consumer expenditures price index, which rose 0.2 percent monthon-month (m/m) and at an annual rate of 1.6 percent, with the equivalent headline numbers coming in at 0.2 percent and 0.9 percent.

CFO Survey A survey of Chief Financial Officers (conducted before the UK referendum result) gave mixed messages about the US labor market, with around half reportedly planning to cut hiring or investment due to factors such as political uncertainty ahead of the US election in November.

But many other survey respondents mentioned difficulties hiring skilled staff, hinting that wage pressures may soon rise.

Elsewhere other indicators underscored the resilience of the US economy ahead of the as yet undetermined impact of the UK referendum result. Both of the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM’s) purchasing managers’ indexes (PMIs) provided encouraging updates. The ISM’s index of services activity rose to a sevenmonth high of 56.5 in June, up from 52.9 in May and well ahead of consensus expectations. The corresponding index for manufacturing also beat forecasts, coming in at 53.2, as new orders and

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MONEY

The shock of the UK referendum decision and the resulting extremes in bond market pricing across the world were in some ways suggestive of past systemic episodes, such as the 2012 Eurozone crisis and the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 exports showed particular strength.

Consumer spending remained robust, and retail sales posted another solid gain of 0.5 percent m/m in May, though slowing from April’s breakneck pace of 1.3 percent m/m. As a result, most predictions were for second-quarter GDP (gross domestic product) growth to show a marked pickup in Q2, with the Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now forecast tracking at 2.4 percent as of July 6.

Local V. Global Regardless of the US economy’s strong underpinnings, our sense is neither the Fed nor most market participants are focusing primarily on domestic fundamentals, but instead on the wider and weaker global backdrop.

Fixed income markets generally look to be in thrall to the expansive monetary policies of central banks, and it seems likely US interest rates will remain lower for longer than we had previously anticipated.

As the uncertainty engendered by the UK referendum result continues to cast a shadow over parts of the global economy, investors may continue to seek out US bonds as a relatively higher-yielding place to put their money.

The shock of the UK referendum decision and the resulting extremes in bond market pricing across the world were in some ways suggestive of past systemic episodes, such as the 2012 Eurozone crisis and the global financial crisis of 2007– 2008.

Yet although fixed income investors appeared swift to conclude a significant weakening of global

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As the uncertainty engendered by the UK referendum result continues to cast a shadow over parts of the global economy, investors may continue to seek out US bonds as a relatively higher-yielding place to put their money economic growth was all but assured, other markets were less reactive, with signs of stress relatively hard to find. Indeed, following the release of the strong US payroll number for June, the S&P 500 rallied to close near a record high, leading to the unusual scenario of simultaneous strength in bond and equity markets.

Globally Currencies however, did reflect the scramble by investors for perceived havens, and the US dollar rallied sharply following the UK result, eradicating its previous losses in the second quarter on a trade-weighted basis. The Japanese yen remained the haven of choice for many, building on its strong showing so far in 2016 and moving close to the ¥100 level against the US dollar. In an indication of the potential for contagion, Mexico’s central bank was forced to raise interest rates to defend the Mexican peso— the most liquid and widely traded emergingmarket currency—which had weakened as investors fled emerging-market assets in the immediate aftermath of the UK poll.

In general, riskier asset classes including those in emerging markets, held up well after an early markdown. An initial spike in risk aversion among investors gave way to a renewed search for performance potential after the markets had coped with the shock of the UK result and sovereign bond yields were heading even lower.

Corporate bonds saw strong inflows, and the dwindling prospect of a rise in US interest rates

supported emerging-market assets, as they are seen as likely beneficiaries from capital flows if global monetary policy stays loose. Oil prices at first showed little reaction to the UK vote, remaining close to the US$50 per barrel mark, but they started to lose ground in early July as supply disruptions eased, with figures showing production from OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) reaching an eight-year high in June.

Assessing the way forward is now even more challenging. Central banks in many parts of the world were already committed to substantial monetary easing to combat deflationary forces, and those that were not—such as the Fed—now have little incentive to swim against the tide. The forces of populism that have been unleashed since the global financial crisis show little sign of diminishing, raising the possibility of further rejections of the marketfriendly orthodoxies of globalisation through the ballot box.

Nevertheless, we would question whether the extraordinary valuation metrics currently found across bond markets are justified for the global economy (for example, both the German and Japanese yield curves largely negative). In the aftershock of Brexit, such valuations seem more driven by a cyclical crisis of confidence which, in our opinion, should recover at some stage as the most extreme outcomes become less probable—rather than signs of a significant deterioration of fundamentals. l

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people

New Staff Required?

In Dubai, there is no shortage of talent; good, bad or indifferent. Your time however is expensive. So how can you ensure that you only interview and hire the right staff? n our article, we speak with Nuria GonzalezMartin, Head of HR at Food Fund International, the company that brings you The Meat Co, Eat Greek, Tribes to tell us the best practice processes to ensuring they have the correct amount of staff at all times: “Managers often come to me and ask for more staff but often my answer will depend on whether the staff request has been approved in the forecasted headcount budget for the year or not. When Managers come and ask for additional staff above the agreed headcount budget, we ask the Manager to present a business case to increase the headcount budget, with a summary of the positive expectations of the increased staff headcount - not just in terms of potential revenue, but also in terms of service delivery, the overall team and department performance. Whilst the manager is preparing this we look at the current budget; thinking in terms of clients, revenue, approved budget for the year, current staffing and job roles.”

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So there is a lot for the manager to think of?

“Yes. Once the manager forwards the business case it is read in line with the above, and then HR makes their recommendation.

This does not necessarily mean a yes or no. HR uses this time to identify any other potential solutions for either the long term or interim period. This is then submitted to the manager to review/ debate, and finally it is forwarded to the relevant parties to increase the budget. This includes the CFO and COO as a minimum.

“Whilst this may sound quite heavy, I find that this is a useful tool to train managers to objectively think about the increase in headcount. They have the opportunity to consider what it actually means in terms of budget, output to support the increase, what they actually want as a result, and the potential of other strategies, rather than just a knee jerk reaction to a situation that is currently happening.”

Why is a job description important?

A job description is important for a number of reasons.

Firstly all employees like to know (and preferably before

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people

A job description can be used to manage performance, especially as here in the UAE you have to reference to potential disciplinary based on nondelivery of basic duties if you need to review their position at a later date they accept an offer of employment), what is expected of them, so they can assess for themselves whether they can actually do the job; is it a role that they actually want to do? Who will they be reporting too? What are the conditions of the role? How they will be evaluated and deemed as competent in the role?

Secondly for the employer it is a good tool to use to structure the thought process of a potential role; for example how the role fits in with other roles that already exist within the company, actual job duties, responsibilities, reporting line, whether this role duplicates any other staff members job role and specific duties, how critical the role is to the department and Company.

Finally a job description provides the opportunity to agree on the characteristics needed by a new employee filling the role and it will then be used as part of the recruitment process.

Are there any other reasons why you should have job descriptions?

Yes. In addition to this, a job description can be used to manage performance, especially as here in the UAE you have to reference to potential disciplinary based on non-delivery of basic duties if you need to review their position at a later date. Job descriptions for higher roles within the company can be used as a template for training and development to aid staff to achieve the necessary skills and knowledge for

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promotions and career progression, as well as being used as the foundation for job analysis, subsequent job grading’s and salary bandings.

On a softer side, job descriptions can also be used to assist return to work policies where, for an interim period certain tasks are modified to ensure a smoother transition back to the workplace following a period of absence.

What is the key to writing a good job description?

The key to a good job description in my opinion is flexibility. Creating a more generic job description that emphasizes expectations and accountability, as opposed to specific duties, to allow employees the flexibility to manage their own actions and focus on achieving the Companies expectations with creativity; thus enabling a more welcoming and open environment. And the plus side these type of job descriptions are easier to maintain so HR will not have to constantly change job descriptions in line with every change in job duties!

Should it be only HR who write or should there be external input?

At Food Fund International, when we develop a job description HR works with the Head of Department/Manager to ensure that the job description reflects their requirements and those of the Company. Assuming that the headcount budget for this person has

been approved, and there is no overlap of duties with an existing staff member, HR will meet with the manager to gather in more detail what they want this role to achieve, what they think this person will be doing in terms of duties, to meet the Company’s expectations, how they see this role developing in the future, who this person will be reporting too, how they intend to measure the performance of this person, what type of personality should this person have, and are there any qualifications, skills, knowledge or previous experience that this person must have.

These details are then included into our Company approved job description template.

What additional work should the HR department undertake?

We undertake some desk research to identify if there are additional job duties such as best practice associated duties and any additional legal requirements etc. Once this has been undertaken these details are included in a draft job description for the manager to review.

The Manager may be asked to remove anything that is not relevant, re-word anything that needs further clarification, and add any other details after this review that has been missed previously.

By taking this inclusive approach, the job description directly relates to the business and the needs of the department, whilst ensuring that the duties are in line and competitive with market conditions and best practice.

This provides a positive impact for us both from an employee standpoint, and also from a commercial aspect as it sets the best standards for our customers. l

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LEGAL

Aerial view of Riyadh downtown

Landmark Enforcement Decision in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

By: Henry Quinlan, Head of Litigation, DLA Piper Middle East and Amer Al Amr Partner, Litigation, DLA Piper, Saudi Arabia

The Enforcement Court in Riyadh has recently confirmed that a US$18.5 million ICC award rendered in London will be enforced in the Kingdom against a Saudi-domiciled award debtor.

The enforcement process, handled by DLA Piper, Arbitration & Investigations team, took just 3 months before the Enforcement Court. The decision to enforce this major foreign award, in addition to the relative speed with which the decision was reached, is one of the most significant developments in arbitration in the Middle East for many years he recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards has long been fraught with difficulty in Saudi Arabia. As a result, contracting with Saudi parties with no identifiable assets outside the Kingdom has always involved an added layer of risk. However, the Kingdom recently revamped its arbitration and enforcement laws to more closely reflect international standards - changes that prompted the hope that Saudi might become a more

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arbitration-friendly jurisdiction as it seeks to diversify its economy and encourage more foreign investment.

This case is the first example of what we hope will be many more pro-arbitration decisions emanating from the Kingdom.

Key Facts In late 2011, a UAE subsidiary of a Greek telecommunications company (Claimant) obtained an ICC arbitral award totalling c.

US$18,500,000 from a London-seated tribunal of three experienced arbitrators. In summary, the Claimant succeeded in

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LEGAL

enforcement under Saudi law. There are particular requirements and practical steps that must be undertaken during the process which it is important for parties to understand.

The Royal Courts of Justice houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales

its claims against a Saudi data communications service provider, and was also successful in defending counterclaims totalling c. US$350 million. The Claimant then sought recognition and enforcement of the award in the Saudi courts.

During the course of the enforcement proceedings, Saudi Arabia passed two separate laws, both of which commentators regarded as having the potential to transform the arbitration regime in Saudi Arabia, namely: 1. A new arbitration law, which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law; and 2. A new Enforcement Law One effect of the new Enforcement Law is to require parties seeking recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards to commence proceedings directly before the Enforcement Courts, rather than through the Board of Grievances. This legislative change is very advantageous to award creditors, as there is no appeal from the decision of the enforcement judge.

As a result of this change, the Claimant transferred its proceedings from the Board of Grievances to the Enforcement Courts. Three months later, the enforcement judge has now stamped the award (thereby confirming that the award is recognised and will be enforced in Saudi Arabia, and also effectively converting the award into an executable Saudi court judgment).

As stated above, there is no possibility of appeal against this decision.

In confirming the enforceability of the award, the enforcement judge had to satisfy

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himself (by reference to Article 11 of the Enforcement Law) that: 1. The country in which the award was rendered would reciprocate in enforcing awards rendered in Saudi Arabia (in the case of England, this was simple to establish by reference to the UK’s accession to the New York Convention) 2. The Saudi courts did not have jurisdiction to hear the underlying dispute (which they did not as a result of the arbitration clause in the contract) 3. The award was rendered following proceedings which complied with due process 4. The award was in final form according to the law of the seat of the arbitration 5. The award was not inconsistent with a judgment or order issued in relation to the same subject by a judicial authority of competent jurisdiction in the Kingdom 6. The award did not contain anything that contradicted Saudi public policy (and in particular Saudi law). In relation to this last requirement, the award did not include any award of interest, which might otherwise have been problematic Enforcement proceedings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia require a deep understanding of local law. It is clear from our involvement in this case that it is crucially important for any parties involved in proceedings against Saudi entities to ensure they obtain proper advice from the outset about the pre-requisites to

The Execution Regime In Saudi Arabia Explained Having obtained an execution order, the full weight of the Saudi Arabian enforcement regime can now be brought to bear on the award debtor. The powers of the Enforcement Court under Articles 46 and 47 of the Enforcement Law are significant: if the award debtor fails to pay the sum owed or fails to disclose property sufficient to satisfy the award within five days of notification of the execution order, it is deemed to be procrastinating and the enforcement judge can: 1. Ban the award debtor from travel (in the case of a company, its general manager or board of directors) 2. Suspend the award debtor’s ability to issue powers of attorney either directly or indirectly in relation to its assets 3. Order disclosure of the existing assets of the debtor and any future revenues in an amount sufficient to satisfy the award, seize such assets and take all actions permitted by the law to execute the award against them 4. Order disclosure of the licenses and records of the commercial and professional activities of the award debtor 5. Notify credit agencies and similar organisations that the award debtor has failed to satisfy an award, which will result in them being added to a credit blacklist Conclusion While foreign arbitral awards have been recognised and enforced in Saudi Arabia sporadically in the past, the process has generally been a tortuous one, and Saudi has long been regarded as one of the most problematic New York Convention signatory countries.

With this first practical example of recognition and enforcement of a foreign award since the promulgation of the Kingdom’s new arbitration and enforcement laws, there are clear signs that the situation is changing for the better in the Kingdom. l

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marketing

Andrew Burgess Middle East Director, TINT For the last 5 years Andrew has been working with large digital agencies, specialising in conversation and viral marketing. Andrew helped brands to listen, understand and engage in conversations over social media, exclusively focusing on social media marketing for agencies clients.

On moving to TINT (trusted by 45,000 brands worldwide including NASDAQ, Google, CNN, Nike, Sony and Ford), he helps organizations to harness and filter the wealth of user generated content created about their brand and category every day and display it across websites, mobile apps, digital advertising, TV, digital billboards and jumbotrons. www.

TINTup.com

Using Generated content

By Andrew Burgess

(The Dubai Mall, displaying users posts with #MyDM)

n the Middle East, even more so than any other region in the world, going to the mall is a social experience. Whilst there has been a slowdown in the industry in the region in recent years, due to the continual rise of online shopping, it has not been as drastic here as the likes of Europe and the USA.

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One of the biggest things getting in the way of eCommerce taking over is the ‘mall culture’ here. Families do not go to malls simply to shop; they go to eat, watch movies and even go ice skating or skiing! Going to the mall is a social activity, and pioneering retailers in the region are capitalising on the excitement that visitors feel and leveraging it through user-generated content (UGC)

Your customers will have more success marketing your product than you ever could.

It doesn’t matter if you have 20 year’s experience, or if you have a social media marketing team of 20 people, there is no way to compete with the marketing reach that your customers have

to spread the word in ways that brands cannot do by themselves.

First off, why is UGC important?

User-generated content is one of the hottest topics in content marketing at the moment.

Utilising UGC in the right way gives your marketing function access to the most powerful tool it never knew it had; your customers. #1 Crowdsourcing Marketing Your customers will have more success marketing your product than you ever could. It doesn’t matter if you have 20 year’s experience, or if you have a social media marketing team of 20 people, there is no way to compete with the marketing reach that your customers have.

Retail brands have been active on social media for over ten years, but it is only in recent years that they have realised that getting their customers to talk about them is more powerful than them simply talking at them. Innovative retailers are now facilitating customers to willingly create content for their brands by encouraging them to use certain hashtags and displaying their social posts on screens in their stores or websites.

Shoppers are now even discovering new stores and live events / activations through social media. They are interested to hear what their friends and peers have to say about this first, not what some marketing team who are paid to say that it is great have to say about these things. If the hashtag for activation in Mall Of The Emirates is trending on Twitter, you can expect that people are going to want to know what all of the fuss is about and get themselves down to the store.

Your shoppers are now your marketers, whether you like it or not. They are talking about your products online already, are you regulating it? Are you pushing them in the right direction to talk about your brand in a way that works for you?

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marketing

The Dubai Mall, showcasing UGC on the big screen by the fountains

#2 Interactive Advertising We have all heard the stats about how many ads the average consumer sees on a daily basis, in reality however, these numbers seem meaningless because we are bombarded with data - very similar to how consumers are inundated with quantity rather than quality when it comes to marketing messages.

In the Middle East, advertising practices are a little slower to adapt to the changing ways in which the people whom they are targeted to consume them than other regions. I recently spoke with a marketing executive in Dubai who was still spending the majority of their budget on print advertising. However times will change and some retail brands are innovating by getting their customers involved with their advertising through the use of hashtags in what is called ‘Social Out Of Home’ (SOOH).

Think of it this way, let’s imagine that you have a digital advertising screen in your mall / store and 1,000 people walk past that screen in one hour while there

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was a video advert playing for any given brand. That would mean that 1,000 people were exposed to this, and your ROI would be that there were 1,000 impressions.

Now, what if you were to incorporate dynamic usergenerated content through a hashtag onto these screens? What if you took it further and mixed that with some video advert, and you encouraged people to post to social through that hashtag so they could get their picture on that big screen? Let’s say that the same 1,000 people walk past, and 100 of them post a photo to their social media accounts using the brand’s hashtag. That would mean you have 100 social leads, and instead of having 1,000 impressions, the advert has now generated has now generated 50,000 impressions (100 social posts x avg. 500 followers). zz Traditional method: 0 leads, 1,000 impressions zz New method: 100 social leads, 50,000 impressions If that advert was for your own brand as a retailer, great, you generated an extra 49,000

Retail brands have been active on social media for over ten years, but it is only in recent years that they have realised that getting their customers to talk about them is more powerful than them simply talking at them

Harvey Nichols MOE, celebrating 10 years with their customers’ experiences

Go Sport ME, displaying customers favourite outfits in store

impressions and you have 100 leads to tackle.

If that advert was for a sponsor, how much are planning on increasing the sale price when you can prove ROI in terms of social reach?!

Conclusion There is a consistent theme with the two points above. Customers are already talking about your brand online, and they are going to continue to do so. Of course, you’re never going to be able to get them to promise to adhere to your brand guidelines, but what you can do is encourage them to talk positively about your brand and use your preferred messaging through hashtags.

Are you on top of UGC for your retail / mall brand? If not, or you would just like to have a chat to see how you could do more, I am part of the TINT team in the Middle East, based in Dubai, and you can contact me on barry@tintup.com to arrange a meeting. l

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technology

Preventing DNS-Based Data Exfiltration By: Cherif Sleiman, General Manager, Middle East at Infoblox

Theft of sensitive or regulated data and intellectual property is one of the most serious risks to an enterprise. DNS is frequently used as a pathway for data exfiltration, because it is not inspected by common security products such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDSs), and proxies everal high-profile data breaches have been in the news recently. We read that millions of customer records are stolen, emails hacked, and sensitive information leaked.

Most enterprises have multiple defense mechanisms and security technologies in place, such as next-generation firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDSs), and intrusionprevention systems (IPSs). Yet somehow malicious actors find a way to appropriate data. So what types of data are being stolen? They vary and may include: zz Personally identifiable information (PII) such as Emirates ID numbers in UAE for example zz Regulated data related to Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DDS) zz Intellectual property that gives an organisation a competitive advantage zz Other sensitive information such as credit card numbers, company financials, payroll information, and emails

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Motivations vary from hacktivism and espionage to financial wrongdoing, where the data can be easily sold for a neat profit in the underground market. When sensitive information is stolen, it causes financial and legal woes, not to mention the huge negative impact to brand. According to a Ponemon Institute study in 2015, the average consolidated cost of a data breach is US$3.8 million, which includes investigative and forensic efforts and resolution and consequences of customer defection. This is an average— recent breaches have cost victims a lot more.

Hacking Hackers can use multiple pathways to steal data, but the one that is often unknowingly left open is DNS, or the Domain Name System. DNS is increasingly being used for data exfiltration, either by malware-infected devices or by rogue employees. The nature of the DNS protocol, which was invented more than 30 years ago, is such that it is trusted, yet vulnerable to hackers and malicious insiders. According

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technology

DNS tunneling is the tunneling of IP protocol traffic through Port 53 - which is often not even inspected by firewalls, even next-generation firewalls

to Dan Kaminsky, the a well-known DNS security researcher, DNS can be thought of as a globally deployed routing and caching overlay network that connects both the public and private Internet, which raises serious questions: Is it sufficiently secure? Is it vulnerable to data breaches? The answer is that DNS can be abused in all sorts of unconventional ways that make it the perfect back door for hackers seeking to steal sensitive data. According to a recent DNS security survey of businesses based in North America and Europe, 46 percent of respondents experienced DNS exfiltration and 45 percent experienced DNS tunneling. You can safely assume that the Middle East will be no different.

DNS tunneling is the tunneling of IP protocol traffic through Port 53—which is often not even inspected by firewalls, even nextgeneration firewalls—most likely for purposes of data exfiltration. Malicious insiders either establish a DNS tunnel from within the network, then encrypt and embed chunks of data in DNS queries. Data is decrypted at the other end and put back together to get the valuable information. All sorts of things can be tunneled (SSH or HTTP) over DNS, encrypted, and compressed—much to the dismay of

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network administrators and security staff.

DNS tunneling has been around for a long time. There are several popular tunneling toolkits such as Iodine, which is often considered the gold standard; OzymanDNS; SplitBrain; DNS2TCP; TCP-over-DNS; and others. There are also newer contenders that allow for tunneling at a much faster pace and offer lots of features. Even some commercial services have popped up offering VPN service over DNS, thus allowing you to bypass many Wi-Fi security controls. Most of these tools have specific signatures that can be used for detection and mitigation.

DNS is not only used for data leakage, but also to move malicious code into a network. This infiltration is easier than you think. Hackers can prepare a binary, encode it, and transport it past firewalls and

content filters via DNS into an organisation’s network. Hackers send and receive data via DNS—effectively converting it into a covert transport protocol.

Don’t Become The Next Data Breach Victim DNS is the perfect enforcement point to improve your organisation’s security posture.

It is close to endpoints, ubiquitous, and in the path of DNS-based exfiltration. While DLP technology solutions protect against data leakage via email, web, FTP, and other vectors, most don’t have visibility into DNSbased exfiltration. To maximise your chances of fighting back against these data theft attempts, complement traditional data loss prevention protection with a DNS- based solution. l

According to a Ponemon Institute study in 2015, the average consolidated cost of a data breach is US$3.8 million, which includes investigative and forensic efforts and resolution and consequences of customer defection

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THE PHILLIPS GROUP SPECIALIZING IN LEADERSHIP SOLUTIONS The Phillips Group is a boutique executive search firm specializing in placements in the MENA Region. From assisting Fortune 500 companies acquire and retain top performing senior executives or to advising leading Chief Executive Officers on developing their human capital, The Phillips Group has experience acquiring leadership talent from all four corners of the world.

WE ARE THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH SPECIALISTS. Call us now for high touch bespoke service if you are looking to hire the best in your industry.

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business incubator

Customer Service Defines Customer Experience By: Juan Bezón, Chief Commercial Officer, PCCI Group

Nobody can deny that we are now in the age of the customer. Through online and mobile channels clients are well informed and this information allows them to compare and choose the most convenient provider/vendor.

If they are not happy, they change supplier. What can we do to stop them leaving? oday, customers have control and companies are changing their strategy to customercentric. For this reason, now more than ever, the experience that a customer has with a brand is more differentiating than the product or service itself.

Transforming and changing the customer experience takes time. It means that the top management of the company has to be really committed and have customer experience as one of its top priorities in its strategy as it touches all areas within the organisation, but

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there is one that has a greater impact on customer experience, and that is the customer service.

The biggest change today in customer service is the sheer number of channels through which people can contact your business. Instead of just phone calls and snail mail, consumers can now reach you by email, social media, text message, video call and live chat.

Mobile technology has also enabled constant connectivity, giving customers 24/7 access to public forums in which they can talk — or complain — about your company. Only

You need to have a single view of customers and their transactions and provide a seamless experience through all the touch points organisations that are willing to adapt and respond to this shift in business-consumer dynamics will survive.

Digital Channels The emergence of all these new channels – also known as digital channels - add some complexity to the brand, as it is obliged to incorporate them to the customer journey and hence more touch points. These can be classified in two types: assisted (needs human interaction) and non-assisted or self-service.

One of the first questions that companies need to ask is: What are the channels/touch points that I need to have to engage with my

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business incubator

customers are allowed to make all the normal transactions through online channels, either via a website or a mobile app, without human intervention. This requires technological effort and investment, but that can be amortized very quickly as per call costs reduction and improvement of customer experience.

customers? The answer is very simple: attend to your customers in their preferred channel.

A survey conducted by IDC on Customer Care BPO found that the majority of consumers were unable to get a response from customer support using their channel of preference.

Businesses need to know their customers, segment them properly and understand what their preferred channels are, how they want to access them, what time, how often and for what kind of transactions.

Most likely you will chance upon a clear trend of customer service, which you are probably not addressing properly: most customers prefer self-service - effortless interactions - especially by the youth. But it is also true that every day more people do not want to make any kind of transaction in person. Customers want to control their time, they do not want to queue and wait for something that they can do easily online. And, interaction with advanced brands has taught customers what is possible online and hence they compare brand’s service levels regularly.

Self-service is about automation, where

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Great Customer Service Having the multi-channel and self-service capabilities is a big step, but it is not enough to ensure a great customer experience. Today, most consumers use more than one channel in each individual transaction. This means that you cannot afford to have a ‘channel siloed’ vision of the customer transaction. You need to have a single view of customers and their transactions and provide a seamless experience through all the touch points. This is known as omni-channel experience, and it is the next step to ensure your customer service is excellent.

Finally, the next step is about personalisation and proactive engagement.

How can a business anticipate a customer’s needs, even before he can contact the business or tell the business what it wants?

This is where big data or analytics come into play. Having all the information about the customer, preferences, real and historic use and purchases, customer service and historic interactions through all the channels is needed to offer the right product at the right time in the right context. For example, a mobile operator automatically analyses the internet usage of a user with 1 GB data bundle, and detects that he has been consuming the bundle for the last 3 months, and paying additional cost for the extra-bundle usage. The mobile operator offers the user the opportunity to subscribe to the 3 GB data bundle allowing him to use more bandwidth while saving money.

In the age of fierce competitiveness, companies that deliver a great end-to-end

One of the first questions that companies need to ask is: What are the channels/touch points that I need to have to engage with my customers? The answer is very simple: attend to your customers in their preferred channel experience that makes them stand out from the clutter will attract and retain customers. This is a universal truth no matter which industry a business is in and businesses whom choose to make superior customer experience its core business strategy will continue to thrive. l

Issue 27 | 61

business incubator

Cybersecurity Education Efforts Yielding Results

Survey Underscores That Early Adopters Seek Approval Before Bringing New Devices to Work n a survey of 765 business decision-makers in companies with 1,000+ employees in the U.K., Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium by Redshift Research in October 2015, cybersecurity education efforts are yielding results, with 61 percent of respondents to a survey conducted by Palo Alto Networks saying they would speak with IT before introducing new devices onto a corporate network or adding business applications and tools onto unsecured devices.

With 6.4 billion connected “things” predicted to be in use in 2016[1] – and many expected to enter the workplace – this survey finding represents a significant step in the right direction and demonstrates that employees’ knowledge and understanding of their role in cybersecurity is improving.

However, the contrasting findings from this survey of business managers – who typically have the salary and tendency to be early adopters of new technology – are that 39 percent would fly under IT’s radar. This leaves a large margin for risk.

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Further still, of the group that doesn’t go to IT, one in every eight would “not tell anyone” about bringing a new device into an organisation or installing corporate tools, such as email, onto unsecured devices.

Attitude Impacts Adherence The survey found that adherence to cybersecurity policies, such as those around the introduction of a new device, is largely guided by personal attitudes and views toward technology. Of those who have circumvented their company’s cybersecurity policy in the past, the prevailing reason for doing so was that they wanted to use a more efficient tool or service, or one that was considered to be the best in the market. Companies need to enable, not limit, employee choices, using technology and education to manage risk.

Temporary Employees Require Fulltime Supervision Contractors were the group most often seen to be bypassing company guidelines on cybersecurity, with 16 percent of respondents

saying they had seen a temporary employee circumvent policies.

Recommendations Organisations should continue with employee education efforts to ensure that those on the front line of defences have the skills they need to identify threats.

Security professionals should closely monitor the activity of non-permanent employees or contractors and ensure they receive the same policy information as fulltime staff.

Organisations should integrate up-to-date security solutions that fit with new technology trends in order to eliminate the weaknesses exposed in an evolving computing environment.

Businesses should look at how they identify and enable the safe use of trusted or sanctioned cloud services and applications and manage the use of those that are untrusted and unsanctioned. l

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Unrivalled experts in our field

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