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The next edition of Top Model of Universe will be held in Marrakech.
Morocco’s young model Ilias Senhaji has won the title of “Top Model of the Universe 2022’’ in a competition held in Istanbul to select the future faces of the fashion world.
A statement by the organizers added that the 17-year-old Russian-Moroccan model is the face of the Moroccan fashion house Calamain and was first discovered at the Morocco Fashion Week in Marrakech in June 2022.
The next edition of “Top Model of Universe’’ will be held in Marrakech, says the statement.
Also present at the event was the popular Moroccan designerWafaa Idrissi.
The iconic Moroccan caftan designer debuted a new collection during the event consisting of “beautiful white caftans with gold embroidery thread, accented with pearls and Swarovski crystals, handmade by Moroccan artisans.”
Idrissi recently showcased a set of inspiring caftan designs at The Oriental Fashion Show. Most of her designs were laced with golden and vibrant motifs, with one of her pieces also featuring a veil.
Moroccan women have also excelled in several international beauty pageants.
Morocco’s Marwa Lahlou was crowned Miss Arab USA in August. Lahlou graduated with a honors degree from the University of New Haven with an MBA in International Business Management and Marketing. Additionally, the model speaks Arabic, English, French, and Spanish.
On October 16, Moroccan-Spanish model Sarah Loinaz was crowned Miss Universe Spain 2021 at the Los Olivos Beach Resort in Costa Adeje, Tenerife, Canary Islands.
The 23- year-old model also competed at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant held in Israel.
The projects include restorations of the site of the Battle of the (Trench), Al-Faqir well, and Al-Qiblatayn Mosque
More than 100 sites in Madinah with connections to the life of the Prophet Muhammad and other important events in Islamic history will be restored and developed as part of a three-year package of projects that was announced by Saudi authorities on Wednesday and will run until 2025.
Unveiled during a ceremony inaugurated by Governor of Madinah Prince Faisal bin Salman, the projects include restorations of the site of the Battle of the (Trench), Al-Faqir well, and Al-Qiblatayn Mosque.
An agreement has also been signed for renovations at Uthman bin Affan well and Sayed Al-Shuhada Square, and work is underway on studies for restoration work at more than 100 other historical Islamic sites in Madinah.
During the ceremony, which was organized by Al-Madinah Region Development Authority, the Saudi Heritage Authority, and the Pilgrims Experience Program, heritage chiefs also announced that eight Islamic historical sites in Madinah have already been restored to their former glory: Al-Ghamama Mosque, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque, Umar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque, Al-Saqiya Mosque, Banu Anif Mosque, Al-Rayah Mosque, Ghars Well, and the fort at Arwa bin Al-Zubair Castle.
Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, the minister of Hajj and Umrah and chairman of the Islamic Historical Sites Committee, thanked the governor of Madinah and said the committee is working to turn the desire of the Saudi leadership to preserve Islamic heritage into a reality that can be enjoyed by pilgrims and other visitors.
He added that the “Kingdom seeks, through projects, to rehabilitate and activate historical sites, to open its doors to pilgrims and visitors from all over the world, enabling them to enjoy a rich cultural experience” through which they can explore Islamic historical treasures and learn about authentic Saudi culture.
Find out more about the eight sites that have been renovated:
Al-Ghamama Mosque:
Located near the Prophet’s Mosque, it was built by Umar bin Abdul Aziz at a place where the Prophet Muhammad worshipped during Eid and prayed for rain. The site was also used by Uthman bin Affan for the same purpose.
Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque:
Built using a wonderful architectural style, this is the second of two sites where the Prophet Muhammad performed Eid prayers during his lifetime. First caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq also prayed here during Eid, hence its name. It was built by Umar bin Abdul Aziz.
Umar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque:
Located in Al-Musallah, this mosque was named after Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate.
Al-Saqiya Mosque:
The name of this mosque came from its proximity to the Saqia well.
Banu Anif Mosque:
Originally built from basalt and located southwest of Quba Mosque, only about two meters of its walls remained before it was renovated.
Ghars Well:
A well from which the Prophet Muhammad drew water. He asked that when he died, his body be washed in water from the well before burial.
Al-Rayah Mosque:
Built by Caliph Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the site where the Prophet Muhammad prayed while supervising the digging of the trench ahead of the Battle of the (Trench).
The fort at Arwa bin Al-Zubair castle:
A defensive fortress built of volcanic rock, used for military protection.
The Ministry of Transport announced via a tweet on 18 October 2022 that the Lusail Bus Depot has entered the Guinness World Records for the largest electric bus depot.
The bus depot that was inaugurated on 18 October 2022 has a capacity of 478 electric buses and is a fulfilment of The Public Works Authority – Ashghal and the Ministry of Transport of Qatar.
Powered by 11,000 units of solar panels the bus depot entered the records on 16 September 2022 as per Guinness World Records.
source/content: iloveqatar.net (headline edited)
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Source: Ministry of Transport/ Guinness World Records / Cover image credit: Ministry of Transport
Just when every single one of his supporters thought he would always be remembered as a cult hero and nothing else, Karim Benzema has reached the pinnacle of the sport 14 years after signing for Real Madrid labeled as the next Ronaldo Nazario. Overcoming ferocious criticism from his own fanbase and from some of his coaches during this time, Benzema carried Real Madrid to an improbable Champions League & LaLiga double all while scoring 44 goals in 46 appearances in the 2021-2022 season.
Karim Benzema has won the 2022 Ballon D’Or no less than 13 years after signing for Real Madrid. It has not been an easy path for Benzema as he had to change his style of play and prove many of his doubters wrong along the way. In those 13 years, he went from being a young, misfit player who struggled in his early days in Madrid to becoming a captain and a true leader for the biggest club in world football.
Here’s how he did it.
I. Struggles: From “The Next Ronaldo Nazario” to “The Next Anelka”
Saying that Benzema never was one of the world’s greatest strikers would be wrong. From 2009 to 2022, the French attacker went through struggles on and off the field but always showed that the talent to be one of the best was there. Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez saw that promise and raw potential and decided to visit Benzema’s home in Lyon to secure his signing in the summer of 2009.
“I was hanging out with my friends and my family called me and said: “You need to come home, Florentino is here.” I opened the door, I saw him there and I just didn’t say anything,” revealed Benzema a decade later.
Still, Benzema failed to establish himself as a regular starter for Madrid until Gonzalo Higuaín suffered a back injury in 2011. José Mourinho, who was the team’s coach back in the day, signed Emmanuel Adebayor on loan because he didn’t feel the 24-year-old Benzema could lead his offense. Mourinho even said that he would rather go hunting “with a hound” [Higuaín] but that he would have to go “with a cat.”
Thing is, Mourinho was right. Benzema was struggling on the pitch and appeared to be careless and apathetic during his first few seasons in the Spanish capital.
“My first season in Madrid, my first six months or so were very tough. I was by myself; I didn’t speak Spanish and that made it all more difficult. Furthermore, I just got to a new world, another team, another style of football. Luckily, I didn’t give up,” he said when asked about that time in an interview published this past summer.
That’s the main reason why most fans and members of the media often compared him to former Real Madrid attacker Nicolas Anelka, who signed for the club in 1999 when he was 20 years old. Anelka left Madrid after just one season having displayed some of the symptoms which kept Benzema out of the team’s starting lineup a decade later. Anelka went on to have a very solid career, but Madrid didn’t reap the benefits.
With Benzema, Florentino Pérez remained patient –perhaps the fact that he was his personal gamble gave the Frenchman a longer leash– and decided to keep trusting his potential knowing that Real Madrid had another historically great player who could lead the team towards the most successful period in the history of the club.
II. Stability without stardom: Cristiano’s Sidekick and the BBC years
While Benzema showed real moments of brilliance during Mourinho’s tenure in the Spanish capital (2010-2013), even scoring 28 goals across all competitions during the 2011-12 season, he always was behind Gonzalo Higuaín in the depth chart.
When Mourinho left the club in 2013, Real Madrid decided to sell the Argentinian striker to Napoli and gave Benzema the chance to be an undisputed starter under new coach Carlo Ancelotti and alongside two great scorers like Cristiano Ronaldo and new signing Gareth Bale. The ‘BBC’ was born.
Ancelotti then created a new role for Benzema, the role he played for most of his career: The 9.5. the French striker wasn’t playing as a false nine, but he was a playmaker through the center-forward position. There, Benzema would often receive the ball and assist to either Ronaldo or Bale while drifting to both flanks to create space for them to finish plays in the center of the attacking line. Ronaldo and Bale were ruthless finishers during these years, but Benzema deserves credit for making their jobs way easier.
“When Cristiano Ronaldo played for Real Madrid, he scored 50 to 60 goals a year. So, my moves were to give him an advantage on the field, generate spaces, because I passed the ball well in the opponent’s area. He was much more effective than I was,” said Benzema earlier this year.
The team won La Décima (their tenth Champions League trophy) and the Copa del Rey during that first season. Ancelotti left the club a year later, but his successor Zinedine Zidane kept the same offensive system going and conquered a historic three-peat with Benzema being the facilitator for Ronaldo and Bale.
Even if Benzema wasn’t focusing on scoring goals, he still found the back of the net 28 times in just 34 appearances back in 2015-16. He was delivering. Zidane being his childhood hero and one of football’s greatest players of all time, the French attacker spent time after every training session working and polishing his game with his coach, with his idol.
Everything changed in 2017-18. Real Madrid struggled immensely throughout the season and didn’t even compete for LaLiga against Barcelona. Benzema had one of his worst campaigns as a Real Madrid player and scored only 12 goals. Somehow, the team managed to win the third consecutive Champions League title and completing the aforementioned three-peat, but both Cristiano Ronaldo and Zidane felt like it was the end of an era and decided to leave the club.
“Every year is the same. I play football to make history. Sometimes people don’t get what I do on the field but I’m here to help my teammates. Of course, I always want to score goals, but sometimes that’s not possible,” said Benzema in 2018, the first campaign without Cristiano Ronaldo and the first time he scored 30 goals in his career. After years of being a playmaker for Ronaldo, Real Madrid needed Benzema to score. He delivered.
III. Mentoring the new generation during Real Madrid’s rebuild
Benzema faced ferocious criticism from his own fanbase during the first few months of the 2018-19 season. The fans at the Santiago Bernabéu appeared to think that he was to blame for the team’s struggles last year. He was never a fan favorite. In 2016, the crowd whistled when he was about to take a penalty-kick, singing Álvaro Morata’s name as they wanted the homegrown attacker to take it instead.
When Ronaldo left the club, Benzema accepted the challenge and realized the fact that he had to score more goals. He rose to the occasion while other attackers like Marco Asensio or even Gareth Bale appeared unwilling to embrace more responsibilities in the offense.
That first season was terrible for the club, even if Benzema scored 30 goals and delivered 9 assists. Zidane’s successor Julen Lopetegui was sacked after just a couple of months and former Real Madrid player and current Castilla coach Santiago Solari was appointed as an interim coach for the remainder of the season, until Zidane made his return to the club just a year after his resignation.
Benzema kept doing his thing and scoring at a solid rate during those seasons but now he was also a mentor for two talented prospects signed from Brazilian football: Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes.
It wasn’t a very successful era for Madrid, but they did conquer the 2019-20 LaLiga title with brilliant performances from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Benzema himself in the condensed schedule after the Covid pandemic.
In the summer of 2021, Zidane left the club for good and a familiar face returned to the Bernabéu. Ancelotti was back. What followed during the next few months will be remembered as one of the most memorable seasons in the history of the club.
IV. Benzema unchained: Carrying Madrid towards a historic double
44 goals in 46 appearances. 15 goals in the Champions League. A hat-trick to rescue his team and advance to the next round in the return leg against Paris Saint-Germain. A hat-trick against Chelsea in the first leg of the Quarterfinals at Stamford Bridge. 10 goals in the 7 do-or-die knockout games in the biggest club competition in the world. Greatness.
Benzema overperformed his xG (expected goals) in 12 goals last season. Courtois and Vinicius were also instrumental in the team’s success and performed better than the French striker in the Champions League Final, but Benzema was historically great all season long with his scoring but also with his playmaking, which helped Vinicius become the player he is today.
It took Benzema a while to get where he stands today, and it would be fair to say that nobody saw this kind of greatness coming from him. In fact, Florentino Perez would have likely replaced him with other strikers had he not been his protégé, his personal signing. None of that matters now. Benzema stayed and he delivered big time in a season where his team needed him the most.
He was hands down the best player in the world of football during the 2021-22 season. He earned every bit of this Ballon D’Or and every single madridista should be proud of him and proud of having him wearing the captain’s armband. They saw Benzema grow into the player, the leader, the captain, the mentor and the man he is today.
“I play for the ones who like and understand football.” Benzema transcended that quote last season and played for every single football viewer around the world, casual or not. He finally earned global recognition.
Karim Benzema is now a Ballon D’Or winner. The world’s greatest
source/content: managingmadrid.com / Lucas Navarrete (headline edited)
Stanford University, one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions, published its annual “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list — featuring the most widely cited scientists in different disciplines — this week.
It included five faculty members from Riyadh’s Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University: Dr. Rafiq Muhammad Choudhry and the late Dr. Hisham El-Dessouky from the department of engineering; Dr. Kamal Abdul Jawad Buradah and Dr. Ahmed Al-Khayyat from the department of science; and Dr. Qaisar Abbas from the department of computer science.
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Highlight:
The ‘World’s Top 2% Scientists’ list includes Dr. Rafiq Muhammad Choudhry and the late Dr. Hisham El-Dessouky from the department of engineering; Dr. Kamal Abdul Jawad Buradah and Dr. Ahmed Al-Khayyat from the department of science; and Dr. Qaisar Abbas from the department of computer science.
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The university’s president, Dr. Ahmed bin Salem Al-Amri, said that the university’s recognition is a sign of the support that education and research receives from the Kingdom’s leaders.
“The leadership gives special attention to scientific research as a key pillar of the university’s success and a developmental and community-based necessity to transform universities into (places) that serve the development of the knowledge economy, by improving scientific research and its quality and outcomes in order to positively impact the economy and society,” he said.
In recent years, the university has dedicated “specialized programs and quality initiatives as part of its strategic plan to achieve the goals of scientific research and innovation,” and to improve the Kingdom’s ranking in the Global Competitiveness Index, thus achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, Al-Amri explained.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Stanford University, one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions, published its annual “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list. (Reuters/File Photo)
Mohamed Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, has been elected as Chairman of the Development Committee (DC) of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which aims to achieve international cooperation and consensus on issues related to development. The DC is a joint ministerial committee of the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund.
During his two-year tenure, the minister will work with the committee’s members that include ministers, and the Board of Governors of the WBG and IMF to complete and manage the committee’s programmes related to sustainable and comprehensive economic development, in order to build and develop the economies of developing countries.
Al Hussaini thanked the member states and the WBG for electing him as the Committee Chairman, stressing the United Arab Emirates’ keenness on cooperating and coordinating with its strategic partners and all international organisations to enable comprehensive and sustainable development at all levels.
A ministerial-level forum that represents the member countries of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, the Development Committee was established in 1974 and was previously known as the ‘Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the Bank and Fund’. It comprises 25 members from the finance or development ministries that are members of the WBG and the IMF.
The Committee is mandated to address a wide range of issues, including, but not limited to, the role of the IMF and WBG, in confronting future crises, digitalisation, the green economy, trade, industrial policies, and poverty.
As a child in Tunisia, Lina Necib watched the 1997 film “Contact” and decided to become an astrophysicist. Now at MIT, she studies dark matter’s shadowy clues.
Lina Necib is on the hunt for something invisible.
“It’s a little bit like detective work,” she says. “We have a lot of observational types of evidence, and we’re trying to put all of it together into one picture.”
Necib, an assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studies dark matter, the elusive stuff that makes up most of the universe’s mass but doesn’t reflect, emit, or absorb light. For her work, Necib has won the 2023 APS Valley Prize, which recognizes early-career physicists for research expected to have a dramatic impact in the field.
In 2020, Necib and her colleagues reported their discovery of a massive stellar stream, a ribbon of stars left over when a galaxy is torn and stretched, orbiting on the outskirts of the Milky Way. Dark matter tugs at these streams, leaving behind fingerprints — evidence of its existence.
Necib believes the stream, dubbed “Nyx” after the Greek goddess of night, might be the remnant of a dwarf galaxy that collided with the much larger Milky Way billions of years ago. To study the stream, her team merged particle physics with cosmological simulations, data from star catalogs, and machine learning — a groundbreaking combination of tools. They published their results in Nature Astronomy.
Necib credits a few other physicists for her successes — “in particular, several women,” including Anna Frebel and Tracy Slatyer at MIT and Mariangela Lisanti at Princeton University.
Mentors as much as colleagues, these women helped Necib adjust to her new faculty role at MIT, which she started during the pandemic and with a newborn baby, she says.
Necib grew up in Tunisia, a small country on Africa’s northern coast, where she says she regularly faced sexist expectations for girls’ behavior and ambitions. One night, when Necib was 8 years old, her family settled in for a movie. The selection? “Contact,” starring Jodie Foster, who plays a scientist searching for aliens. The film opened Necib’s eyes not only to the field of astrophysics, but to a world in which a woman could do astrophysics.
By the end of the movie, Necib had made up her mind: “I’m going to do that!”
She set her sights on college in the U.S. As an undergraduate at Boston University, she leapt into diverse research opportunities, conducting resonance testing of graphene and even joining the search for the Higgs boson at CERN. Her interest in dark matter grew.
During her senior year, at an open house hosted by MIT’s physics doctoral program, Necib struck up a conversation with Jesse Thaler, a theoretical particle physicist. By the end of the chat, Necib knew she wanted to be at MIT.
Necib ultimately asked Thaler to be her dissertation advisor. “He was so enthusiastic about the work that he did. He loved it so much — it was kind of contagious,” she says. “Having an advisor who really put in the time and effort to help me become the physicist that I am changed my life.” Necib earned her doctorate in 2017.
Now in her second year as an assistant professor at MIT, Necib hopes to change cultural attitudes about science careers in Tunisia, where certain professions are given more weight. She wryly summarizes this ranking, starting with the best: “Doctor, engineer, lawyer, failure.”
To topple these perceptions, Necib recently teamed up with Rostom Mbarek, another Tunisian physicist and the Neil Gehrels Prize Postdoctoral Fellow at the Joint Space-Science Institute. The duo just launched an astrophysics podcast entirely in Tunisian Arabic.
In her MIT classroom, Necib strives to debunk outdated perspectives on who does physics.
“I did this experiment last year in one of my first-year physics classes where I asked my students to name physicists,” she recalls. “And all the names they came up with were Nobel Prize winners, but they were also all the same old, Albert Einstein-like examples.”
After that session, Necib had her class learn about more recent work, including the contributions of women and scientists of color to the field.
One of Necib’s “students” is particularly young. Her 17-month-old son can’t yet say “dark matter,” but he has the children’s book “Astrophysics for Babies,” and they go on excursions to Boston’s Museum of Science. He’s a bit young for the exhibits — “he’s just impressed with the escalator,” she says — but she hopes that early exposure will instill in him a love for science.
Meanwhile, her search for dark matter continues. She says that, if someone else solves the mystery of dark matter before she does, it won’t phase her. For her, being a physicist is “really about the people,” like her colleagues, mentors, and students.
“I know amazing people that are doing incredible work,” she says. “Feeling that my work is recognized fills me with so much joy. I hope to pay it forward.”
Bahrain’s GHF Financial Group has acquired a second US medical clinics portfolio at $400 million, as the firm continues its US expansion.
According to a press release, the newly acquired portfolio comprises 11 assets spread across four states: California, Texas, Maryland and Louisiana.
The new investment capitalizes on GFH’s joint venture partnership with Big Sky Medical, an asset management firm focused on medical assets.
Over the past six months, GFH, along with Big Sky Medical, has acquired assets worth $500 million.
To date, GFH has built a portfolio of assets in the US medical office building sector valued at $1 billion.
“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of this prime, income-yielding medical clinic portfolio as part of GFH’s ongoing expansion in the medical office building sector in fast-growing cities across the US,” said Nael Mustafa ,co-chief investment officer for real estate at GFH.
He added: “We believe strongly in the long-term fundamentals in the health care sector and the dynamics that are supporting an increase in demand for high-quality medical office space.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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To date, GFH has built a portfolio of assets in the US medical office building sector valued at $1 billion. (Shutterstock)
The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria, the first in Egypt and Africa, is celebrating its centenary, reports Ameera Fouad.
It has been 100 years of success, 100 years of international and local relations, 100 years of developing markets and companies, 100 years of trade agreements, and 100 years of boosting made-in-Egypt products.
The Egyptian Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria is celebrating its centenary this year, having been established in April 1922. It was the first national chamber of commerce to be established in Egypt, Africa, and the Arab region. Situated near the Raml Station in Alexandria, it acts as a national economic and business institution that fosters economic and business development in Alexandria and the Arab and Mediterranean region.
The idea of setting up the chamber developed after the 1919 Revolution, which demanded the freedom and independence of Egypt’s industry and commerce. With the agreement of traders and industrialists, the chamber’s first board members were elected in 1922.
Its first elected president was businessman Mohamed Effendi Tawfik. According to a report published by the chamber, 129 members joined it when it was founded, a large number, and in addition to the president 15 board members were elected.
The centenary of the chamber coincides with the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Federation of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ESCAMI). This brings together more than 500 chambers from 23 countries overlooking the Mediterranean and more than 22 million companies. It is headed by Ahmed Al-Wakeel, president of the Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria.
The ESCAMI chambers implement regional projects financed by the EU with a budget of more than 180 million euros in the sectors of the food and textile industries, tourism, transport and logistics, new and renewable energy, environment and training for employment, regional development, transport and logistics, and the participation of workers abroad in the development of their countries. There is also a regional programme for the development of trade and investment.
At a press conference held to announce the centenary, Al-Wakeel said that the Alexandria chamber was working on automating all the services provided to its affiliates by the end of this year at a cost of LE7 million as part of the country’s larger commitment to digital transformation.
“The process includes the establishment of an electronic portal for the chamber, in addition to launching an electronic application on mobile phones,” Al-Wakeel said. He added that it also includes the internal systems of chamber employees and financial and administrative aspects.
The chamber has begun to provide online services to its members, such as obtaining certificates and getting acquainted with the laws that regulate the business environment as well as regulations and tenders. In terms of financial inclusion and the electronic transformation, the chamber is currently studying ideas for signing a protocol with an electronic payments company.
During the press conference, Al-Wakeel stressed the leading role played by the software industry, not only at the level of the Egyptian market, but also globally in the light of the availability of suitably qualified professionals. “Our professionals compete globally and are considered one of the sources of our national income,” he added.
He also highlighted the importance of updating the laws on intellectual property rights in Egypt after the launch of the Egyptian Strategy for Intellectual Property, which guarantees the rights of companies and individuals.
DEVELOPMENT ROLE: One of the core roles the chamber undertook just after its establishment was to resolve the economic problems that resulted from World War I.
“Among these problems were the lack of sugar in the markets, the tram tariffs, the issue of reducing freight fees and freight for ships and railways, and reducing floor fees and many more,” said Ahmed Sakr, a board member of the chamber.
“The then council addressed all these problems to meet contemporary concerns and needs.”
Since its establishment, the chamber has paid special attention to fostering and developing national industry and made-in-Egypt products. In 1940, it held its first permanent exhibition for national industries in Said Al-Awal Street in Alexandria. Then king Farouk visited the exhibition and hailed it as a success.
To hold the exhibition, the chamber made an agreement with Banque Misr to allow exhibitors participating in it to pay an interest rate on loans for exhibitions not exceeding two or three per cent. This succeeded in encouraging and assisting manufacturers and Egyptian-made products at the time.
A hundred years on, the chamber is still keen on taking the necessary steps to cope with global developments and the environmental changes associated with the climate change crisis. “The chamber is one of the first buildings that uses solar energy in its historic building in the Raml Station area,” Sakr added.
The chamber also uses solar energy in the wholesale market in the Ameriya district, making it the first of its kind in the world to operate on solar energy. The market was opened last February in the presence of Ali Moselhi, the minister of supply, Mohamed Al-Sharif, the governor of Alexandria, and Christian Berger, the EU ambassador to Egypt.
“We are always striving to play our important role in terms of social responsibility and sustainable development,” Sakr said.
WOMEN’S ROLE: Realising the important role that youth and women play in the economic sector, the chamber has helped strengthen their roles in society.
It activated an amendment introduced to the chambers law in 2002 that allowed the election of women as board members of the Chambers of Commerce. In 2015, the chamber established its first committee for businesswomen to represent female entrepreneurs and others. The committee aims at helping them to solve their problems and providing them with opportunities and workshops that can help them to promote their own businesses.
In an interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Al-Wakeel stressed the importance of women’s participation in the economy and comprehensive social and economic development. “It is an essential role that works to enhance Egypt’s long-term prosperity and stability,” he said.
He expressed his hope for more cooperation with embassies and other chambers in the field of women’s economic empowerment. The chamber is seeking networking opportunities and shared experiences with other countries in order to achieve a women’s economic renaissance and an effective developmental footprint, he said.
Reem Siam, founder of the Economic Council for Businesswomen, reviewed the Alexandria Chamber’s actions over the past seven years, praising steps taken to support female entrepreneurs and the programmes that the chamber has sought to implement in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Social responsibility: Many people relate the Chamber of Commerce only to industry and trade. But it also plays an important role in society and in facing up to many economic and other challenges.
“We have faced two major problems, a deadly pandemic and now the Russian-Ukrainian War, in just one decade,” Sakr told the Weekly. “But at the same time, we are working tirelessly for the sake of members and the wider population so that the markets will remain stocked with products.
“No one expected that the Russian-Ukrainian war would affect the Egyptian economy in the way that it has, especially the tourism sector. We must open new markets, encourage more types of tourism, and seek new opportunities in every sector,” he said.
In response to the high prices of commodities and high inflation, the chamber last month inaugurated a Food Commodities Exhibition under the auspices of the Northern Military Region, the Alexandria Governorate, and the Ministry of Supply.
The exhibition offers food commodities at discounted prices ranging from 10 to 30 per cent off at the General Abdel-Moneim Riad Complex on the Agricultural Road in the Smouha district of Alexandria.
It is divided into 50 sections with the participation of 35 exhibitors and offers discounts on various products. Companies affiliated to the Food Industries Holding Company of the Ministry of Supply, some major commercial chains, fresh and processed meat and poultry companies, and various food commodity companies have all participated in the exhibition.
“We believe that crises serve as catalysts for major transformations. The present anniversary marks an important point in history where everybody in the chamber is trying out innovative methods using digital technologies, open data, and citizen engagement for the greater welfare of our country,” Sakr concluded.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 13 October, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Fourteen Saudi individuals and two organizations were honored at the 10th Princess Seetah bint Abdulaziz awards for excellence in community upliftment work in Riyadh.
This year’s event was titled “Creativity and Innovation in Social Work,” which also, for the first time, honored students and principals for their social responsibility initiatives.
Dr. Fahad Al-Maghlouth, secretary-general of the Princess Seetah organization, said the aim of the awards was to “discover talent” as part of the Saudi government’s programs to develop the nation.
Princess Nouf bint Abdullah bin Saud Al-Kabeer Al-Saud, chair of the organization’s executive committee and member of its board of trustees, said that community upliftment projects were essential for a healthy society.
In the category “Responsible Citizenship,” several students were honored.
The winner of the elementary schools’ section was student Ayed Al-Ruwaili from Turaif in the Northern Borders, followed by Rima Al-Faris from Riyadh in second, and Hisham Al-Maarafi from Madinah in third.
The middle school winners were Sally Al-Harbi from Qassim in first place, followed by Adeeb Khadawardi from Makkah and Noura Al-Wadi’i from Jazan.
The high school winners were Samira Al-Maghlouth from the Eastern Province, Hanadi Karani from Madinah and Amr Al-Baraq from Jazan.
Also for the first time, as part of its “Tanseeq” platform linking government, non-government, non-profit, and private organizations in the field, two community bodies were honored.
The Osraty Association from Madinah and the Tawad Association from Al-Jouf won for their family development and counseling programs.
The winners of the Umm Al-Joud Initiative prize, for innovation in media and education, were also announced.
First place, for creating general awareness of social responsibility needs in society, was Dr. Abdullah Al-Alawai, who had his biggest supporter — his grandmother — take to the stage and accept the award on his behalf.
In second place was Dr. Mushawah Almushawah, who was honored for creating awareness of mental health issues.
In third place was Khattaf Al-Khattaf for highlighting technological and digital communication developments.
In fourth and fifth were Sultan Al-Kulaib for human development awareness, and Majid Al-Ghamdi for social media awareness.
Established in 2012 by royal decree, the Princess Seetah bint Abdulaziz Foundation for Excellence in Social Work encourages and supports community upliftment programs.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Fourteen Saudi individuals and two organizations are honored at the 10th Princess Seetah bint Abdulaziz awards for excellence in community upliftment work. (@seetahaward)
