Foton to open $ 8.2 Million Edutainment Centre in Bahrain

keralamonitor.com

February 10th, 2002

Manama --As part of a major regional expansion drive, Foton Edutainment, the Middle East?s leading name in edutainment and entertainment, will open a US$ 8.2 million state-of-the-art edutainment centre in Manama this week its first in Bahrain.

The Foton World Family Edutainment Centre, on the first floor of Bahrain Mall, will be inaugurated on Wednesday, February 13, at 7.00 pm, by H.E. Duaj bin Salman Al Khalifa, Asst. Under Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry. "We chose Manama to host our first regional centre in response to the Bahraini government?s family tourism promotion drive," said Mr. Mohammed Al Mehaizea, President, Foton Edutainment Ltd, Isle of Man, UK. The entrance to the 5,550 square metre ëRainforest? themed complex will feature rock formations with various forms of wildlife resting in their magnificent ëcaves.?

Selected attractions at the centre include family rides, skill and redemption games, touch screen games, Laser Tag, remote cars, a roller-coaster bumper boats as well as an interactive games area and children?s play structure. Additional facilities include a party room for birthday and other celebrations, a coffee bar forparents and a creche.

"Other major projects throughout the Middle East will be announced shortly," added Mr. Al Mehaizea. Foton currently operates five unique edutainment facilities in the UAE, in Sharjah, Dubai, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi. "We are looking to repeat in Bahrain the success we have built in the UAE," said Mr. Al Mehaizea. "We believe our new Bahrain Mall centre will appeal to the Bahraini population as well as tourists." Dhs. 8 million Microsoft Road show kicks off; To reach 10,000 businesses in region
Microsoft Great Plains, Citrix, and Hewlett Packard support initiative

Microsoft Outreach Campaign kicked off

Team Microsoft Roadshow Series 5
From left to right: Ahmed Wahib, Simon Ransom, Graham Porter, Rajesh Deepchandani, Venkat Raman and Ashok Sharma

keralamonitor.com

Dubai, February 10, 2002: Microsoft Gulf today announced that it is investing over Dhs. 8 million in the latest edition of its highly popular outreach campaign, Microsoft Road show Series 5. The seminar series, which is scheduled to kick-off from Amman on February 17, 2002, will thereafter go on to cover Kuwait, Pakistan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Qatar, Lebanon, Doha, Oman, Malta & Cyprus.

Expected to reach over 10,000 businesses during its four-month tour, the road show is the largest initiative ever undertaken by the software company in the region, and will focus on communicating the business advantages that Microsoft products and technologies offer to the Small & Medium Business (SMB) sector.

Speaking at a press conference to announce details of the road show, Yasser Zeineldin, Marketing Director, Microsoft Gulf said: "As part of its ongoing efforts to transfer knowledge and know-how to bridge the digital divide in the region, Microsoft has further enriched the programme to include the Microsoft Business Forum (MBF), which is targeted specifically at business decision makers."

In a special presentation made at the press conference, Mr. Zeineldin stressed the need for greater technology adoption by the 100,000 strong SMB community in the region.

"Microsoft sees the SMB sector as one of the primary drivers of the region's economy. However the rate of technology adoption in this highly crucial sector is relatively low. Making a business decision to invest in the right IT infrastructure will enable small and medium businesses in the region to enhance employee productivity, maintain a competitive edge and spearhead business growth," he added.

Lending their support to the road show initiative are the Microsoft business unit, Microsoft Great Plains, and partners Citrix and Hewlett Packard (HP). The associate partners for the road show are Emirates Airlines, Sony and Infocus.

MBF is focused on demonstrating to business decision makers how their organizations can benefit from the technology solutions that Microsoft and its partners offer. During this year's seminar series, MBF will focus on Portals and Intranet solutions, and the positive impact that these can have on the overall business proposition of an organization.

"MBF is a non-technical event that maps business objectives with productivity, profit maximisation, market expansion and return on investment through technology adoption. These seminars are a great opportunity to understand the business advantages that Microsoft offers through its latest products and technologies," said Simon Ransom, Community Development Manager, Microsoft Middle East Events Team.

Prioritising the need for businesses to be able to respond effectively and quickly to changes in the marketplace, Ransom said that most successful organizations follow a policy of providing their workers with the tools that they need to organize and share knowledge across the company, while being able to access dynamic information instantaneously.

"Portals and Intranet solutions are two such tools that can immensely benefit businesses by increasing employee efficiency and productivity. During the seminars, we will take participants through Microsoft's SharePoint Portal Server and demonstrate how quickly and efficiently it can be used to build portals and intranet solutions within organizations, taking this responsibility beyond IT departments and into other key departments within the organisation that hold critical company data.

"Together with our partners, we will also take a look at the infrastructure and management requirements for a successful Intranet and portal solution," he concluded.

Mr. Venkat Raman, Channel Sales Director, Microsoft Great Plains said: "Microsoft Great Plains offers businesses in the Middle East proven solutions to automate their most mission-critical processes. This road show series will provide us an ideal opportunity to reach these businesses in their respective cities."Mr. Yasser Zeineldin, Marketing Director, Microsoft Gulf