Dubai to host Gulf iMarketing Summit

March 2, 2002 Keralamonitor.com

Dubai; A two-day summit, at which international e-business experts will outline how the Internet is revolutionising marketing and advertising throughout the Middle East, is to be held in Dubai in June.

Organised by Intevents, the Gulf iMarketing Forum, to be held at the Emirates Towers Hotel June 2-3, will focus on developing strategies for the B-2-B and B-2-C cyberspace economies.

Critical issues to be addressed include: digital iAdvertising; branding across multiple channels; building e-customer; supplier and stakeholder relationships; e-generated customer data; measuring web site effectiveness; how to stand out in the e-marketplace; ways to retain customers; data confidentiality and on and offline promotions to direct traffic to web sites. "Despite reports of a softening ad market, iadvertising has rapidly become a US$8 billion plus industry and it's still in its infancy," said Dave Pender, Director, Business Development, Intevents.

"To help delegates win a share of this important market we have signed up presenters who are the best in the business, each skilled at making the most difficult topics accessible to anyone serious about ensuring their e-business hits harder and their marketing and advertising budgets go further."

The Gulf iMarketing Forum has the backing of the world's largest marketing association, the UK-based Chartered Institute of Marketing. The programme has been designed for company presidents, directors, consultants, marketing and sales professionals and business entrepreneurs, as well as those involved in developing and managing e-business web sites.

"The forum will be an in-depth, highly interactive and information rich event for professionals who want full access to the hottest thinking in a rapidly developing industry," said Pender.
"We believe the best way to learn is through doing and by utilising hands-on exercises and real life case studies we aim to equip attendees with the skills, knowledge and techniques to succeed in the ever-competitive marketing and advertising worlds."

As part of the programme the first 10 delegates to register will be given five minutes to present their 'Big Idea' to the conference with the audience selecting the best one. " The winner will be refunded their delegate fee, as well as adding value to their participation in a fun an interactive way," said Pender.

Based in Oman's capital Muscat and the British university city of Cambridge, Intevents organises regional conferences, seminars and exhibitions designed to provide Middle East business owners, founders, management and senior government officials with the skills to manage and grow their organisations.

Navis offer Islamic Investment Fund

Dubai, 02/03/2002: IslamiQ - the specialized financial services provider and authority on Islamic investment services, has completed the Shari'ah advisory and structuring of Asia's first Islamic private equity fund, designed to meet the investment needs of Shari'ah-conscious institutions and individuals who are seeking a high-yielding, medium-term asset class.

The fund, called the CIMB Muamalat Fund ("CMF"), is a closed-end offshore limited partnership, established in parallel with the Navis Asia Fund III ("NAF") by Navis Capital Partners ("Navis") - a well-known Asia-based private equity fund manager, and CIMB - Malaysia's largest merchant bank. CMF, which is expected to receive capital commitments of up to US$150 million, with initial funding from CIMB, Bank Muamalat and Navis Capital Partners, will co-invest on equal terms with NAF in all investments that are Shari'ah compliant.

"Investors in our earlier funds, Navis Asia Funds I and II, are amongst the world's largest and most sophisticated institutions and include amongst others, the Arab Fund (AFESD in Kuwait), BancBoston Capital, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, HAL, Invesco, Partners of the Boston Consulting Group, and The Pension Fund of the Government of Flanders. All Navis' companies are leaders or near leaders in their fields. This can be attributed to Navis' extensive experience at running successful businesses and our 'hands-on' strategy where Navis takes control of its portfolio companies, either directly with the companies' management teams or in partnership with industry multinationals. Applying the same strategy, the CMF's objective is to generate capital gains on its investments, so that investors will receive a multiple of 2 to 3 times their initial investment over four or five years," explained Nicholas Bloy, Director of Navis.

Navis' current portfolio has an average age of 18 months during which time it has increased in value by over 100%. One small, partial portfolio realization has been made, generating 2.46 times the initial investment over ten months, an IRR of 195% over ten months.

CMF's Shari'ah supervisory board comprises a combination of eminent Middle Eastern and Asian scholars, including, Justice Mohammad Taqi Usmani, Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah and Dr. Mohammed Daud Bakar. CMF and NAF share a highly respected advisory board whose members include, amongst others, Tan Sri Dato' Abdul Aziz Bin Haji Taha, a former Central Bank Governor of Malaysia, Dr. Robert F. De Ocampo, a former Secretary of Finance of the Philippines, and M. R. Chatumongol Sonakul, a former Central bank Governor of Thailand.The interim closing of CMF will take place in March / April 2002, and the final closing will take place no later than October 2002.