Alberto Guardiani is a new step of luxury and innovative style offered to Kuwait’s shops seeking to the quality and the perfection. Alberto Guardiani is inspired by Italian styles, the features contemporary of this large Italian store are the décor and the latest global fashion and pioneer designs from Italy the country of origin. Recognising the demands for shoes of such quality and style, Mohammad Yousef Al-Shaya Co. secured an exclusive this agreement for Kuwait.

“We are thrilled to open the first Alberto Guardiani store in Kuwait with outstanding service; we think that this store will quickly become a favourite destination for elite shoppers looking for the top quality of fashion said “Mohammad Yousef Al-Shaya”.

The shop offers an extensive collection of shoes for women, men and children, all delivering high quality of luxury leathers and fabrics, with artisan taste, and hand-stitching refinements. Supported by Mohammad Yousef Al-Shaya Co., the Alberto Guardiani collection in the store will always feature a wealth of prestigious models, designed with painstaking care to meet the demands of a dynamic and elegant life style. With new designs arriving each season, Alberto Guardiani caters their customers by committing to have their own individual style.

The winter collection is currently available in the Alberto Guardiani store in the Avenues. The shop is located in phase 2, ground floor and is open from 10 am to 11 pm Sunday through Wednesday and from 10am to 12 pm during the weekends.

Since its inception, the portal is working towards an aim to bring to the table the most vital, most critical and above all most reliable news analysis. Now addressing the pressing need for accurate information pertaining to real estate across the region, the portal is covering every aspect of real estate news taking place throughout the region. From far flung areas to heart of the city core residential and commercial setups, the news and articles narrate not only what is taking place today, but most importantly the analysis of future trends to impact the market.

Umair Suleman, the head honcho behind the success of the portal shares his enthusiasm at this significant milestone, “We started off with the Dubai property market, but was imperative on our part to expand and provide our visitors with the latest in all the other Emirates; with new projects being added on a daily basis, we are on our way to become the most comprehensive realty portal in the region”

Luxury World Magazine is celebrating success, after taking part in MEBA. The publication provides help and support to companies to expand into new markets and increase the chances of export success.
During one year of its age, Luxury World Magazine, started to look at ways to expand its presence. As such, its team took up the challenge to explore new markets and reach some niche spots in all over the world.

Luxury World Company team initially took the publication to the Gulf market and successfully secured several prestigious contracts in terms of advertisement and media relations.

Managing & Publishing Director Mr. Hassan Soukar commented on this: “With the help of many local shows, we are now reaping more success and circulation. We have been able to carry out visits to USA, Canada and Italy and recently attended International Pool Spa & Patio Expo, which is considered to be one of the largest exhibitions ever held in Las Vegas, USA’s largest tourist city”

Luxury World Magazine thrives on providing its readers with luxurious, inclusive and trustful reports in relation to Boats, Exotic Cars, Bikes, and Business Jets. With its highly experienced staff, and a dedicated editorial team, Luxury World Magazine can continue to provide unparallel services in today’s luxury lifestyle environment.

“Luxury World Magazine is confident in expanding its circulations as the Middle East’s luxury lifestyle sector continues to fly ahead. Regional & International Companies & Businessmen are consolidating their market positions and readers from all over the Arabic Region are keenly seeking out antedated luxury trends to meet their growing demands,” adds Mr. Soukar.

The secret behind this success is being implied in recognizing what luxury lifestyle lovers really need, offering a place of inspiration and enjoyment in the lives of every one of them, and spotting a real shift in approaching different luxury lifestyle trends. The luxury news section; however, sets this tone and has become one of the most popular features of the magazine.

Ali Al Naqbi, founding chairman of the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA), the organisation behind the Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) show, from November 16-18 – the dedicated B2B show for the business aviation sector – identified Kuwait as a major driver in the market.
“Massive Middle East growth is predicted over the next five years. We think the regional business aviation market will be worth $1bn by 2012 and we are seeing yearly growth rates of 15-20 percent.

Kuwait has already made significant investment in infrastructure to accommodate growth and we are seeing more and more companies increasing their presence here to capitalise on this potential,” he said.
Al Naqbi was referring to the $42million, Royal Terminal at Kuwait International Airport, currently the largest Fixed Based Operation (FBO) in the region. The lavish facility has created a buzz among private charter operators including US-based Mercury Air Group Inc, which has started flight operations there.
Al Naqbi reiterated that Kuwait had a lot to contribute to regional expansion and encouraged local companies to join MEBAA – the regional association established to represent the sector in the local and international aviation arenas – and attend MEBA.

“By the time the show kicks off we will have more than 250 exhibitors, making this year’s edition triple the size of 2007,” he said, adding that the event is organised and run by renowned international exhibitions company, F&E Aerospace. “We think these figures are a good indication of the event’s importance to the regional industry and they serve as a clear barometer as to where the sector is heading.

“And despite uncertain global economic conditions, the Middle East’s resilient business aviation sector continues to fly ahead. New operators are setting up facilities, established players are consolidating their market positions and buyers are actively seeking out private transportation to meet growing demands for fast turn around and convenient international travel solutions.”

Business aviation is set to account for 40 per cent of the Middle East’s overall aerospace market within four years, according to Al Naqbi, and he hopes the significant gains on offer will prompt more Kuwaiti companies to join MEBAA and assist the sector’s evolution.

“We have been pleased with how the membership of MEBAA has progressed this year. We now have around 150 members from a start-up number of just 16 and we are aiming for 300 in four years’ time. Kuwait is a core target area for us and we are hoping to encourage even more new members through this MEBA event,” he said.

Al Naqbi also added that many recent MEBAA members are companies from North America and Europe, looking towards the Middle East to escape the uncertain financial climate in the West. .
And Ammar Balkar, CEO, MEBAA, also in Kuwait for the press conference, echoed these sentiments by stating that astute companies in the country were increasingly using private charters as a cost-effective and convenient alternative to pricey commercial flights.

“Fuel prices are increasing and as a result commercial air ticket costs are spiraling. What we are seeing is that companies are doing the math and realising that an entry-level jet can be chartered at a convenient time, fly more executives in the same luxury as first class, but on a more cost-effective budget,” he said.

F&E Aerospace also announced that MEBA’s 2008 outing will see growth across the board, with exhibitor numbers, countries represented, visitor attendance and aircraft on display all significantly up.
“The evolution of this show has been in parallel with that of the Middle East business aviation market. The need for a regional high-level, interactive sales and discussion platform is a key driver for the development of the industry and will greatly benefit the show’s standing on the world-wide stage. It really is the must-attend for anyone wanting to get ahead in this dynamic sector,” said Alison Weller, Director, F&E Aerospace.

And with more than 5,000 expected to attend the three day event – an increase of more than 50 percent over 2007- buyers and industry leaders will have a unique opportunity to meet and conduct business in an interactive one-stop setting.

In addition, visitors and exhibitors will be able to see up to 60 aircraft on the dedicated static park, covering a wide-range of models from the world’s most respected manufacturers, such as Dassault, Gulfstream, Embraer, Boeing, Cessna, Bombardier, Hawker Beechcraft and Airbus to name a few.
MEBA is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai and Chairman of Emirates Group.

MEBA officials travelled in style during their visit to Kuwait in a luxury Gulfstream G200, which was laid on by Gulfstream – a major sponsor of the event. With more than 200,000 flight hours accumulated, the G200 fleet has an established track record in terms of performance and reliability. More than 150 have been delivered with a dispatch reliability which has now reached 99.75 percent. The Gulfstream G200 was the first of the new generation of super mid-size business-jet aircraft to enter service. It can seat up to ten passengers, fly 3,400 nautical miles nonstop and is capable of reaching speeds of up to .85 Mach.

The secret behind this success is being implied in recognizing what luxury lifestyle lovers really want, offering a place of inspiration and enjoyment in the lives of every one of them, and spotting a real shift in approaching different luxury lifestyle trends. The luxury news section sets this tone and has become one of the most popular features of the magazine.

Luxury World Magazine has continued to stay close to what its readers want - research consistently confirming that they think it is the best luxury lifestyle portal. The magazine’s formula for continued success will be to stay in touch with its readers and keep giving them exactly what they want.

Says Publishing Director Hassan Soukar: “Our readers are incredibly evangelical about luxury world magazine. They like the fact that it reflects every facet of their desires. Sure we have the region’s authoritative writers, the best luxury lifestyle editors but we also don’t take life too seriously and we aim to inspire”.

The magazine boasts a vast reader panel; it’s panelists in constant touch with the editorial team to contribute ideas and opinions. From fashion to autos to spas to jets, Luxury World Magazine is delivering with pinpoint accuracy what readers really want from their luxury lifestyle magazine.

“Luxury World Magazine has turned a significant corner this period, not only maintaining its position in a market that has remained as fiercely competitive as ever but also seeing some well-deserved growth. With Luxury World Magazine, we have put in place some solid foundations for growth”, says Hassan Soukar.

Subscriptions have been boosted by a series of strongly themed and promoted issues, together with new and innovative ways of capitalizing on the title’s seasonal peak and encouraging greater impulse advertisement. Luxury World Magazine now has record number of subscribers, with 8% period on period growth.

“Our priority now is to continue to increase circulation and we will be working to make every dirham of marketing spend work for us as we spread the word about Luxury World Magazine: the number one portal for luxury lifestyle”, concludes Hassan Soukar.

The awards were the culmination of ten action-packed days of cinema, with 152 movies and 186 screenings shown in five Abu Dhabi venues. A total of 76 feature films and 34 short films from over 35 countries competed for the MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Awards.

Winners of the US$1 million MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Awards were announced at the festival’s closing night ceremony, directed and choreographed by Otis Sallid.

Director Ridley Scott’s latest film ‘Body of Lies’ made its Middle East premiere at MEIFF’s Closing Night Gala, attended by star of the film, Michael Gaston, along with British actor Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and well-known French actress Eva Green (Kingdom of Heaven, Casino Royal). A host of Arabic personalities also attended including Yousra, Elham Shaeen, Solaf Fawakherji, Mostafa Shaban, Abdulaziz Al Jazem and Khaled Saleh.

MEIFF 2008 Black Pearl Award Winners:-

The Black Pearl for Best Narrative Film - $200,000
Disgrace
Director: Steve Jacobs. Producers: Anna Maria Monticelli, Emile Sherman, Steve Jacobs

The Black Pearl for Best Documentary – $150,000
Stranded
Director: Gonzalo Arijon. Producer: Marc Silvera

The Black Pearl Special Jury Prize- $125,000
Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love
Director and Producer: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

The Black Pearl for Best Actress - $75,000
Fawzia: A Special Blend
Actress: Ilham Shaheen

The Black Pearl for Best Actor - $75,000
Wild Blood
Actor: Luca Zingaretti

The Black Pearl for Best Artistic Contribution - $75,000
Laila’s Birthday
Screenwriter: Rashid Masharawi

The Black Pearl Audience Choice Award
Saving Luna
Co-Directors: Suzanne Chisholm & Michael Parfit. Producer: Suzanne Chisholm

The Black Pearl for Best Narrative - Short Film- $75.000
The View
Co-Directors: Hazim Bitar & Rifqi Assaf. Producer: Amman Filmmaker Cooperative

The Black Pearl for Best Documentary – Short Film- 75.000$
Breadmakers
Director: Yasmin Fedda. Producers: Jim Hickey & Robin Mitchell

The Black Pearl for Best Animation- Shot Film- 75.000$
Jacinta
Director: Karla Casteneda. Producer: Luis Tellez

Best Advertisement – Cultural Category - 25.000$
Anti Slavery
Director: Eric Lynne. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit

Best Advertisement – Consumer Category - 25.000$
Battle
Director: Traktor. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit

Best Advertisement – Artistic Contribution - 25.000$
Great Pretender
Director: Patrick Bergh. Producer: Partizan Films – Midi Minuit

The Black Pearl for Best Narrative – Student Films – 25.000$
Illusion
Director: Burhan Qurbani. Producer: Fabian Gasmia

The Black Pearl for Best Emerging Filmmaker – Student Films- 25.000$
Lullaby
Director: Serena Abi Aad. Producer: IESAV

The Black Pearl for Best Animation – Student Films – 25.000$
Adherent
Director: Julian Nazario Vargas. Producer: Rube Baggerud

DWC’s aviation, logistics, tourism and commercial proposition has captured the interest of most Kuwaitis, enhancing the image of the project which is centred around what will one day be the world’s largest airport.

Based on the massive response received from DWC’s participation at Kuwait Property Exhibition (KUPEX) last year, registration for the building apartments along The Residential Avenue, a 70-metre wide spine road that divides the southeast and northwest portions of DWC Residential City, will be conducted at KUPEX 2008.

KUPEX will be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Tower in Kuwait on 21-24 October 2008.

“The interest generated by the real estate components within Dubai World Central spans across the GCC, Middle East, and even beyond. The value proposition of the entire DWC has attracted tremendous response during the initial sales of plots in DWC Residential City’s phase one and two,” said Khalid bin Harib, CEO, DWC Real Estate.

“With all first two phase plots sold out, we are confident that an equally encouraging response will be generated at KUPEX,” added bin Harib.

DWC Residential City, a mix of five to ten-storey mid-cost apartment blocks targeting the mid-income segment, is expected to house up to 250,000 people, and also provide for approximately 20,000 jobs. Other features include a special staff village that will house blue-collar workers within high-quality accommodation, as well as the latest facilities including schools, malls, hotels, health centres, community centres, mosques, fuel stations and parks.

In February 2007, over 200 plots valued at AED 2 billion were sold out in Phase 1, while another 283 plots valued at AED 6 billion were sold out in Phase 2 in March this year. The development of DWC Residential City is on-track, as the next three phases of a five-phase development plan will be up for sale during the next three consecutive years.

“Our participation at KUPEX is a reflection of the regional and international interest from investors to Dubai World Central,” said Abdulla Al Falasi, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications, DWC.

“We expect that the apartments which are to be offered for registration at KUPEX would immediately be filled up as testament to Dubai World Central’s extremely attractive and sound investment opportunity that is unique to anywhere else in the region,” added Al Falasi.

In Phase 1, corporate houses led the investor rush with an aim of providing their employees subsidised housing, while on the other hand, Phase 2 saw major real estate developers investing in DWC’s prime real estate as regional developers have already understood DWC’s value proposition in offering mid-cost housing.

Based on the theme ‘Better Living through Better Design’, the competition is open to students in 14 regional countries including Kuwait, and seeks to provide students in the participating countries a chance to express their creative solutions to problems they see in their surroundings.

“Everyday we are faced with problems, which if given some thought can be overcome by well-designed solutions. This year’s competition represents an opportunity for students to respond to small or large problems that people all over the world are faced with daily,” stated Ms. Dima Salameh, Recruitment Officer, VCUQatar.

Donna Duffett, Events Manager, VCUQatar, said, “Design is about inspiring other people with wonderful ideas. Bringing better living through better design is what we are looking for from students; we want them to think out of the box and design solutions that capture the imagination.”

Students interested in participating in the design competition can learn more about the event by logging on to http://app.art.vcu.edu/qatar/designCompetition.. The deadline to submit the entry online is January 8, 2009.

The competition offers students in each participating country an opportunity to win cash prizes ranging from USD 1,000 for first place to USD 200 for fifth place. This year, there will be five winners from each country who will receive cash prizes sponsored by Regency Group Holding. All of the country winners can compete for a chance to secure a full four-year Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned Scholarship for Creativity to attend VCUQatar. The scholarship includes tuition, housing and academic expenses.

The design competition is open to students in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Students may email VCUQADMISSIONS@qatar.vcu.edu or call +974 492 7238 for more information.

“We are pleased to have Hooman on the Luxury World, Inc. team and are confident that his experience in sales & marketing, combined with a strong background in media & advertising solutions, will enable him to provide our clients with cost-effective exposing solutions that improve their bottom line,” said Hassan Soukar, managing director for Luxury World Inc & publishing director of Luxury World Magazine.

Hooman brings to the company more than 8 years of project and sales experience in the area of media and advertising. Most recently, Hooman was sales manager for a famed media company that operates in Dubai and responsible for project development. Hooman has a broad sales, and management background.

Over the past 8 years, Hooman has held positions at leading media companies such as Sales Manager, Advertising Manager, and Business Development Manager. Hooman’s experience spans across the entire portfolio of media and advertizing, however he has had a special focus on some major business development issues.

“I am very pleased that I have had this great opportunity being offered to me by a company that has such unique concepts as Luxury World Magazine. We have a lot to do on the UAE & overseas market, but our future is in our wide offering of unmatched services,” says Hooman.

During his time at diverse media companies, Hooman developed and managed several successful teams and was well known for his efficient execution and outstanding results, while still maintaining a balanced approach to sales management. Luxury World,Inc. is equipped to support Hooman with a team of Sales & Marketing Executives, having skills and experience in media & advertising.

Aitnews.com is a news website entirely dedicated to providing Arabic IT news since September 2005. The past three years have been so successful that Aitnews.com has now become an Arabic reference for anything concerning ICT news and updates.

Likewise, the portal has been received remarkably well by all those interested in the world of information and communication technology. That is, the portal is under way to meet its goal: to be the world’s leading IT news portal in Arabic language.

As per statistics, Aitnews.com has posted over 8700 news articles ever since it was launched. The news covered international, regional and local events, launches, innovations, mergers, alliances, and anything else that had something to do with information and communication technologies, be it computers, internet, mobile phones, electronic games, digital cameras, software or researches.

Having succeeded to fill up such a significant gap in the specialized online Arabic media, Aitnews.com has been generating lots of interest amongst Arab end users and IT specialists. And this huge interest is being translated into high levels of interactions with what the website publishes. Up to this minute, Aitnews.com has posted 17,000 comments for thousands of users.

‘This month we have completed our third year as the leading online provider of the latest IT news and updates for all the Arab-speaking users & specialists all around the world. And we trust that our website has somehow contributed to raising better IT awareness in the Arab world over the past three years,’ commented Ahmed Abd Al Qadir, general manager of Aitnews.com.

‘We have still got a lot more to offer our users and impress them with. And we look forward to attracting serious, big investments that would enable us to run faster into the finish line. We are looking forward to becoming the ultimate reference and leading source of Arabic IT news in the whole world, a vision that involves launching many more new services and sections over the next few years. To do so, more funds need to be injected by an investor who believes in Aitnews.com and appreciates how auspicious it is,’ added Abd Al Qadir.