Category: News

The Youth Company announces The Youth Change Everything Conference in partnership with QFIB and INJAZ Qatar

The Youth Company, the first youth-run Social Enterprise in Qatar, is pleased to announce yet another inspiring initiative, the Youth Change Everything Conference, set to take place on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd of March. The two-day event will focus on the development of leadership and entrepreneurship skills among youth, in turn preparing them to take ownership of their future.

Organized in partnership with INJAZ Qatar and powered by Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), the Youth Change Everything conference will gather around 200 high school and university students at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Commenting on the sponsorship of the conference, Emad Mansour, QFIB CEO, said “At QFIB we place great importance on developing the youth as they are the future leaders. The youth nowadays are faced with great challenges, mainly limited job opportunities.  Such a platform will empower youth to unleash their talent and develop their skills to become innovative entrepreneurs.”

Under the theme, “Not Your Average Leadership Conference,” the event will provide a non-conventional platform for youth to initiate dialogue with business leaders. Participants will be empowered to kick start their innovation, foster their entrepreneurial spirit and develop their networking outreach. Mohamed Farid, CEO of The Youth Company shared his vision of the conference objectives: “Being a company which strives to empower and develop young people we are always focused on creating life-changing and long-lasting experiences for youth.  We are committed to make the Youth Change Everything Conference a platform where apart from getting theoretical knowledge, participants can also challenge themselves and their views of the world, explore and strengthen their skills through practical activities, and be so surprised and excited with the outcomes that they will continue to work developing themselves after the conference as well.” Farid continued “We thank our partners INJAZ Qatar and QFIB for their valuable support.  Their participation is a clear testament to their belief that the youth are the catalyst for inspiring positive change.”

The first day of the conference will include different workshops on leadership, starting with self-discovery and finishing with how to lead organizations. The second day will introduce participants to an Innovation Camp (I Camp), led by INJAZ Qatar. Aysha Al Mudehki, Executive Director, INJAZ Qatar commented, “This unique program, originally developed by Junior Achievement in collaboration with Barclay’s Bank, allows students to work in teams to address a specific business challenge. Each team, mentored by a corporate volunteer, prepares a business plan which is pitched to a panel of judges. Teams are judged based on the most creative and feasible idea”, continued Al Mudehki. “We are proud to collaborate with our long term partner QFIB, and with The Youth Company in delivering this great initiative in Qatar” concluded Al Mudehki.

Emirates National Factory for Plastic Industries L.L.C (ENPI Group), a portfolio-company of QFIB inaugurated Future Plast Industries

Emirates National Factory for Plastic Industries L.L.C  (ENPI Group), a portfolio-company of Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB) inaugurated Future Plast Industries, its first state-of-the-art facility in Abu Dhabi Industrial Area (ICAD 1), United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The FSSC-22000-2010 certified facility was inaugurated under the auspices of H.E Mohamed Thani Murshed Ghannam Al Rumaithi, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in the presence of QFIB board members and high ranking officials from Qatar and UAE.  QFIB, Qatar’s first independent shari’ah compliant investment bank regulated by Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority is a   majority shareholder (71.3 %) at ENPI.  Future Plast Industries is ENPI Group ’s first venture in Abu Dhabi.  The facility spans an area of 17,622 sqm and offers a range of integrated plastic solutions through its subsidiaries, Future PET and Future Flex.

Nizar Rajoub, CEO of ENPI commented, “We are happy to expand our reach to Abu Dhabi.  This new facility will enable us to cement ENPI Group’s position as a global leader in providing plastic packaging solutions.  We thank QFIB for their continuous support and great business insight.  QFIB has assisted in streamlining our business and in securing the required funds to establish this facility.  We look forward to work alongside QFIB management to further solidify the business, increase market share and broaden our product offerings and solutions.”

Commenting on QFIB’s role in supporting its portfolio companies Emad Mansour said, “We congratulate ENPI Group on the inauguration of Future Plast Industries, their first venture into the Abu Dhabi Industrial Zones.  This state of the art facility will capitalize on the growing demand for plastic packaging solutions.  At QFIB, we provide strategic support to our partners and ensure they benefit from our market insight and extensive network of connections. We will continue to support ENPI Group in its future expansion plans.  Imminent steps would be to explore new markets together and enable the Group to reinforce its status as a global leader in providing the most diverse range of plastic solutions.”

The funding of the facility is a result of a five-year syndicated AED 250 million loan arranged by Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.  The facility not only addresses the growing global demand of plastic solutions but also makes Future Plast Industries the only integrated supplier in the region that offers complete packaging solutions to the food and beverage and hygiene industries.

QFIB will host a family sport day for its employees, celebrating Qatar’s National Sports Day on the 14th of February 2012

Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), Qatar’s first independent Islamic investment bank regulated by the QFC Regulatory Authority, will host a family sport day for its employees, celebrating Qatar’s National Sports Day on the 14th of February 2012. The event is aligned with QFIB’s commitment to create employee-engagement programmes that encourage physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

A decree by HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Heir Apparent, declared that Tuesdays in the second week of February each year shall be celebrated as the State ’s National Sports Day. The day will be a public holiday generating awareness about the importance of sport and a healthy lifestyle. This initiative ascribes to the values laid down in Qatar National Vision 2030 which calls for people and their communities to come closer through sport.

Crediting employees as the most valuable asset of the Bank, Emad Mansour, CEO of QFIB commented, “The decree is a testament that reaffirms HH Sh. Tamim’s support for sports and his vision to position Qatar as an international sports hub. This day will enable institutions to put this vision into practice by organizing several sport activities to ensure an efficient and healthy workforce. At QFIB, we strongly believe that sports allows us to take care of our minds and bodies, in addition to promoting social values such as team work, self -discipline and respect. As such we constantly encourage our employees to adopt exercise in their daily activities.”

With a theme focused around “A sound mind in a sound body”, QFIB is working with Dubai based ABAMI; a company specialized in team building development with a focus on leisure sport activities to organize the event. Activities will include a mini Olympics for the staff and their families in addition to several other sports activities, games and competitions

Tebyan Asset Management (Tebyan), the joint venture asset management arm of QFIB announces today the debut of Tebyan CHIME Opportunities Fund (Fund)

Tebyan Asset Management (Tebyan), the joint venture asset managementarm of Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), Qatar’s independent Islamic investment bank, authorized by the QFC Regulatory Authority, announcestoday the debut of Tebyan CHIME Opportunities Fund (Fund), the first of its kind Shari’ah compliant product to offer investors a gateway into the New Silk Route, the new economic axis of the Arab-Indo-China regions.

Covering what is commonly known as CHIME (China, India, and Middle East); the new Fund will be operated by Tebyan, established and regulated in the Cayman Islands and co-managed by Gulfmena Investments (Gulfmena) as Investment Manager who will oversee the MENA and Africa investments and Lion Global Investors (Lion Global), who will oversee China and India. Launched in 2011, Tebyan is a fully integrated, Shari’ah-compliant asset management company that was established following QFIB’s strategic partnership with Gulfmena while Lion Global is a Singapore based asset management company with about US$21.5 billion in assets under management as at 30 September 2011 and a long impressive track record in managing assets in Asian Markets.

On the back of enhancing investment sentiment globally, Tebyan launches this new product with initial capital funding seeded by QFIB with the aim of fostering investor confidence and building a solid track record before marketing the fund to qualified investors. However, the Fund is an open ended fund, open to investors who wish to participate in the early stage. Moreover, the Fund will use as a benchmark the Dow Jones Islamic Market CHIME Index, launched last week by Dow Jones Indexes, a pioneer in the Islamic indexing space.

Recognizing the needs of the Shari’ah investment community for sophisticated guidance, Emad Mansour, CEO of QFIB said, “Whilst Tebyan plans to offer strategies covering other asset classes, we are confident about the prospects of equity markets in 2012. We have specifically chosen the CHIME region as it provides an attractive platform expected to generate sound returns. We are committing propriety capital to seed the Fund in hope that this will foster investor confidence in Tebyan’s debut product.” “By facilitating the global development of Islamic investment, our aim is to build a track record and show investors the compelling story behind this unique strategy in the months to come,” concluded Mansour.

HaissamArabi, CEO, Tebyan added: “We expect the global economy to recover by the second half of 2012. This will reflect positively on global equity markets specifically in emerging markets whose economies benefit from lower commodity and stable oil prices, growth from domestic activity and government spending. This makes the CHIME Opportunities Fund ideal for the comeback of the equity markets.”

Tebyan is a total solutions investment provider that combines both asset management and wealth management to serve the needs of the Islamic investment community.

After an initial and temporary offshore establishment, Tebyan will be headquartered in Qatar and is expected to get its license from the QFCRA in the first half of 2012

QFIB has acquired a 15% stake in Al Rifai International Holding (Al Rifai)

Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), Qatar’s independent Islamic investment bank, has acquired a 15% stake in Al Rifai International Holding (Al Rifai), a well-established and leading manufacturer of nuts, kernels, light snacks and delicacy in the Middle East and Europe.

The deal marks QFIB’s debut investment-venture in the food and beverage (F&B) manufacturing industry and demonstrates the bank’s commitment to sectoral diversification. Al Rifai’s wide presence in European markets also offers QFIB an opportunity to venture into new geographical regions.

Citing this venture as one of the Bank’s pioneering deals, Emad Mansour, CEO of QFIB commented, “We are very excited about our partnership with Al Rifai which is our first venture into the F&B manufacturing industry and our second investment in the industrial sector. From the outset our strategy was to focus on sectors that benefit from key drivers of economic change. Al Rifai is an award winning and market leader in the nuts, kernels, light snacks and delicacy business. It has consistently performed well over the years, diversified its product range and ventured into new markets; hence it is well positioned to take advantage of the rapidly growing global savory snack market which is expected to reach US$ 85.4 billion in 2012. We are very keen to work with Al Rifai management team to help the Group achieve its long term business objectives.”

Through representation on the board of directors, QFIB’s team will work closely with Al Rifai management at a strategic level to streamline business and drive future growth of the Group.

Well-positioned by the rising market confidence throughout the Middle East in the F&B sector , Mohamed Al Rifai, Chairman and CEO of Al Rifai International Holding commented, “We are very pleased to welcome QFIB as a shareholder in Al Rifai. Through QFIB’s strategic counsel, access to multiple sources of funding and risk management solutions, we are confident that Al Rifai will achieve its future expansion and growth plans. Our facilities are recipients of several international certificates including: ISO 22000, International Food Standards (IFS) and British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Food Technical Standard. QFIB’s commitment to adopt international standards and processes complements our global vision and high standards of quality control.”

According to Euromonitor International the Middle East retail sales volume of sweet and savory snacks is positioned to grow by a phenomenal 21% between 2010 and 2014. Al Rifai’s annual turnover growth of 50% during 2011 and expected growth of 33% during 2012 is a clear testament to the company’s excellent performance and success.

Established in 2009, QFIB is authorized by the QFC Regulatory Authority. In 2011 QFIB was awarded the accolade of “Best Investment Bank in the GCC” by CPI Financial in their Islamic Business and Finance Awards.