Ali Bin Ali Holding organizes blood donation drive for employees

Celebrating June 14, World Blood Donor Day and highlighting the importance of blood donation for the community, Ali Bin Ali Holding organized a blood donation campaign with the slogan ‘Be a hero. Be a blood donor’.

Organized in association with Hamad Medical Corporation, the camp was first stationed at the ABA Head Office on June 12 and 13, while the Group’s other offices at 21 High st, DLP, ABA Beverages and IA/PCP were covered in the following week, from June 19 to 22.

Proud to have added to its corporate social responsibility initiatives, ABA Holding showcased how each drop of blood can save a life and that each blood donor is a hero. The campaign was a great opportunity for all employees of the Group to participate in the donation drive and give the gift of life to someone.

Ali Bin Ali Holding staff have always come forward for all social causes and it was with the same generosity that they participated in the blood donation drive. The whole-hearted engagement of staff members of all grades and nationalities symbolized their support for this noble cause.

The camps at all the locations witnessed the participation of not only the respective divisions, but employees from other divisions also visited to make their contribution.

Speaking about the initiative, ABA Group Corporate Communications Manager Mr. Imad Hashim said: “Ali Bin Ali Holding’s employees have always come forward and supported the Group CSR campaigns and I am once again very happy with the response the blood donation camp has evoked.”

Research has shown that every 2 seconds someone is in need of blood. Statistics have also proven that donors can save 3 lives by just donating 1 pint of blood, which amounts to 450 ml. Thus, donors are always in constant demand in Qatar and all around the world. Ali Bin Ali Holding is proud to have done its humble bit to help those in need of blood.

 

Dohatna inaugurates Qatar’s largest Samsung outlet at Place Vendome Mall

Expanding the presence of Samsung Electronics outlets in Qatar, Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Dohatna Innovative Distribution has launched the sixth Dohatna Samsung outlet in Doha. The new store at the luxurious Place Vendome Mall was ceremoniously inaugurated on June 22, 2022, by the Chairman & President of Ali Bin Ali Holding, Mr. Adel Ali Bin Ali.

Also present at the event were Managing Director of Samsung – Qatar Branch – Mr. Yong Jae Lee, General Manager of Dohatna Innovative Distribution Mr. Mohammad Imran and Division Manager of Dohatna Retail Consumer Electronics Mr. Ganesh Mithra Parthajee, VIP guests, members of the local media.

Located on the first floor of the latest luxury destination of Qatar, the new Dohatna Samsung showroom is centrally placed. The 205sqm showroom is the biggest Samsung showroom in Qatar with the largest display area among all Samsung stores in the country. It offers the best customer experience, complemented by well-informed and friendly staff.

The new Samsung store was opened to the public with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony following which the guests got a chance to experience the store and the Samsung products offered there. Refreshments and canapes were passed around to add to the celebration.

The new outlet has the full brand line-up of Samsung mobile phones, tablets and accessories and is sure to become a favorite among Samsung loyalists. On the occasion of the launch, the new Dohatna Samsung Electronics outlet will be giving out freebies and offering some exclusive promotions on selected items.

Speaking at the launch event, Mr. Adel Ali Bin Ali said: “Ali Bin Ali Holding is proud of its long-standing association with Samsung Gulf Electronics. Samsung offers some of the best digital solutions in the market and we are glad that we collaborate with them to bring that to the people of Qatar. This is the sixth Dohatna Samsung outlet in Qatar and we look forward to strengthening our ties and expanding the brand’s presence together.”

ABA Finance Department celebrates Group CFO Internal Control Excellence Award

Celebrating the hard work and dedication of the teams, Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Finance Department organized the Group CFO Internal Control Excellence Award quarter one on June 21, 2022 at The Concorde Hotel. Participating in the competition were the entities under General Manager – Finance, Mr. Adnan Suleiman.

Galeries Lafayette, ABA Fashion, DID, PDTC, ABATS, ABA Contracting, Golden Lands and Albina Snacks were the companies in the running for the big recognition. An ‘Internal Control Checklist’ was established for the purpose of evaluation to determine the winning team. The teams were reviewed and awarded points against each criterion.

Present at the award ceremony was Group CFO Mr. Iftekhar Ahmad, GM-Finance Mr. Adnan Suleiman, Group General Manager – Finance Mr. Ganesh P.K., General Manager – FSS Mr. Shakil Maruf, Financial Controllers Mr. Mathew N. Thomas and John Cyriac, Group Treasury Manager Mr. M.F. Ismail, Audit Manager Mr. Kamal Uddin Gazi Jishan, General Manager of ABATS Mr. Rami Majed Ammari, General Manager of Galeries Lafayette & ABA Fashion Mr. Kevin Gerard Pender, Acting General Manager of ABA Contracting Mrs. Riham Monawar and General Manager of DID & PDTC Mr. Mohammad Imran and their respective Finance Teams.

Mr. Adnan welcomed everyone and gave a short introduction about the Group CFO Internal Control Excellence Award. He cited “Internal Control is a process geared to achieve business objectives such as financial, operational, compliance objectives and these are effected by people at all levels – C Suite, Senior Management, Management, Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, and more”.

The award ceremony was preceded by a presentation by Mr. Kamal explaining the procedure of evaluation using efficiency index and selecting the winner of the award. Finally, the leaderboard was announced. ABATS, DID, and ABA Contracting were the top three Finalists, and the grand winner of the Group CFO Internal Control Excellence Award 2022 Quarter One was ABATS.

The champions trophy was received by the General Manger of ABATS Mr. Rami and the team members of ABATS and Finance Shared Services– Mohamed Elshehawi, Shaleh Md. Mridha, Dian Marhali, Samuel Brian Mwangi Wanjiru, Mahamed Wari, Muhammad Tahir, Kazi Hasnat and Mamoud Fawzi Al Habet – were awarded with certificates and a token of appreciation.

Congratulating the ABATS team, Mr. Iftekhar said: “We are glad to have re-started the Finance recognition programs after we had to pause due to the Blockade and COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to expand this for the entire Group soon. I want to thank Adnan for the initiative and thanks to all for their dedication towards their work and towards ABA Holding.”

Ali Bin Ali Luxury supports Dreama with Ramadan special donation

In line with the Group’s corporate social responsibility, Ali Bin Ali Luxury once again came forward to support Dreama by arranging a Ramadan special donation for the Orphans Care Center. This is for the 9th year in a row that ABA Luxury donated 5% of its turnover during The Holy Month of Ramadan to Dreama. The collected amount for this year was handed over to Dreama on June 20, 2022.

ABA Luxury has always considered its role to support the community to be very important and stressed on corporate cooperation to achieve the goals and mission and give back to the society. The donation for Dreama will help facilitate necessary care for the targeted categories in Qatar, and achieve their stability in alternative foster families to integrate them into society.

Mrs. Al-Anoud Hassan Darwish, Acting Executive Director of Dreama – Orphan Care Center thanked and appreciated Ali Bin Ali Luxury for their support to Dreama, and stressed the importance of the company’s continuous efforts to sponsor community and development initiatives, and added that this initiative reflects their commitment to supporting orphans Over the past years and their continued support for this year.

Speaking about the donation drive, COO of ABA Luxury Mr. Awn Zureikat said: “We are pleased to be a long term partner of Dreama in their noble cause. ABA Luxury is always keen to support endeavors that benefit the society. The efforts of Dreama – Orphan Care Center to improve the lives of orphans in Qatar deserve our support.”

The Orphan Care Center (Dreama) was established under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser. The Center was inaugurated on 10th of June 2002 and started its services effectively after Her Highness’s inauguration of the Dreama Complex on May 2, 2007. The Center is operating under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation for Social Work since 2013.

Ali Bin Ali Holding organizes Cyber Security Awareness Session

Continuing its long-standing efforts to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity and in view of the increasing threat of cyber-attacks on individuals as well corporations, ABA Holding decided to organize intensive Cybersecurity Awareness Sessions.

The ‘Don’t get hooked!’ workshop focused on educating senior management and division nominated Information Security (IS) Champions about the increasing cybersecurity concerns. From the title to the branding elements used in the event, everything revolved around the theme of threats in the cyber world.  The session was part of a larger campaign that started way back in 2018 with the plan to extend the knowledge to the entire Group.

Cybersecurity globally is not seen any more as the sole responsibility of the IT Department, it is a corporate responsibility. Treating it as a Group initiative, ABA IT, ABA HR, ABA Internal Audit and Finance Departments joined hands to organize the awareness event. Subject Matter Experts (SME) from Barikat, a partner of Ali Bin Ali Technology Solutions (ABATS), was invited to deliver the specially curated sessions and explain the potential cyber threats and the ways to combat them.

The two-day event, which was divided into 3 sessions, was held on June 14 and 15, 2022, at the La Cigale Hotel. While the first session on Day 1 was attended by General Managers and members of the ABA Operating Board, the second session on the same day was for the Finance Managers from different ABA divisions. The solo session on Day 2 was held for IS Champions selected from different ABA divisions.

The event was launched by the Chief Operating Officer of ICT Mr. Mohamad A. Ebrik and Group General Manager Human Resources Mr. Aldrine Austine Fernandez.

Mr. Ebrik’s Opening statements highlighted the need to identify and always be aware of the sensitivity of business information. “It is the time for cultural change. ABA divisions shall look at cybersecurity as a business risk. In the light of FIFA-2022, it is time for us to be more cautious, more precise in identifying our needs toward the business operations.” he said.

Mr. Aldrine continued to highlight the seriousness of the matter and said: “Cybersecurity is of primary importance for business houses and individuals alike. We can’t even imagine how susceptible we all are to phishing emails and hacking tricks. We constantly need to keep ourselves updated about the latest hacking trends and the ways to avoid falling prey to them.”

After a short introduction, Mr. Emre Camalan (SME) from the Barikat Turkey team began his educative and informative presentation that covered all aspects of cyber threats, awareness and security. Constant interaction with the attendees made the session engaging.

The presentation was perfectly complemented by a simulation by members of the HR, IT and Internal Audit teams, exposing how hackers can easily blend with our system and extract our very personal details, using the same to hack our personal and company accounts. It was a perfect and fun way to pass on the critical massage about cyber safety.

The intensive presentation was concluded with a question and answer session and the participation and active interaction of the audience reflected the success of the event.