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ABA Group Procurement Department holds awareness workshop

With the goal to raise awareness about the role of procurement in the Group, Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Procurement Department organized a special workshop on May 25, 2023, at Alwadi Hotel Doha – MGallery in Msheireb.

The event was attended by ABA staff members from different divisions who are involved in the process of procurement. A total of 80 people attended the one-day in-depth workshop, which explained procurement policies and procedures in the Group.

The session, headed by Group Procurement Controller Ms. Petra Bais and Procurement Analyst/Buyer Mr. Yousuf Yahyya, elaborated on the importance of the Procurement Department in the sourcing of goods and services that support the daily operations, including sourcing, negotiating terms, purchasing items, receiving and inspecting goods as necessary and keeping records of all the steps in the process.

The participants learnt about the different clusters of procurement processes and what is preferred at the Holding. They were also educated on the different workflow procurement structures that are ideal for their divisions.

In her presentation, Ms. Petra highlighted that as a trusted partner, the Procurement Department is keen to focus on issues that protect the interests of the Holding. “The ABA Group Procurement Department requires a strong understanding of market trends, organizational objectives and supplier capabilities to ensure success. These include strong procurement roles in sourcing, negotiation, contract management and supplier relationship management,” she added.

Key to the discussions was the department’s wide role in cost reduction, profit realization and adding value to the business processes. On his part, Mr. Yousuf explained: “The Ali Bin Ali Procurement Department can actively place the Holding in a more competitive position. Suppliers working with ABA business streams must have the ability to cope with the latest equipment, technology and processes.”

Adding an element of fun and engaging the attendees while testing what they learnt, they were challenged with a group activity to handle procurement situations through a case study. The two teams to recognize the most correct steps were awarded for their prowess in the task.

The event concluded with a survey to gauge their understanding about the workshop and the procurement process. Finally, the guests ended the day with a scrumptious lunch.

 

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ABA Holding celebrates the graduation of employees for The Harvard ManageMentor Program 2022-2023

Ali Bin Ali Holding is proud to congratulate the 86 employees who graduated by successfully completing the Harvard ManageMentor Program 2022-2023. On May 24, 2023, at a special graduation event arranged at the ABA HR training room in ABA Tower, the graduates were ceremoniously handed their course completion certificates.

Apart from the graduating employees, also present at the event were the ABA Group Learning & Development team, COO of ABA ICT Mr. Mohamad A. Ebrik, Group General Manager – Human Resources & Administration Mr. Aldrine Fernandez and other senior managers of the Group.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Ebrik highlighted how important ‘People’ are for Ali Bin Ali Holding. The ABA values – SHARP – reflect that “our staff is our biggest resource and the Group cultivates all opportunities for their growth. The Harvard ManageMentor Program is just one of them.”

The enrolled employees had to finish the designated courses through a period of 8 months and prepare a project at the end of the term to reflect the knowledge they have acquired. The top projects were also awarded at the graduation ceremony.

Ivan Carlo Iglesia Jose from Ali Bin Ali Logistics was the winner while Vaishali Jain and Fernando Tungol Tayag from Internal Audit, Soumaya Amri from Galeries Lafayette and Syed Khalid from Qatar Quality Products earned the position of 1st runners-up. Edwin Babasa Ballat from Ali Bin Ali Logistics was awarded the 2nd runner-up trophy.

Warmly congratulating the group of graduates, Mr. Fernandez said, “It is a pleasure to see more and more employees engaging in our training courses. Not just individuals, encouragement from the division’s part is also boosting knowledge transfer and optimization of the trainings that our very efficient Learning & Development team organizes.”

ABA Holding is delighted that the Group’s employees, drawn from different ABA business streams, elevated themselves, their skills and knowledge and capitalized on the learning opportunity provided for them. By graduating from a world-renowned course, not only have the employees taken a step towards their professional and personal growth but also enriched the company by developing their skills and competencies, which will no doubt advance performances at all levels.

As a premier capacity-building and skills development course run by Harvard Business Publishing, under Harvard University, the program ranks as the world’s leading digital learning experience that leverages on-demand, world-class content to develop leaders at all levels.

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Ali Bin Ali Technology Solutions and Balador sign strategic partnership

Ali Bin Ali Technology Solutions (ABATS) and Balador have signed a strategic partnership aimed at activating the Balador electronic platform for all public and private sector organizations in Qatar.

Balador’s agreement with ABATS will elevate the customer flow experience to new heights, making the customer journey completely digital through this exclusive representation in Qatar by Ali Bin Ali Technology Solutions.

Balador is an intelligent cloud-based customer flow management tool that takes queuing from physical to virtual. It simply revolutionizes the way businesses provide their services and how they manage their customers’ journey by making queues a thing of the past.

This multi-tenant platform lists service providers, from both the public and private sectors, along with the branch names, services provided, locations, working hours and estimated waiting times based on proximity and availability. This allows the end user to book a ticket for the needed service or appointment without having to call, wait or queue for it; as well as rate their experience through star ratings and or text/voice messages.

All this translates into better time management for the public, avoiding crowding at business locations, and reducing pressure on customer-facing employees, thus increasing efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.

The signing of the agreement marked a commitment, from both parties, to cooperate in the field of information technology and digital transformation through the introduction of the Balador platform in Qatar.

The memorandum of understanding was signed on the sidelines of Smart City Expo Doha 2022, which was held on March 29 and 30, by the General Manager of ABATS, Mr. Rami Ammari, and the CEO of Balador, Mr. Mohamed Atout, in the presence of Mr. Mohamed Al Ebrik, the COO of Ali Bin Ali Holding’s ICT Division.

This agreement came in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 for economic transformation and the creation of a sustainable knowledge-based economy. It is also supporting the strategic national objectives of delivering integrated IT services and solutions for smart cities consistent with the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar.

Balador is a leader in digital technology solutions, applications and customer services, with extensive experience in the Middle East gained over more than 15 years in the field of digital transformation. This unique experience helped it conceive the idea of the electronic platform, Balador, to change the way the service is organized and delivered while managing the customer experience through abolishing the queue completely and making it a thing of the past.

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ABATS and ABA IT Department enjoy an exciting football match night

Taking a break from their busy schedules, Ali Bin Ali Technology Solutions (ABATS) and Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Information Technology Department enjoyed a friendly football match night on March 24, 2022.

The event took place at Muaither Sports Club in the presence of excited members from both the divisions. Also present at the event were General Manager of ABATS Mr. Rami Majed Ammari and Chief Operating Officer – ICT Mr. Mohamad A. Ebrik. While Mr. Ebrik was the referee for the game, Mr. Rami joined in to play a couple of matches.

The games started off at 6pm with a total of 50 participating players. Four teams were created, and each team played two rounds – elimination and finals. After an exciting series of games, the Blue Team emerged the final winners. The fun evening concluded with a cozy dinner.

This football event was a part of ABA Holding’s endeavor to promote employee engagement and encourage healthy lifestyles to guarantee wellbeing of the employees.

Speaking about the evening, Mr Ebrik said: “It was a fun and exciting evening and all of us enjoyed a lot. Employee wellbeing is one of our top priorities. Such activities not only support good health but also help in building teamwork skills.”

Reiterating similar thoughts, Mr. Rami said: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships! It is this teamwork that we want to encourage and support our staff with. This was a great opportunity for team-building and fun outside the work environment.”

 

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21 High st, in association with Samovar Carpets, hosts an exclusive Rug Show for designer Jan Kath

Offering its esteemed clients with an experience of a lifetime, Ali Bin Ali Holding’s 21 High st at Katara Cultural Village Doha is hosting an exclusive luxury Rug Show presented by Samovar Carpets. For the first time, globally renowned rug designer Jan Kath will present his work in Qatar from March 15 to 29, 2022.

The pop-up Rug Show titled, ‘The stars, the moon and the sun – Carpet couture of the present’, is a gallery of vibrant handmade works of art, made of the most exclusive highland wool and the finest Chinese silk.

The showroom was ceremoniously inaugurated on March 15 in the presence of Chairman & President of ABA Holding Mr. Adel Ali Bin Ali, honorable Charge’ d’Affaires of the Embassy of Nepal in Qatar, Mr. Lakshuman Khanal, other VIP guests and members of the local media.

The designer himself was present at the event and offered a warm welcome to the guests. He took the patrons on a journey into the Jan Kath universe, a journey into the world of luxury handmade carpets, where lush paradise gardens, dreamlike starry worlds and fascinating spheres of light can be experienced haptically.

At the Jan Kath Rug Show, he presents his latest abstracts of the collections Spectrum, Savonnerie Surprise, Spacecrafted and many more. The inspiration for the hand-knotted collections are the mystical Northern Lights, the intoxicating starry skies over the desert and magnificent ornaments as loved by the Sun King, Louis XIV.

Speaking about this exclusive venture at 21 High st, Jan Kath said: “This exclusive luxury Rug Show is very special to me as it for the first time I am presenting my vision and art to the people of Qatar, and what better place to do it than 21 High st, where retail meets culture. Each of my collections purposefully breaks with conventional styles and throws strict design rules overboard while combining classic elements from oriental carpets with contemporary, minimalist design.”

The German designer is considered as the vanguard of the modern carpet. With his interpretation, he has developed an unmistakable style-defining signature. His concepts have earned numerous accolades and have been shown in art and design museums, such as the Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art, the Art Museum Riga Bourse, the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich and also at the Beijing International Design Triennial.

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Ali Bin Ali Beverages wins two prestigious awards

Ali Bin Ali Holding is delighted to announce that ABA Beverages, the exclusive bottler of PepsiCo in Qatar, has bagged two awards at the 2021 Regional Conference in Dubai. The first, recognizing the top performer in the Total Liquid Refreshment Beverages Growth for the year 2021 and the secondly for the largest most successful water innovation.

The award ceremony hosted by PepsiCo Middle East North Africa (MENA), gathered bottlers from all over the region as well as PepsiCo Regional Leadership and senior executives.  ABA Beverages was congratulated as the 2021 top performer in the below 60 million cases markets category for having achieved the highest share growth in total Liquid Refreshment Beverages. The market share is measured by   Canadean – an independent, global research agency who publishes monthly market survey reports.

The second award recognized the largest, most successful water innovation. ABA Beverages was again selected as a winner for the success of Aquafina in Qatar in 2021, once again confirming the company’s strategic commitment and investment capabilities.

Commenting on the awards, ABA Beverages General Manager, Mr. Marc Karam reiterated that he was delighted to receive the 2 accolades on behalf of the company. Mr. Karam said, “These awards reflect the strong commitment of Ali Bin Ali Holding who have invested ahead of the curve and continued to promote the growth of PepsiCo brands in Qatar. As an organization, ABA has stewarded Pepsi’s brands and range of products with utmost pride and continues to invest in growing the business against all sorts of challenges.”

ABA Beverages General Manager also went on to say “I commend the passion and the drive of ABA Beverages associates. This determined team managed to install and commission a full state of the art line during the pandemic and worked through the lockdown in 2020, gaining 32% Canadean share of market over the course of 18 months. That’s a huge achievement and we can  celebrate it”.

Congratulations to Team ABA Beverages!

 

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ABA Watches & Jewelry Kuwait goes fully online with HSBC net

In an   achievement for the Group, Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Watches & Jewelry Kuwait has become the first entity in ABA Group to go fully online using all three main services offered under HSBC net

This is the first entity under the ABA Group to use the trade portal for making supplier payments using Clean Import Loans (CIL) under HSBC net. With this new addition, they will be using three services offered under HSBC net namely, for online salary transfers, regular supplier payments using priority payments and now for import loans using their trade portal.

With this, most of the manual transactions will now be digitized and approved online. Considering that this entity is operating outside of Qatar , migrating to a digitized environment will bring in many benefits such as reducing paper work   , substantially reducing  couriering charges for sending documents for approval and most importantly improving productivity of employees due to the  transaction approval cycle being shorter and streamlined .

Going forward, the ABA Holding Finance Department plans to replicate the HSBC net trade solution for ABA entities in Qatar.

The project was wholeheartedly supported by ABA Holding’s Vice-Chairman & EVP Mr. Nabeel Ali Bin Ali and the Group’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Iftekhar Ahmad. Instrumental in the whole process of moving to a completely digitized platform was Group Treasury Manager Fawaz Ismail & the treasury team, Head of Finance in Kuwait Suranga Perera & the Kuwait team, Group Audit Manager Kamal Uddin Gazi Jishan and the Internal Audit team, Group Accounting Manager Fathima Shiham, Financial Controller Mathew N. Thomas (Vinu) & the Accounting team.

Speaking about this commendable development, Mr. Iftekhar said: “Digitization is the future of all financial activities and we are glad that we are keeping up with the times. Definitely this will pave the way for the entire Group to adopt more digital solutions not just with HSBC but also with other banks that offer online banking facilities.”

 

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Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Administration Department Hosts Annual Team Get-Together

Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Administration Department has built an ongoing tradition over the years to celebrate the year gone by at its annual Team Get-together. The 23rd of December 2021 marked the special day and the administration Team made it an event to remember. The team gathered together for a celebratory lunch, held at their office in Ali Bin Ali Tower.

The get together drew the entire Administration team including Mr. Moataz Ahmed Eid, General Manager Administration and HR, with the only absentees being the team members who were on leave. According to everyone present, the Department staff who were away on leave were roundly missed at the gathering.

The afternoon began with a warm welcome speech delivered by Mr. Moataz. The General Manager made it point to affirm and encourage the team as he placed on record his appreciation for the efforts of the full administration team. Special mention was made about the fact that Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Administration staff excelled at holding fort during tough times and have served the group efficiently during the pandemic.

Even with COVID-19 at its peak, the team continued to support the full spectrum of the Ali Bin Ali group and ensure business continuity. Mr. Moataz rounded off his address by wishing each and every staff member and their families an enjoyable and peaceful holiday season. He did not forget to add a word of encouragement, requesting the team and their families to stay safe. He ended his speech by wishing the Administration Team all the very best for the year 2022.

To add a layer of excitement to the event, organizers had planned several games and interactions, that were enjoyed by all. Team members also received certificates of appreciation and goodie bags. To add to the atmosphere of joy there was a raffle draw with surprise gifts for several lucky staff members. The sessions was concluded with a sumptuous lunch and promise of similar get-togethers in the future.

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ABA Holding employees graduate from The Harvard Managementor Program 2020-2021

Ali Bin Ali Holding is proud to congratulate 44 ABA graduates, who successfully completed the Harvard ManageMentor program 2020-2021. As a premier capacity building and skills development course run by Harvard Business Publishing, under Harvard University, the program ranks as the world’s leading digital learning experience that leverages on-demand, world-class content to develop leaders at all levels.

ABA Holding is delighted that 44 of our professionals, drawn from different ABA business streams elevated themselves, their skills and knowledge and capitalized on the learning opportunity provided for them. ABA particularly recognizes the commitment and focus of these graduates who firmly stayed on course, despite the pandemic related challenges that 2021 brought. By graduating from a world-renown course, not only has the year ended well for them, but they have also enriched the company by growing and developing their skills and competencies, which will no doubt advance performances at all levels.

Warmly congratulating the group of graduates Group General Manager Human Resources Aldrine Fernandez said, “We celebrate the 2021 batch of Harvard ManageMentor graduates and we applaud their achievement. We were privileged to witness the level of commitment to their learning journey during a challenging year. Today, these graduates stand as a group who have successfully upscaled their skills, knowledge and capacities. That is something we can all be proud of. From HR perspective, ABA Holding always steps forward to equip and empower our people at the highest levels possible. It is heartening for us to see our employees embrace the opportunities they have been given and make maximum use of programs like Harvard ManageMentor”.

The Harvard ManageMentor Program is composed of 25 short online courses that are available to all learners to help develop the most in-demand skills for today’s global market.  Each course summarizes critical ideas and advice on essential management topics such as leading teams, project management, strategic thinking, and much more.  A series of café sessions were facilitated as a platform to interact and learn from one another – share best practices and work as a team to formulate best conclusions on case studies.  These sessions were primarily conducted by Eleni Ntoulaveri, Group Learning & Development Manager with a couple of sessions conducted by Aldrine Fernandez, Group General Manager Human Resources.

 

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ABA IT Department takes a break from work, enjoys a fun bowling evening


Bringing a much-needed change to the everyday routine, Ali Bin Ali (ABA) Holding’s Information Technology Department organized a special bowling event on December 8, 2021, in Gondolania at Villaggio Mall.

The fun evening was planned with the idea of stressing the importance of ensuring a healthy work-life balance, which is essential for mental wellbeing as well as better productivity.

All members of the ABA IT Department gathered in the bowling area and the games started at 5pm. Two game sets were played with the participation of 31 members. After an exciting display of bowling skills and a thrilling head-to-head competition, the three top scorers were Osama Abdul Rahman Hamad (253), Sabin Sabu (221) and Noor Muhammad Malik (221).

After the games, the team settled down for a relaxed dinner of pizza. The night concluded on a happy note as the ABA IT team went back home rejuvenated and refreshed.

Speaking about the event, Group General Manger of ABA IT Department Youssef Moussa said: “We believe social activities are very important for the well-being of employees. In the past, we have organized volleyball, football, basketball and similar events. These events were arranged on a quarterly basis. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic we stopped for some time. Now, we have resumed these activities again.”