Aramex, an Emirati multinational logistics and courier services provider is a true example of the success of entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Founded in 1982 by Fadi Ghandour and Bill Kingson, the company started its journey in Amman, Jordan, towards building a courier service in the region. It was quite ambitious and bold, to say the least, since it attempted to establish a courier company in the Middle East when the region was generally more characterized by political instability and other associated logistical challenges than benefits that it would bring. Despite these odds, Aramex was successful and made history as the first company coming out of the Arab region listed on NASDAQ stock exchange in 1997. Today, it stands as one of the logistics leaders, with its headquarters situated in Dubai, UAE, employing around 18,000 people across 70 countries.

Fadi Ghandour teamed up with his father’s friend, Bill Kingson, and formed a company in New York after he completed his BA in political science at George Washington University. They saw that there was an enormous opportunity for the kind of logistics company that they had in mind to fill the gap in the Middle Eastern market because of the immense political and bureaucratic complexities that characterized international courier services in that region. They ran the business as Arab American Express, which they soon changed to Aramex. The story of growth of Aramex is itself a sensational one. In 1984, the company’s revenues had touched just below USD 1 million, and in 1997, Aramex became the first Arab-based company to trade its shares on an American stock exchange—NASDAQ. Valued at USD 24 million in the IPO, they raised a whopping USD 7 million. This was also a pioneering time both for Aramex and the broader Middle Eastern entrepreneurial ecosystem, as it proved that companies out of the region could also keep pace and succeed in global contexts.

During the early 2000s, Aramex had quite aggressive expansion with a focus on high-growth markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. By 2001, the company had built operations in 120 locations across 33 countries. In 2002, Abraaj Capital, a private equity firm, bought a majority share in Aramex through a leveraged buyout in order to enable Kingson and Airborne Express to step down; Ghandour held on to 25% of the shares. It went public for the second time on the Dubai Financial Market in 2005, raising USD 270 million in its initial public offering and setting up for future growth.

Aramex has always been successful due to good partnerships. It landed Federal Express (FedEx) as one of its biggest customers during its early years through the 1980s. Once DHL acquired Airborne Express in 2003, Aramex joined Global Distribution Alliance (GDA), an association of 40 express companies, with revenues more than USD 7.5 billion. GDA helped to make a ground presence for Aramex worldwide and also supported it in defending the position in the international market. Other critical reasons that have immensely contributed towards growth are the acquisition strategies. It has acquired South Africa’s Berco Express, Australian-based Mail Call Couriers, and New Zealand-based Fastway Couriers. Each one helped increase Aramex’s market footprint as it was able to make deliveries to different geographies.

Innovation has been at the center of Aramex’s growth. In 2012, Aramex launched REDe, a solution designed to aid companies in the transition to online selling by increasing the support to logistics for the e-commerce sector. Additionally, Aramex partnered with PayPal as it needed to reach new markets, thus proving that it meant business about employing technological know-how to spur the organization’s growth. Furthermore, the launch of its Aramex Bio medical courier in 2014 further helped extend the logistics player into niche-logistics sectors such as health care. Such innovations have not only diversified the services provided by Aramex but have also mirrored its ability to adapt and be forward-thinking in such a rapidly changing environment for logistics.

Aramex has also made some big moves toward sustainability. In 2006, it became the first company in the region to publish an annual sustainability report under the slogan: “Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility”. In 2007, Aramex joined the United Nations Global Compact, aligning business practices with the principles of responsible business practice. As a compliment to these endeavours, Aramex has also invested its time into community development through Ruwwad Al Tanmeya, which focuses on the empowerment of youths and community development through education and civic engagement.

Othman Aljeda is now the CEO of Aramex, making it sustainably take place in a competitive market. This year 2021, GeoPost, a subsidiary company of French Groupe La Poste acquired a 20.15% stake in Aramex to show that they do well believe in the company’s scope for the future, international collaboration, and also to gain an international foothold. Such an investment will be of great service in enabling Aramex to tread its way more strongly into other important zones, especially Europe.

Founded under the patronage of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan through Law No. 6 of 1982, Emirates Insurance Company (EIC) has grown to become a fortified pillar in the UAE’s insurance market for nearly four decades. From starting out as a single branch in Abu Dhabi to more than 30 offices across the country and over 250 skilled professionals, EIC has traveled a long way. As a semi-government organization, EIC combines public service ethos with commercial expertise in order to meet the best insurance solutions for its customers and ensure sustainable shareholder returns. In this context, it stands as the leader among the largest insurers in the UAE and has set the benchmark for growth, innovation, and service in the region.

The Emirates Insurance Company supports its growth for not only itself but also for its shareholders. In order to gain such a milestone, the company thoroughly measures each business opportunity by risk and cost. With a disciplined underwriting strategy, sound management of the cycle, and effective resources, EIC aims not to be less profitable but to expand the reach in every sector of insurance. By focusing on economic profit, EIC builds a solid foundation-the stronger it is for consumers and other stakeholders to conduct business with. In the insurance line, stability is paramount. Emirates Insurance adopts an all-around approach to minimize investment volatility while maximizing attractive risk-adjusted returns. EIC has established an diversified portfolio of investments as opportunities are grasped while major downside exposure is mitigated against. This will ensure that even under very volatile market conditions, the company will still be able to achieve sustainable earnings as well as maintain good service to its clients.

Rapid growth in the UAE economy and shifting risk landscapes offer Emirates Insurance all the opportunities it needs to further consolidate its position in the insurance industry of the UAE as a fully-fledged national insurer. EIC takes these opportunities by expanding to new markets within the UAE and launching new products for its existing markets. It is a customer-centric company that, not only wants to penetrate deeper with the current set of customers but also to lure the new customer base through their offerings. The company’s capability related to asset management and the more specialized in-house developed risk models would add significant value for clients. People are at the heart of Emirates Insurance success. The company has nurtured its commitment to fostering a results orientation culture, through which it has experienced organizational excellence. Very skilled professionals who are committed to providing top-quality insurance solutions form EIC’s team. Cross-functional teams will ensure that the company work environment is an innovation and collaboration zone, which in itself can have positive effects on clients in terms of improved service but would assist with effective risk control, disciplined underwriting, and transparency, thereby resultant on sustainable returns on earnings for shareholders.

EIC International was formed in 2012 using a vision to extend Emirates Insurance’s operations beyond the UAE. The international wing has initially had facultative capacity offered to the Afro-Asian energy and marine markets and has subsequently taken up the non-marine reinsurance business line. EIC has positioned itself as a regional player that is capable of successfully addressing the diverse needs of clients originating from various industries by complementing its existing retail domestic business with cross-border offerings. Emirates Insurance places its highest emphasis on delivering best-in-class customer service. Effectively, this customer-first approach drives the initiatives that develop effective insurance solutions to fit the needs of their clients. Atop of all customer service, it helps build loyalty to clients on one end and sets them high in the industry on the other.

Emirates Insurance has integrated ERM to facilitate sustainable growth. ERM represents the method of sustaining the company’s competitive advantage while attempting to maximize costs of the management of risks through generating business excellence. The corporation has always kept track and adjusted its appetite regarding both insurance and investment risks in the quest for high-quality services and stability within a competitive market.

Emirates Insurance Company Envision to be a balanced national leader in the industry by combining professional capabilities and expertise with customer focus for profitable growth. The mission of the company is to lead as a national insurance company with international standards of performance, providing competitive products and superior profitability. Combining aggressive selling, performance-based culture, and uncompromising risk management, EIC maintains its position as one of the leaders in the United Arab Emirate’s insurance market.

In the last 25 years, Tabreed has been emerged as leader in cooling services in the GCC that provides outstanding quality and reliability creating substantial cost efficiency and environmental savings, partnering with some of the region’s leading public and private sector organizations, with whom it maintains close relationship over earning their trust to meeting diversified business, operational and sustainability requirements. With commitment to quality and innovation at its core, Tabreed has defined the standards for cooling excellence in the region.

In Tabreed’s district cooling business, the corporation can offer a variety of significant efficiencies in budget and operations to organizations. The service brings a reduction in the energy consumption significantly and makes it possible for less capital investment and maintenance expenditures. With such scope and thoroughness, they are almost the right call for businesses looking for optimization of their operational costs. The company has a unique business model of Greenfield and brownfield that allows for a customized approach based on the needs of clients. Tabreed can design, own, build, and operate district cooling plants on behalf of its clients or connect their operations to plants already in existence. Furthermore, the company innovated the process of converting traditional air conditioning systems into district cooling systems, bringing energy, economic, and environmental benefits to customers.

In maintaining the commitment to comprehensive operations and maintenance support for new and existing plants, Tabreed succeeds in upholding its promise of peak efficiency operations and extended lifecycle of cooling systems. Owing to the drive to upgrade its offerings further, Tabreed remains actively engaged with technology innovation partnerships with research-focused institutions on minimizing power and water consumption while reducing the lifecycle cost of cooling systems.

Since it commissioned its first district cooling plant back in 1998, in Sweihan, Abu Dhabi, Tabreed has expanded its footprints to 86 plants throughout the GCC. Reflective also of the company’s commitment toward establishing and maintaining the highest possible standards in cooling solutions based on three core priorities-quality, safety, and efficiency-there remains no doubt regarding the go-to name for a country’s cooling solution. The company was built on a successful track record. Its partners now trust the company to deliver innovative solutions that meet the cost and operational efficiencies also to create energy efficiency and sustainability.

As an Emirates-based regional utility leader, Tabreed provides stable returns in financing and shareholder value as a publicly listed company on the Dubai Financial Market. This stability makes Tabreed an investment opportunity while strengthening the company’s commitment to delivering excellent service.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Tabreed is positioning itself as a market leader in the provision of regional cooling services in a manner that is energy-efficient, sustainable, reliable, and cost-effective. The company’s mission is to create value through both optimization and innovation while striving for operational excellence by exceeding stakeholder expectations and protecting people, assets, and the environment. This vision and mission are guided by the very powerful set of values outlined below, namely performance, integrity, and accountability.

At Tabreed, Chairman Bakheet Al Katheeri and CEO Khalid Al Marzooqi, whose experience encompasses the energy sector, undertake all the leadership roles. They pave the way toward strategic initiatives of the company while engaging in collaborations for mutual benefit. So, with a board of experienced professionals and industry experts, Tabreed is capable of working its way through the intense competition and the challenges the cooling market has.