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2 years ago
Gulf Insider speaks with newly appointed President of the American University of Bahrain, Dr. Bradley J. Cook. Succeeding Dr. Susan E. Saxton, the Founding President of the American University of Bahrain (AUBH), Dr. Bradley J. Cook joined the University in the summer of 2022. He has over thirty years of distinguished experience in higher education across the US and the Middle East. We reached out to learn more about his plans as he takes up his new role, his definition of leadership as related to education, his greatest achievements, and more. What are your primary focus areas as you take up this new role? I am thrilled to join AUBH and the wide array of potential I can see within the University. During my years of experience in higher education, I have worked with numerous practical institutions to better understand and analyse the needs of the marketplace. Being connected to the industry is crucial to supporting AUBH in developing a caliber of graduates with world-class education who possess the essential skillsets required to thrive in the practical environment. This will in turn drive the growth of the Kingdom’s economy. As I take up the new role, I am currently […]
2 years ago
Gulf Insider talks to Benefit’s Chief Executive, Abdulwahed AlJanahi on the newly launched remittance services, exciting new services to look forward to, and vision for Bahrain’s financial sector. Benefit is Bahrain’s leading regional player in electronic financial transactions and FinTech solutions. The company has been unlocking vast opportunities for nearly 25 years by powering effortless payment solutions for all individuals and businesses in the Kingdom. Benefit has won many prominent local and international awards such as the e-Government Excellence Award 2021 and the Best Smart Application Award 2021 and many more. As Bahrain’s leading regional player in electronic financial transactions, how do you aim to improve efficiency with your new digital remittance service? The remittance service is something that we’ve been working on for some time as we have big numbers of expats here in Bahrain. Our goal in everything we do is to make things easy for the public. With the remittance, we have started with Bahrain Financing Company (BFC), but there will be a number of money exchange companies on the app in the near future for the purpose of providing the customer with the most convenient services. They can compare prices and rates on the app – […]
2 years ago
Gulf Insider interviews Ahmad Darwish, Group Chief Administrative Officer of the Red Sea Development Company. What is the Red Sea Project (TRSP)? We wanted to create a destination that is luxurious but regenerative at the same time. It is 28,000 square kilometers in size – the size of a country. The objective is to set new standards for sustainable development and position Saudi Arabia on the global tourism map. It has been in preparation for the last five years, and now is in its implementation phase where the customers are beginning to see this vision come into reality. Where did the idea come from? Why did you decide develop this area into a tourist destination? The area we were tasked with developing, and protecting at the same time, naturally lends itself to tourism in terms of its weather, it’s beauty, and the diversity of landscapes and activities that can be enjoyed. We started looking at the natural assets and resources in the Kingdom, brainstormed how we can develop around these assets, and at the same time protect them. We wanted to enhance the life of the people around this area and present a definite positive impact. Approximately 75% of the […]
3 years ago
Charlie Cooksey of Gulf Insider attends a roundtable by Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Human Resources and Labour Relations Director, and patron of the Intercultural Innovation Award (IIA) as she speaks about BMW and the IIA. The BMW Group is an international, intercultural company operating in 140 countries and has production operations in over 30 countries. Intercultural, mutual understanding, and respect are their key drivers for future cooperation, as well as climate change with their sustainability strategies and social responsibilities. The BMW Group and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) awarded ten organizations from ten countries with the Intercultural Innovation Award (IIA) at the Germman Pavilion at EXPO 2020 Dubai. The award honoured people and projects that promote diversity, tolerance, and inclusion in a creative way. Over 1,100 organizations from 120 countries applied for the award. Why hold the IIA in Dubai? Coinciding with the themed week on Tolerance and Inclusivity, and the International Day of Tolerance, it was the perfect place. I really liked the motto of the of the expo – “connecting minds creating future”. If you want to connect minds, you need to respect one another, therefore, I think it’s […]
3 years ago
Charlie Cooksey interviews Karl Hamer, CEO, Adamas Motors on the newly launched Lotus showroom in Bahrain. You describe the new Lotus Bahrain showroom as a “world first”. What do you mean by that? Bahrain’s market is not the biggest in the world, we all know that. Although it’s a conservative market, people here love their cars. Our business is in the Asia Pacific and Middle East only so when we had the chance to go into Bahrain, I jumped at it. Motor retailing has changed and now it’s all about giving lifestyle experiences. I wanted to build the world’s first department store for cars in a high-end fashion in the center of Manama’s financial district. The Bahrain showroom is the first in the world to display Lotus’ new retail identity. Where does the name Adamas come from? When I was forming the company, I didn’t want it to be in my name. I wanted a brand of our own so that when you hear it across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, you’ll immediately know it’s synonymous to luxury. The name Adamas was inspired by its Latin origin of a diamond – unbreakable, indestructible and invincible. We understand that Bahrain […]
3 years ago
The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant disruptions in different sectors of the society; the education sector worldwide is not an exception to the impact of these unprecedented times. In Bahrain, the spread of COVID-19 has required a range of extraordinary responses from authorities and education institutions. We recently interviewed Dr. Jawaher Shaheen Al-Mudhahki, the Chief Executive of the Education and Training Quality Authority (BQA) to know more about the current status of educational institutions in the Kingdom. We have learned from your recent annual report that you have shifted your frameworks and processes in rating educational institutions remotely. Did this have any implications on the accuracy of the ratings? The BQA is committed to improving education and training by evaluating educational and training institutions fairly and objectively. In response to the current challenging circumstances, the BQA has established a framework that focuses on evaluating the schools’ responses to any exceptional circumstances the country or the world is going through. This framework has been adopted to gauge the appropriateness of the schools’ measures, procedures and practices to ensure the continuity of providing proper education to all students. It does not replace the regular review framework – it adopts a somewhat modified approach and set […]
3 years ago
Gulf Insider interviews Tony Davis, National Coach, Bahrain Boxing Federation. How did it feel to be back in Bahrain after overcoming your recent struggle with Covid-19? The flight from Istanbul to Bahrain was an emotional one. It was like coming back home. I had a lot of warm messages including one from Shaikh Khalid saying “welcome back”. It was a relief to finally get away from that horrendous episode, and sort of come back to my Bahraini family, where I belong. Can you tell us your experience in helping establish Bahrain’s boxing federation from ground up? When I first arrived on 1st December 2018, I really didn’t know what to expect. Two weeks after my arrival, I was invited to the Bahraini Mixed Martial Arts Federation where I started taking some notes. During this time, I realized that what they thought was boxing – wasn’t boxing. They weren’t very familiar with the basic rules and regulations, such as duration of rounds, equipment, attire. Their attire didn’t suit that of a sporting nature as rules dictate. They didn’t have the right kits. This is when I realized that they were missing one important aspect – education. I was able to provide […]
5 years ago
Why did you choose the Food and Beverage industry for your new venture? One of the driving forces of our business group is developing business opportunities. We are here to make profits but with something sustainable and in line with our quality and ethical standards. Now, the food business serves a greater good and provides people with a service they appreciate. Food has a certain quality standard and if you pick the right quality partners, you have succeeded in achieving that quality. We also wanted to diversify our portfolio and the food business seemed to be a potentially profitable and sustainable one. Can you tell us more about Costa Coffee and Al Zayani partnership? We never found the right opportunity to deal with the food franchising business. We wanted something with credibility so that we could develop on it. When the Costa opportunity came, it was available as a master franchise for different territories. We chose to bid only for the Bahrain area because we wanted a global brand which is among the top three brands. At the same time, we wanted something that could be scaled up, teach us the business, and give us a head start. Costa seemed […]
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