Fujairah Collage

Fujairah Collage
Some distinctive landmarks in Fujairah

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Thoban, Fujairah: The Craft Capital of the Emirates?

Thoban is a dusty unassuming town that one drives through on the way from Dubai to Fujairah but if you care to stop you’ll discover that it has more traditional crafts per shop than any other town in the UAE.

Wood and Metal Crafts

Slow down and you’ll see outside most of these little shops some cabins, offices, the traditional Emirati sabelah (sun shelters) and areesh (summer hut) for the backyard, swings and seats made from wood and steel. Perhaps it’s the proximity to the Friday Market that has turned Thoban into a manufacturing centre for traditional and modern crafts.

Traditional and Modern Pottery

The most famous craft centre is the Thoban Pottery Factory which has been producing traditional Arab terracotta pots for almost two decades.

Date Palm Crafts

The Al Nakheel Heritage and Craft Works is a fascinating shop. 85% of its stock is made from Al Nakheel—the common date palm. These palm products are made in a factory in Masafi.

They sell small items such as floor mats, food covers, baskets and trays but they also sell large furniture like chairs and tables and children’s play equipment, all made from the date palm.

Many of their products are UAE souvenirs and Emirati items like the traditional stick or cane that is used by men for dancing.

Other items (and those not made from Al Nakheel) include mountain honey, picnic equipment such as blankets, basic BBQs, grills that come in different sizes and lanterns.

Location

Approaching Thoban from Fujairah, Al Nakheel Heritage and Craft Works is in the second block of shops on the right side of the road.

Coming from Dubai/Sharjah go to the end of the Thoban shops, then drive for about 1-2 kilometres until you can do a U Turn. Don’t go too fast as it is in the second block of shops on the right coming from the direction of Fujairah, just after the 100 kpm speed limit sign and the blue road sign.

Thoban is 44 kilometres from Fujairah and 14 kilometres the Dubai side of Masafi.

More information in this article: ‘Directions from Dubai to Fujairah’.

Check Out the Location on Google Maps


View Al Nakheel Heritage & Craft Works in a larger map

Contact Details

Al Nakheel Heritage and Craft Works

Thoban

Fujairah, UAE

Manager: Mohamed Khames El Bady

Mob: 050 5850313; 050 1240812

Take a Look

Some photographs of some of the palm and other products at the Al Nakheel Heritage and Craft Works can be found in this photo album. Be aware that the range of products and the prices listed are bound to change in the months to come.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Image: A very comfortable furniture set made from Al Nakheel (date palm).

Arab Proverb: “Look for the Exit Before…”

“Look for the Exit Before You Enter.”

-Arab Proverb.


More Arab Proverbs

“They Planted So We Ate and We Plant…” FIF, 28 April 2010.

“Marriage is Like a Fort…” FIF, 21 April 2011.

“Write the Bad Things that are done to you in sand but…FIF, 20 April 2011.

“Give the Bread Dough to the Baker Even…” FIF, 18 April 2011.

“A Chameleon Does Not Leave One Tree Until…” FIF, 17 April 2011.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Effective National Plan Needed to Stop Oil Dumping in Fujairah Waters

Tweeting Slicks

If Twitter trends indicate what people are thinking, the ‘oil spilling’ in Fujairah waters and beaches are dominating Fujairah-related tweets this weekend.

Unfortunately, the oft-tweeted 29 April 2011 Gulf News article, ‘Oil Slick Off Fujairah Traced to International Waters’ contains errors, minimizes the seriousness of the crime, underestimates the damage caused by the oil and amounts to a ‘washing of the hands’ and a shrugging of the shoulders as if nothing can be done by the UAE.

‘If the Situation is Serious’

The Gulf News article has this sub-heading: ‘Environmental impact not serious’.

It quotes the Minister of Environment and Water saying, “The matter will be referred to federal bodies if the situation is serious.”

These ‘not serious’ statements come ten days after the tide brought the first wave of oil onto the Al Aqah beaches all the way from the Rotana Hotel to Snoppy Island. The oil was reported by divers on Tuesday 19 April. In an article on Wednesday 20 April entitled, ‘Oil Washes onto Beaches at Al Aqah, Fujairah’ the seriousness of the situation was reported with the closing of the hotel beaches and the preliminary signs of damage to Fujairah’s marine environment. Tweets in the twittersphere in those first days indicated that many people were cancelling or postponing their visits to the Al Aqah resorts.

The tide the next day on Wednesday 20 April brought a thicker and longer slick than the Tuesday coating.

The seriousness of the oil dumping is evidenced by the way it is now more than ten days since the original sighting of oil and people are still vigorously tweeting the news of oil on Fujairah beaches.

The seriousness of the oil dumping is emphasized by the way the oil slicks have extended from Al Aqah all the way to Khor Fakkan.

The National reported the gravity of the situation in an article (28 April 2011) by Anna Zacharias entitled, ‘Fujairah Oil Spill Hits Tourist Beaches’.

The journalist pulled no punches when stating the seriousness of this oil pollution:

“An oil slick caused by illegal dumping is one of the worst to hit Fujairah beaches in years, residents say.”

“The spill this week stretches almost 10 kilometres from Khor Fakkan to Al Aqah.”

“The municipality’s clean up operation is expected to cost hundreds of thousands of dirhams. The slick has also damaged tourism in the area.”

“When the oil comes [hotel] guests cannot swim. You cannot even walk on the beaches because of the oil.”

“The Sandy Beach Dive Centre ‘estimates that the company loses Dh 5,000 each day during a heavy oil slick’.”

“It was an unusually increased amount [of oil] that caused disturbance to guests,” Patrick Antaki, general manager of Le Méridien al Aqah hotel said.”

In a period of earlier dumpings (there were more than 15 in 2008) Antaki said that his hotel business drops significantly at the news of an oil slick and it takes 30 days for it to recover.

‘No Serious Damage!’

In addition to saying that the current oil slick was not serious, the Gulf News article quoted the Ministry of Environment and Water saying:

“The amount of oil spilt was not dangerous and that no serious damage or casualties had been reported so far. There are also no reports of fish deaths.”

This is also incorrect. An article posted on 20 April reported on the dead, sea birds covered in oil along the Al Aqah beaches. Divers the next day were reporting on seeing dead fish.

According to the Alkhaleej Arabic paper and the English online Emirates 24/7 the oil “damaged at least 30 boats and killed a large number of fish.”

Divers for a long time have warned UAE leaders of the underwater damage they have witnessed inflicted by oil slicks on the coral reefs and the marine environment.

‘Outside UAE Territorial Waters’

Whenever oil dumping affects the Fujairah coastline the chorus is repeated, as in Friday’s Gulf News article, “It is a consequence of an incident that occurred outside UAE territorial waters.”

The distancing of the situation puts the responsibility far away. Even though in an earlier oil dumping incident, Mohammed al Afham, the General Manager of the Fujairah Municipality, said, “We will not hesitate to use the law to protect our coast and environment” the cry of the oil being ‘outside UAE territorial waters’ renders the Fujairah officials impotent in using the law or it is used as an excuse not to take the issue further.

Surveillance and Detection

Despite calls by Fujairah officials to do “whatever is necessary to find out who did this,” the detection rate over the years has been poor.

In 2008 Hugh Naylor pointed up the ineffectiveness of the Fujairah surveillance system when he wrote:

Fujairah relies on a skeletal monitoring system, with only a few patrol boats and one space satellite that it shares with other Gulf states, making enforcement even more difficult.

The only case where evidence was produced was by Fujairah fishermen who supplied pictures they took of a vessel dumping oil into Fujairah waters.

Nation Oil Dumping Plan Required

This week oil has washed up on Fujairah land (Al Aqah) and Sharjah coastline (Khor Fakkan) but with two municipalities involved this complicates the situation, can duplicate the work and lead to different standards in regulating, cleaning up and bringing offending ship owners to justice.

It was recognised in 2009 that “the UAE does not currently have a plan to deal with or contain oil spills.”

A draft proposal for a UAE plan recommended satellite navigation systems and real time satellite imaging to spot the oil. It was recognised that implementing a state of the art system would be a catalyst for everything else that was needed to follow in the way of accurate detection, applying the law and toughening the penalties that would more effectively deter rogue captains from dumping oil into the sea.

The time for a national plan on oil dumping is well overdue.

High Price of Fujairah Development

In the same week when it was decided that a new Fujairah Free Zone be established for the petroleum industry, the oil dumping along the eastern coastline has tarnished the emirate’s economic boom.

The editorial in The National on 29 April 2011 leveled concerns over the federal and emirate governments neglect in the regulation of shipping traffic and the punishing of those who illegally dump. It asserted:

“Oil-strewn beaches and smouldering industrial waste should not be the price of development. And yet, these are precisely the pictures of progress accumulating in the northern emirates.”

There has been a steady and well-deserved rise in Fujairah’s reputation but the many tweets about this week’s oil dumping and the reposting of articles like this one in online magazines can very quickly ruin what people have worked so hard to build.

Related

Oil Washes onto Beaches at Al Aqah, Fujairah, FIF, 20 April 2011.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Image: “If Twitter trends indicate what people are thinking, the ‘oil spilling’ in Fujairah waters and beaches are dominating Fujairah-related tweets this weekend.”

Friday, April 29, 2011

Whoosh! Art Exhibition Continues This Week in Fujairah

A good number of people from Fujairah and Dubai attended the launch of Boryana Korcheva’s public exhibition on Thursday evening but if you missed the opening you can still see her paintings this week at the Fujairah Tennis and Country Club.

The paintings in the exhibition represent the different stages in the career and development of the Fujairah-based artist but ‘the art of joy’ is the theme and focus which holds these eclectic creations together.

Art of Joy

Boryana explains in her introductory note:

“‘Whoosh!’ is a series of high energy, dynamic paintings of fish in motion. They have been inspired by my fascination with the ocean, its cool embrace and the magical transformation of light and colour in its depths. Diving amongst the fish and coral gives me a sense of calm and belonging, a desire to melt away and join the eternal currents.”

“The message of my paintings is simple: despite of all controversies and injustices, it is a wonderful world. My creative driving forces are the joy of life and the fun of being myself. If my paintings manage to sweep you in this happy whirlpool, then I have achieved my highest purpose. Whoosh!”

Fujairah Inspired

One of the delightful aspects in viewing these paintings is to recognize so many scenes from the emirate of Fujairah and to see the word ‘Fujairah’ in most of the captions which are written in Arabic and English.

There is a Fujairah flavour about so many of these paintings that engenders a sense of pride that an artist has invested so much time and effort into reproducing scenes with which Fujairah residents are so familiar. These paintings need to be taken to other emirates and countries in order to showcase the beauty of Fujairah’s landscape and the wonder in the ordinary, common things that Fujairah people see every day.

Tune into the way Fujairah is shaping the work of Boryana Korcheva:

“I am fortunate to live in Fujairah - a place bathing in sunshine all the year round, tucked between ragged rocky mountains and a warm restless sea, populated by a tantalizing mix of people from almost every corner of the world.”

“I source my subjects from my immediate surroundings—a glimpse caught on a mountain road, a dive, a shape suddenly appearing in another shape, or a moment of special connection with another human being. Such encounters explode into a chain of ideas calling for artistic incarnation and so the work begins.”

Feedback Welcomed

Do visit the Fujairah Tennis and Country Club this week, view the paintings in the Whoosh! Exhibition and then leave your name and a comment in the book provided.

Very few writers, poets and artists actively seek feedback, including constructive criticism but Boryana expressed on the opening night how important it is for her to receive this. She explained her desire:

“Look around the walls. I have experimented in different styles and in different medium. In many ways I am at the crossroads of my artistic career. I could go in different directions but I am not sure in which direction I should head.”

Perhaps a comment about a painting or a note about which painting had the most impact on you might be one of the signs that this Fujairah artist will value in the years to come as contributing to a vital turning point in Boryana’s career.

Location

Fujairah Tennis and Country Club—Check location on this Google Map.

Link

Boryana Korcheva Art—Facebook Page.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Image: See how the style of this Wadi Helo oil painting is quite different from the fish painting that is part of the Whoosh! Publicity?

Fujairah Commercial Complex Rising Rapidly

It’s remarkable how fast the Fujairah Commercial Complex (pictured) is proceeding especially with the high rising Millenium Hotel which, when finished, will consist of a ground floor plus 22 additional floors.

The commercial complex stretches out over 134,000 square metres in the strategic Haleefat location and is most visible at the first roundabout (Toyota Roundabout) that one encounters on arriving in Fujairah from Dubai/Sharjah.

The project involves, in addition to the 4 star Millenium Hotel, a shopping mall (basement, ground and four floors), a food court, an ice rink and six cinemas.

The estimated price tag is 425 million AED or $US115 million.

The construction of the Fujairah Commercial Complex commenced in 2010 and is estimated to be up and running by September 2012.

Related

Building Boom at Fujairah’s Gateway, FIF, 6 March 2011.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Images: Top: The rising form of the Millenium Hotel and the surround Fujairah Commercial Complex. This photo was taken from the main road near the Toyota Roundabout. Bottom: An artist’s impression of the final product (courtesy of this link).

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Watch Pottery Being Made at Thoban, Fujairah

Stop Off at Thoban

It is worthwhile stopping off at the Thoban Pottery Factory to see traditional pots being made and to buy these crafts at factory prices.

Thoban is one of the many small towns that one passes on the road between Dubai/Sharjah and Fujairah city. It is 44kms before Fujairah city and 14kms before Masafi with its popular stopping place, the Friday Market.

The Thoban Pottery Factory is a popular stopping off place for many tourist buses.

Finding the Factory

Coming from Dubai/Sharjah, 15 kms after turning right at Dhaid’s Mosque Roundabout one passes an Eppco Petrol Station on your right and the turn off to Manama on your left. Continue for approximately 300 metres and, as you see the shops of Thoban there is a road to the right with about three signposts, one of which points the way to the Thoban Pottery Factory.

Coming from Fujairah you need to drive through Thoban and before you see the road going right to Manama, get into the left lane and do a U-Turn. As you go back towards Fujairah and before the Thoban shops commence, slow down to take the road going right.

For more detail check this article, Directions from Dubai to Fujairah.

The sign declares that one drives 800 metres down this road. After you see a bus shelter on the left with an image of a pot, turn left for another 300 metres until you reach the driveway on the left (which is also signposted). This driveway will take you past houses on the right and it will begin to veer to the left again towards the factory.

Ask for a Tour

The Thoban Pottery Factory has been owned and managed for seventeen years by Ali Rashid.

Peshawar-born, Abdul Qadir (yes, the same name as the great Pakistani leg spin bowler), has supervised the operation at the Thoban Pottery Factory for about the same number of years. Abdul is the one most likely to give you a tour.

Types of Pots

Thoban is the place for turning traditional Arabic terracotta pots but the factory also makes pots of a European design.

The three main types that are made are:

1. Pots with antique designs

2. Pots for planters

3. Pots for interior and exterior decoration including fountains and lamp stands

Raw Material

The clay that is used comes from the UAE (RAK) and Iran. It is mixed during a day-long process.

Potters

The Thoban Pottery factory has eight fulltime potters who were trained in India and Pakistan before they came to the UAE.

Outlets

The factory sells pots at the door but they also distribute to gift shops in Dubai, to stalls at the Friday Market and direct to some restaurants that like to serve their food in the clay biryani bowls.

Pottery Process

The potters are so adept at their craft they can turn out a small pot in a few minutes.

When the pots are taken from the wheel they are placed outside in the sun for a day for drying.

The firing stage is next and twice a month the kiln is filled with approximately 1,000 large and small pots. They are placed in three lines inside the kiln which is made of bricks and plastered with clay.

The kiln is diesel fired and reaches between 700-900C in this hardening phase that lasts for 36 hours.

When the firing finishes it takes a day for the cooling of the kiln before the pots are brought out to display and sell.

There is no glazing of the pots because, according to Abdul Qadir, “Our customers want the natural colours.”

Visiting Days and Hours

The Thoban Pottery factory is open every day except Friday between these hours:

7.50am-1.00pm

3.00pm-5.00pm

Contact Details

Thoban Pottery Factory

P O Box 12320

Thoban,

Fujairah, UAE

Tel: (06) 8827528

Fax: (06) 8827528

Manager: Ali Rashid

Supervisor: Abdul Qadir: 050 3904499; 050 5157196

Location on Google Maps


View Thoban Pottery Factory, Fujairah in a larger map

Take a Look

Some pictures of the pottery making and the finished items are in this photo album.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Arab Proverb: “They Planted So We Ate and We Plant…”

“They Planted So We Ate and We Plant So They Would Eat…”.”

-Arab Proverb.

More Arab Proverbs

“Marriage is Like a Fort…” FIF, 21 April 2011.

“Write the Bad Things that are done to you in sand but…FIF, 20 April 2011.

“Give the Bread Dough to the Baker Even…” FIF, 18 April 2011.

“A Chameleon Does Not Leave One Tree Until…” FIF, 17 April 2011.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted in the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Contemporary Rock Art or Unwelcome Graffiti in Fujairah?

Fujairah Rocks

The emirate of Fujairah is a region of the United Arab Emirates where huge numbers of petroglyphs have been discovered and studied, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of archaeologist, Dr. Michele Ziolkowski.

Author, Peter Hellyer, says that these rock images (pictured) provide ‘windows to the past’.

They shed light on the life and thought of those who lived in Fujairah thousands of years ago.

Contemporary Rock Art

There are several pieces of 'contemporary rock art' in the emirate of Fujairah like the painting (pictured below) on the mountains at Thoban. They are not carved or engraved like petroglyphs but presumably by using spray cans of coloured paint they might be called pictographs.

Often the art work in Fujairah and Khor Fakkan is drawn large enough to be visible to those who drive along the road. They take many forms and include facial images (usually male), a coloured map of the UAE or a series of patriotic words in Arabic.

Thankfully, those who have created different expressions of this contemporary rock art have displayed some degree of artistic talent but if every climber in the Hajars used their spray cans whenever they saw a smooth rock face there would be a public outcry and calls against this visual pollution.

What makes public rock painting a work of art and when do images and colour destroy the beauty and naturalness of the landscape?

The workers and caretakers at Fujairah’s Wadi Wurayah are thinking about effective ways to remove unwelcome rock art(?) (pictured below) and how to deter anyone who has an itch to write or paint in stone.

What do you think about ‘contemporary rock art’ like that which is pictured at Thoban—skilful outdoor art that should be welcomed or graffiti that should be discouraged or outlawed?

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus-Facebook Page.

Boryana Korcheva is the Latest Fujairah Artist to Exhibit Her Creations

Fujairah artist, Boryana Korcheva, extends an invitation to all to attend the opening night of her first solo exhibition.

The launch is on Thursday 28 April 2011, from 7-9pm at the Fujairah Tennis and Country Club (see location on this map).

Come and meet Boryana for the first time. She is fluent in Arabic, Bulgarian, English and Russian and she enjoys meeting people. View her paintings and discover how living in Fujairah is shaping Boryana’s artistic talent and focus.

More about Boryana Korcheva can be gleaned from this interview in the Fujairah Observer or from looking at this digital gallery, Boryana Korcheva Art.

Creativity Capital

This solo exhibition by Boryana is the latest in a succession of exhibitions by Fujairah artists which underscores the way the Fujairah environment and landscape are conducive to getting the creative juices flowing.

So far this year we’ve had these artists making and/or displaying art in different medium:

Dubai Photographers Shoot Fujairah and the East Coast (another link)

This Fujairah-inspired painting has been displayed.

There was the visit of an Arabic Jazz artist on Earth Hour Day.

Swiss photographer, Michel Roggo exhibited his photos from Wadi Wurayah.

Dubai Photographers shoot Wadi Wurayah.

HCT students are designing posters.

Traditional Emirati crafts were displayed on World Heritage Day/Week.

The ‘African Mystique’ Art and Photography Exhibition continues.

And Fujairah has many more artists who paint, sketch or create in paper, infused glass....

On the Map

Come to Whoosh! on Thursday night or in the days ahead. You might get inspired to stir up your talent.

Boryana voices what many other local artists feel, “I count on the community’s support to put Fujairah on the art map, where it deserves to be.”

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus-Facebook Page.

New Regional Airline, ‘Al Hajjar Air’, to be Based in Fujairah

Update

In Process

A new Fujairah-based airline, Al Hajjar Air, is in the administrative and planning phase. The business plan has been reviewed by the Fujairah International Airport and the Department of Civil Aviation. The directors are currently seeking funds to enable Al Hajjar Air to enter the operational phase, hopefully in 2012.

The Vision

What is envisaged is a regional carrier, dedicated to connecting the GCC hubs (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Muscat, Riyadh, Kuwait), with a later expansion into the Levant states and the Indian subcontinent.

The concept is proven in many regions of the world yet the Middle East lacks a dedicated regional airline. Consequently major airlines operate economically non-viable routes with large aircraft.

The Planes

Al Hajjar Air plans to operate dedicated regional aircraft in the form of modern turboprops with a stand-up cabin in single class configuration, large baggage compartments and equipped with the latest avionics and systems to ensure a smooth flight according to the highest safety standards.

All flight crew (2 pilots and 1 flight attendant) will be trained according to the stringent GCAA regulations.

Al Hajjar Air will operate primarily as a regional carrier not as a low cost carrier but the small turboprop planes will be a low cost operation suitable for developing the local market.

Fujairah Feeder Plans

Al Hajjar Air plans to feed passengers into an existing route network of the major Middle Eastern flag carriers. Al Hajjar Air will fly passengers to/from Fujairah or its other destinations to/from the base of their partner airline, giving the people of Fujairah a chance to buy for example, one single ticket from Fujairah to London.

Baggage check-in will be at the Fujairah International Airport and baggage pick-up at the destination. It is envisaged that Al Hajjar Air passengers will be entitled to use the passenger lounge of their partner airline at the intermediary stop, making the long trip a simple and pleasant experience.

Why Fujairah?

The concept of basing an airline in Fujairah came from a thorough due diligence investigation of scheduled air services in the UAE.

Fujairah has the potential of being a tourist hot spot in the UAE.

Currently, any business traveller in Fujairah must drive at least one hour to an airport in Dubai or Sharjah to catch a flight say to Doha and one must be there two hours before departure.

With Al Hajjar Air, one would travel a few minutes to the Fujairah International Airport where you would be checked-in and seated in your aircraft direct to Doha within half an hour. What a saving of time!

Furthermore, a daily service that links Fujairah with say Abu Dhabi, would benefit business and tourism interests and strengthen the link between Fujairah with the UAE capital.

Venturers

The venture is headed by Capt. Mike Carvath of the UK and Alex de Vos (currently based in Fujairah).

Captain Carvath is an experienced entrepreneur with various links to the auto industry in the UK and aviation industry in Iraq. He established one of the first dedicated charter airlines operating regional flights out of Erbil after the war.

Alex de Vos hails from the Netherlands and he started his aviation career in international operations mainly out of the USA. He has served in various aviation management positions, including Flight Operations Manager for a charter airline in Germany and CEO of Gulf Executive Aviation, an aviation consulting and air charter company in Bahrain.

Local Character

The intent of Al Hajjar Air is to provide quality air services within the region while taking into account the local customs, traditions and character of the place.

Investment Opportunity

Al Hajjar Air is offering local investors an opportunity to support a local enterprise which will not only use Fujairah as base but the vision of its leaders is “to be a driving force behind the development of the Fujairah International Airport as a primary passenger aviation hub within the GCC.”

Contact Details

Alex de Vos

President and CEO

Al Hajjar Aviation

P. O. Box 7825

FUJAIRAH, UAE

Tel: +971 (0) 55 2580502

Fax: +971 (0) 9 224 1414

Email: alex.devos@flyaha.com

Captain Mike Carvath

Email: mike.carvath@flyaha.com

Tel: +44 7766903190

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus-Facebook Page.

Image: Alex de Vos, President and CEO of Al Hajjar Aviation in Fujairah.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Fujairah HCT Students Learn Business Studies by Staging a Bazaar

The Fujairah Women’s College recently hosted the 2011 Business Bazaar, ‘Souq Al Areesh’.

It was opened by College Director, Dr Dave Pelham, and special guest, Mr. Ghafour Behroozian, the Community Board Chairman and a businessman in Fujairah.

The entrepreneurial Business and IT Diploma students promoted more than 50 of their own small business projects and sold over 50,000 AED of goods that they had designed and produced themselves. Their products included lines of jewelry, home and fashion accessories, laptop covers, gift items and many more creative concepts.

To add to the bazaar atmosphere and draw in customers a competition was held with gifts generously donated by Jovial Fujairah, Optic Gallery and the Fujairah Chamber of Commerce.

Competition Winners

The first placed businesses in the different categories were:

  • Frisky Studio’ operated by Amal Ali Saeed Khamis Al Deek
  • ‘Best New Product’: Raja Mohammed Hanoun
  • Stylish Accessories” operated by Fatmah Mohammed Al Qawadi, Kholoud Abdulla Saeed
  • ‘Best Customer Service’: Kholoud Ahmed Khameis
  • Stylish Shop operated by Fatima Abbas Gholam Saeed
  • ‘Best Display’: Nourah Rashed Saeed Al Wawy

Guests

In addition to Mr. Ghafour Behroozian, special guests that supported this occasion included:

  • Mr. Khalid Al Jasim, a community board member and the Director General of Fujairah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
  • Mr. Rashid Obaid, a leading businessman in Fujairah and member of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
  • Mr. Ebrahim Al Ali, a community board member and the Area Manager for the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, East Coast Area.
  • Mr. Hameed Jaberi, owner of the Optic Gallery Fujairah.
  • Mr. William Chong, Executive Managing Director, Emirates Sembcorp Water & Power Company.
  • Ms. Hessa Al Yammahi, HR Manager, Emirates Sembcorp Water & Power Company Qidfa.
  • Mr. Haian Al Mansour, Business Development Manager, Fujairah National.

Applied Business Studies

Running a bazaar is a great way to put business studies into action and all agreed that Souq Al Areesh was an encouraging opportunity to witness the potential of these future Emirati businesswomen.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus-Facebook Page.

Image: “Souq Al Areesh, a great opportunity to witness the potential of these future Emirati businesswomen.”