Strategic alliance between Naseba and Star paves way for new opportunities in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and GCC

The Kingdom is currently experiencing exponential growth across multiple sectors including real estate, education, infrastructure and petrochemicals - sectors to which both groups bring considerable experience and expertise.

HH Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khaled bin Muhammad Al Saud, whose group has helped launch other prominent multi-national corporations such as Thomson-Reuters, The Nielsen Company, AON Insurance, TBWA/Raad Advertising, The Landmark Group, and Harvey Nichols, into the Saudi Arabian market commented on this latest alliance and what it brings to the Kingdom:

"The strategic alliance between the Star Group, with its considerable reach in business in the Kingdom, and Naseba, a world-class event organiser and management company, creates unlimited prospects for high level international events and forums, designed to showcase the Kingdom's enviable economic progress, and is expected to promote Saudi Arabia as a leading economic force in the world and Middle East and a very attractive destination for strategic investments."

Drawing on Star Group's extensive network and their expertise in addressing complex local business practices, coupled with Naseba's proficiency in hosting high calibre deal flow platforms, this alliance will further reinforce Naseba's strong presence in the GCC and in particular Saudi Arabia.

Ragsdale commented: "The Star Group Holdings is one of the most dynamic and successful organisations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We are honoured to be associated with both the group and their highly respected leaders HH Prince Bandar bin Saud bin Khaled bin Muhammad Al Saud, HH Princess Anoud bint Khaled bin Abdullah bin Mohamed Al Saud and the CEO, Khalid Al Sharfa."

As global markets continue to remain in the doldrums, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf as a whole still represent one of the strongest, most liquid economies in the world. In a research note, Banque Saudi Fransi reported 'The Gulf powerhouse will spend over a fifth more than was projected in its budget this year, while a pick-up in lending will spur its economy to grow 4%. This compares to an estimated 0.9% contraction in real gross domestic product this year, the first in ten years. Private sector credit growth and improvements in foreign trade support these expectations and will enable a resumption of real GDP growth of 4% in 2010 according to our preliminary estimates'.

In line with this transformation, Naseba has been gaining momentum in the Kingdom. The strategic partnership between Star Group and Naseba will facilitate a wealth of opportunities for companies and organisations that are targeting the region.

Ragsdale continued, "Over the past 18 months, Naseba has successfully held 15 high profile upper level executive summits without a strategic partner in Saudi Arabia. Now, this alliance with Star Group brings immense value, not only to the shareholders of both our corporations, but also to our clients and employees, by raising the profile of our Kingdom of Saudi Arabia events. Most importantly, this pact enables both of our groups to pave the way for outside businesses and individuals to enter the largest and most liquid economy in the Middle East."