Raya Holding declares Software and Services exports revenues worth more than USD 16 million for the year 2003

The company has also announced several strategic e-Business projects in the GCC, Levant and North Africa regions. Raya Holding also established three international points of presence, with founding of Raya Saudi, under the new Saudi Investment Law, that grants Raya full management rights; the setting up of Raya Gulf in Dubai Internet City in the UAE; and the company's entry in to the North Africa markets. The year 2003 also saw the establishment of Raya USA.

"Raya customises IT solutions to automate business operations with the objective of boosting productivity and employee efficiency. Our solutions provide a broad spectrum of world-class IT offerings, including state-of-the art infrastructure solutions and business applications, web based solutions, consultancy services, after sales support and IT training," explained Medhat Khalil, Chairman and CEO, Raya Holding.

"The successful expansion of Raya Holding into the international markets is a measure of the global markets' growing confidence in the quality of software solutions offered by the company. Raya today is entering a new stage of growth, where it aims at investing in its regional presence and expanding the range of international business. Raya is advancing with steady steps towards achieving its vision of creating a strong Arab company that leads its peers in North Africa and the Middle East and extends to the international markets through availing the latest offerings in IT and telecommunications," Khalil added.

Amongst the strategic e-Business GCC projects won by Raya in 2003 are those for Al Yasra Company for food products and the Arab Open University in Kuwait; Royal Gulf Airlines in the United Arab Emirates; SpaceTel in Yemen; and the Qatar Sports Academy in Qatar. In Saudi Arabia, Raya has projects for implementing e-Business solutions for the Al Musairiey Company; the Aljumaih Holding Group with stake in the industrial sector, beverages, real estate, investments, car services and industrial heavy machines; Riyadh Bank; as well as in the automobile, health and finance sectors.

Raya "Gears Up" Automotive Industry in KSA
Two of Raya's major projects in the GCC are in the Saudi automobile industry. The first is an Enterprise Resource Management solution, valued at over US$ 1 million, for Abdullah Hashem Company Ltd (AHCL). The company is a leading distributor of automobiles in Saudi Arabia. Besides being a major car trader and the sole dealer for a number of primary brands in Saudi Arabia, including Honda, AHCL is the premier Saudi distributor for leading power products, as well as agriculture and marine equipment. Raya Saudi has customised an Oracle based solution for AHCL. Once implemented, the system is expected to improve overall efficiency, while reducing operational costs for the company. In another value-addition, Raya's packaged software Mersal will be put into service to deliver bulk SMS messages for updating customers on new AHCL offerings.

Meanwhile, Raya Saudi has also been contracted by Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd (ALJ Overseas Operations) to deliver Oracle's integrated eBusiness Suite in order to fully automate the company's various internal and external operations. The solution incorporates multilingual support and links the ALJ overseas operations with the company's headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ALJ is a major distributor of Lexus, Toyota and Daihatsu vehicles in several international markets. The solution is already in the process of implementation in ALJ's Jeddah and Morocco offices with the general ledgers, fixed assets and procurement to pay modules expected to be operational by October 2004.

Flawless Execution in ASPIRE
In another major project for ASPIRE the Middle East's largest Academy for Sports Excellence in Qatar, Raya Gulf has been contracted to deploy an Oracle e- business and Oracle Collaboration Suite. The solution will help ASPIRE build a paperless organization and empower employees through efficient self service HR. Additionally, it will enable the execution of marketing activities using marketing online module and the implementation of next generation collaboration technology with web conferencing, voice mail and fax servers.

According to Soubhi Abdulkarim, ASPIRE's IT Manager: "The system has been flawlessly executed so far. We have registered a great sense of pride and involvement from Raya's staff, from the implementers to the top management, towards their involvement with ASPIRE. We are glad to have Raya as our partner in this project."

Meanwhile in the Levant region, Raya delivered a diverse range of projects including mobile services companies like InvestCom in Lebanon; SpaceTel in Syria; and FastLink in Jordan. In the Banking sector Raya was awarded e-Business software customization and implementation projects by the Central Bank of Jordan and the Central Bank of Syria. In the North African markets, Raya's projects include Djezzy, the mobile services leader in Algeria; and Tunisiana in Tunisia.

In addition, Raya is investing into the development of a network of partners in North and Central Africa to facilitate bidding on projects in countries such as Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Sudan.