Business & Economy - Issue 24

24 - June 12th thru June 18th 2000, Vol X

Laudable Strides by the National Bank in Aden

Ridwan Al-Saqqaf
Aden Bureau Chief
The National Bank is one of the outstanding banks in Yemen. It was the first bank established in the then Southern part of Yemen. Now it is under the process of privatization.
The bank was established in 1969. It is a state-owned bank with 27 branches distributed throughout the Republic. The bank offers banking services including accepting deposits of national and foreign currencies. It also offers loans and facilities to companies and individuals. It opens LCs for exportation and importation, issues letters of credit and internal transfer operations.
The bank also buys travelers and banking cheques and finally, participates in international loans.
Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Kuhali, chairman of the board and the director general of the National Bank, talked about the period after the unification and said "First and foremost, the bank has kept its honored position regionally and internationally in terms of its being able to overcome its state before the unification. The bank has also been able to increase its assets from YR14,7 billion at the end of 1990 to YR 30,3 billion by the end of 1999. Deposits have also been increased from YR 13,7 billion at the end of 1990 to YR 26,2 billion by the end of 1999. Therefore, the bank is considered to be number one in terms of mobilization of domestic savings. The savings assets have amounted to YR 11,4 billion at the end of 1999 compared to YR 1,7 billion at the end of 1990.
The bank is considered to be in the second place after the state budget in terms of re-distributing the national income according to the areas and intensity of population. It is the first saving resource and at the same time is the biggest shareholder of treasury bonds reaching YR 13 billion.
It is number one among the local commercial banks regarding the overall of payments which are used to support the state budget reaching YR 1,2 billion during 1990-1999.
The 1998-2000 period is considered a space of time for reforming failings and enhancing development of the bank. We came to find out that the period 1998-1999 was the most prosperous compared to the previous years. We have implemented the programs of the world Bank including the structural and administrative reforms; finishing all regulations and rules of procedure pertaining to human resources and to conduct evaluation; retrieving most of the bank's bad debts; documenting all possessions of the bank; evaluating foreign investment; establishing the committee of assets and liabilities which is responsible for evaluating the latest daily banking development; establishing the fundamentals of banking policy.
The most important achievements of 1998 can be listed as follows:
1) There had been a visible increase in the net profit by the end of 1999 reaching YR 317,3 million in comparison to the end of 1990.
2) Decreasing bad debts to less than 65% in 1998 in comparison to its rate in 1995 and to 54% in comparison to that in 1997.
3) Activating the bank's branch in Sana'a which was opened in 1992. It became number one among the other branches of the bank in terms of direct banking performance and achieving net profit.
4) The capital paid and capital reserves reached YR 2,4 billion in 1999.
5) Establishing the objectives, policies and fundamentals of the banking work."
Regarding future prospects, he said "We seek to modernize and develop the banking services and increase their kinds and expand them internally in terms of making the procedure easier and quicker to save time; improving the mechanism of banking services through using a computer network to interconnect the branches; depending on a qualified and competent cadre; enhancing the relationship between local and foreign banks; opening branches in all governorates; making strong contributions to enhance the development of the economy of the country through supporting the state budget, economic development plans, investments, etc."

Market the marketing in travel and hospitality industry

By Shams Tabrez
Director Marketing
Co. United Travel
& Tourism, Sanaa
Why is marketing such a hot topic in today's service industry?
Why is it expected to be the key management function?
What is the role of marketing in our travel and hospitality industry?
What is so magical and dynamic about this powerful subject?
All these and other questions come to one's mind when one tries to understand the process of marketing. The best thing is to start by understanding the definition of marketing. Actually the definition of marketing is based on the six marketing fundamentals:

1- Satisfaction of customer's needs and wants
The primary focus of marketing is on satisfying customer needs.
What are customer needs? (Gaps between what customers have and what they would like to have)
What are customer wants? (Needs of which customers are aware)
2-Continuous nature of marketing
Marketing is a continuous management activity, not a one time set of decisions.

3-Sequential steps in marketing
Good marketing is a process of following a number of sequential steps.

4-Key role of marketing research
Using marketing is a process of following a number of sequential steps.

5-Inter-dependence of hospitality and travel organizations
There are many opportunities for cooperation in marketing among organizations in our industry.

6-Organization-wide and multi-department efforts
Marketing is not the sole responsibility of one department. To work best, it takes the efforts of all departments or divisions.

When we combine these six marketing fundamentals, the following definition of marketing emerges for the travel & hospitality industry.
Marketing is a continuous, sequential process through which management in the hospitality and travel industry plan, research, implement, control, and evaluate activities designed to satisfy both customers needs and wants and their own organization's objectives. To be most effective, marketing requires the efforts of everyone in an organization and marketing can be made more or less effective by the actions of complementary organizations. Before we proceed further, lets take a glance over the interesting historical background on the subject of marketing. There are differences between the way that marketing evolved in non-services industries and the way it developed in service industries: (organizations primarily involved in the provision of personal services).

Marketing eras
Among manufacturing and packaged-goods companies, marketing has evolved during four distinct "eras":
1)Production
2)Sales
3)Marketing
4)Societal Marketing
The changes in management thinking about marketing developed during these four eras because of technological advances, productivity improvements, intensified competition, expanding market demand, increased management sophistication, changing societal values and other factors.
"Evolution of marketing" next week.

UPS consolidates Activities in Yemen

Official inauguration of UPS company for worldwide express service took place on Sunday 11 June 2000 in presence of vice-president Abd Rabu Mansoor Hadi. The company offers its service in Yemen for the first time covering Middle East, Europe and Asia. After the opening the vice president toured the company's branch, acquainting himself with its equipment and welcomed such investments in Yemen. UPS company started its service in Yemen in 1998 in coordination with its partner Al-Shamis Co. for Tourism and Travel. Mr. Kevin Preston, the UPS regional Director for the Middle East is confident that offering the worldwide express service from Yemen will strengthen business further. "The UPS brand is recognized as a symbol of a quality and global service by shippers around the world. Linking Yemen to UPS' global infrastructure and network further demonstrates our commitment to the region and our determination to further the growth of our business." UPS' office in Sana'a can provide express pick up and delivery services to the whole of Yemen. From Yemen, UPS provides a next day service to the GCC, with a two-day service to London and a three-day service to the rest of Europe and the USA. Mohammed Al-Jamal Country Manager of UPS Yemen welcomes the new service agreement. " We have worked with UPS for two years and know the size and strength of its global network. I am confident that when people here in Yemen also realize the expertise and resources UPS has, they will want to ship with us." UPS is the world's largest express carrier and largest package Delivery Company, serving more than 200 countries and territories around the world. The company recently reported record results for the first quarter of 2000 with a 23% gain in international export package volume pacing strong growth across all segments. Net income jumped 63%. It was cited during the quarter for the 17th consecutive year as " America's Most Admired" transportation company in a Fortune magazine survey. Headquarters in Atlanta, Ga; the company resides on the Web at http://www.UPS. Com. The company had then given a lunch party attended by a large number of Yemeni and foreign businessmen and diplomats.
By: Yaser M. Ahmad