“I myself believe that the future is for people who have knowledge, skills, and the right attitude toward the workplace. If ACK can produce this kind of individual, we will be helping not only the young people who are coming to the college, but the country as well,” says Abdullah Al Sharhan, Chairman of Australian College of Kuwait (ACK).
“Projects that are under execution with the private sector include a 300,000m2 commercial development in the south of Kuwait called the Al Kout project. This is a retail project connected to a hotel we had built a few years back called the Rotana Hotel, connected to another mall that we had built in early 2007,” says Elie N. Hani, Deputy CEO of Ahmadiah Contracting.
“We are known to work on fast track, design development projects. We started that process back in the 70s with one of the real estate companies called Salhia Real Estate. We did the Salhia Mall that is still considered to be the mall with a very large number of prime brands like Louis Vuitton and others,” says Elie N. Hani, Deputy CEO of Ahmadiah Contracting.
“Dahan is involved in interior fit out contracting. We execute many spaces such as restaurants, shops, boutiques, banks, and office spaces. We are purely executers and builders. We do not offer any kind of design services or business requirements for the retailers,” says Sameer Al Dahan, Managing Partner at Dahan General Trading & Contracting.
“I have a friend who is a specialist in oil, he said to me “if you ask me tomorrow what would be the price of oil, I would not judge it”. In the past, if you remember, the oil prices in a week or even a month could go up or down by 50 cents or maximum by a US dollar, but now they can drop or rise by one US dollar or by three,” says Bader Al Humaidhi, Former Minister of Finance.
“The Jazz Night will be coming back but for now Velvett is too small for it. In October it will be starting again. The Jazz Night is a big attraction. We do the biggest jazz night in Lagos and it will now be in the Blowfish Hotel. During the rainy season we stop it and then it comes back,” says Imad Kanaan, Founder of Blowfish Group.
“Velvett was the new baby of the group. It offers fusion and international cuisine as well as Lebanese cuisine. The grills at Velvett are really nice, the steaks and the fish are delicious. It is a lounge so it is very relaxing environment and very trendy,” says Imad Kanaan, Founder of Blowfish Group.
“Purple is something a bit different. It has seating inside and also by the pool. It has multiple cuisines; the Indian and the Thai are particularly excellent at Purple. We offer other cuisines such as continental, Lebanese and Nigerian cuisine. We have two chefs from different areas,” says Imad Kanaan, Founder of Blowfish Group.
“We have 5 restaurants with 9 different cuisines. We have La Veranda which is an Italian restaurant. It is a cosy place and a lot of the business for it comes from business lunches. It has a nice veranda that gives onto the hotel swimming pool,” says Imad Kanaan, Founder of Blowfish Group.
“Our hotel is a 4 star hotel with a 5 star service. Basically what we want to create is a home away from home feeling. We have long stay customers with us. We try to be very customisable. We know our clients very well. People come back to us,” says Imad Kanaan, Founder of Blowfish Group.
