Friday 2 May 2014

Cigalah academy, a part of the Naghi group initiative to develop young Saudi nationals in merchandising and marketing to fulfill the needs of the domestic market, successfully trained the first batch of youth who are now ready to scale new highs in their professional life. The consumer division of the Cigalah group launched its own sales and marketing academy to train locals in the fields of sales, marketing and merchandising early this year. The initiative is part of Cigalah's human resources development strategy. Cigalah now employees around 600 Saudi nationals.

"In a time span of only three months, Cigalah has successfully managed to train the first batch consisting of 30 Saudi nationals on specific professional fronts," said Amr Dajani, general manager, Cigalah consumer division. These young nationals are now fully equipped and ready to take up their responsibilities in sales and merchandising operations of Cigalah, he said. Dajani told Arab News: "We will certainly continue to value their efforts and help them to keep up with cutting-edge trends in their respective fields." He was extremely appreciative of the enthusiasm and discipline portrayed by all the trainees during the entire training session. He assured that Cigalah would continue the drive to proactively train the local talents.

Sheikh Abdullah Yasser Naghi of the group said the successful completion of training with Cigalah is a first step toward building their promising careers. He pledged to take in more than 150 ambitious Saudi nationals to become a valuable contributor toward Kingdom's thriving economy through specific training programs from Cigalah. He said the training session lasts for three months. The academy offers training in multiple areas including English, computer skills, and multiple sales and marketing competencies. He said the first batch had 36 students, carefully selected to attend these courses, which have been designed in cooperation with Al-Khaleej training and education establishment, Jeddah.

He was happy that Saudi youths were showing more interest in gaining experience, learning new skills and gaining more knowledge in the field of merchandising and marketing. Cigalah was founded in 1911 in Jeddah by Sheikh Abdel Wahab Naghi. The company is now being led by the third generation of Naghi sons represented by Sheikh Yasser Yousuf Naghi, CEO of Cigalah. The division now operates as an autonomous entity with its own management structure and seven defined business unit as the company's activities focus on FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, insurance, jewelry, real estate and food, with offices spread across the Kingdom.

© Arab News 2014