The Savola Group has announced that it is considering changing its weekend days to Friday and Saturday, instead of Thursday and Friday. This change would be effective from the beginning of the second half of this year and the company will facilitate communications and coordination in the group and its subsidiaries within and outside the Kingdom, including markets like Egypt, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Kazakhstan, among others. The company hopes that the change will also provide the advantage of having additional number of working days matching with the working days of those countries and its financial institutions. With the changes, Dr. Abdulraouf M. Mannaa, Savola Group Managing Director, said: “This step is compatible with working days in most of the countries we operate in, which enhances effective communication with regional and international markets, financially, commercially and economically; this would enable the Group to take advantage of a greater number of international working days in the week”. The Savola Group operates in three core sectors: the Food Sector, which includes edible oils, sugar and pasta, the Retail Sector through Azizia Panda supermarkets and hypermarkets, and the Plastics Sector, which manufactures both rigid and flexible plastic products. In addition, the Group has a diversified portfolio of strategic investments in which it owns 36.6 percent of Al-Marai fresh dairy company, 49 percent of Herfy foods and restaurant chain, and 29.9 percent of Kinan International Real Estate. The Savola Group is also one of the founders of Knowledge Economic City, in addition to its shareholdings in major companies and other investments portfolios. — SG
