ALEC partners with Emirates Red Crescent, SmartLife, Charity Association in Riyadh for Ramadan campaign

Khaleej Times

30-03-2025

As part of its community outreach during the holy month, ALEC donated dry food and hygiene care packages worth Dh160,000 to labourers and low-income families in UAE and Saudi Arabia. These items were distributed among beneficiaries through ALEC partners Emirates Red Cresent, SmartLife (NPO/NGO) and Charity Association in Riyadh.
Over 1,800 ALEC employees, including some of ALEC's subcontractor and other partners across nine projects across UAE and Saudi Arabia as well as the company's head offices and factories donated these items. Furthermore, 64 ALEC employees volunteered to package the dry food and hygiene products into care hampers and then, alongside SmartLife volunteers, actively participated in distributing these at a labour camp in Dubai.
ALEC matched this employee in-kind donation and donated Dh95,000 towards Emirates Red Crescent's Tarahum — for Gaza (UAE Relief Campaign to People Affected by War in Gaza) and King Salman Humanitarian Aid & Relief Center's The Public Relief Campaign for Palestine People in Gaza projects. Another Dh65,000 was donated to SmartLife (NPO/NGO)'s Smart Medic programme, focussed on providing critical treatments and surgeries, setting up tele medicine kiosks, and providing medicines, not covered by existing medical insurance, for labourers in the UAE.
In addition to this employee donation matching initiative, ALEC also distributed 3,563 care packages to subcontracted labourers across 15 ALEC, ALEMCO, ALEC FITOUT, ALEC Energy, LINQ, ALEC DIC sites in UAE. 'At ALEC, we believe true success goes beyond financial performance — it's about the meaningful impact we make in the communities we serve. Our commitment to positive change is embedded in everything we do, from our operations to our values. This spirit is reflected across our entire team, and we're incredibly proud to match the generous contributions our employees have made to support these vital humanitarian efforts,' said Barry Lewis, CEO of ALEC.
Drawing attention to the need for such corporate-led action, Abhijeet Oak, Vice President, at SmartLife (NPO/NGO) said, 'We are thankful to ALEC for its continued support and contributions as it enables SmartLife to implement some key year-round projects for the blue-collar community. This engagement serves as a role model for sustainable community work championed by the team at ALEC.'
The gold bar and coin sector sees greater demand in China than anywhere else. This strong investment demand naturally propels the popularity of gold bars and coins, reaching 280 tonnes. China surpassed India in 2023 to become the world's top consumer of gold jewellery, with a demand of 630 tonnes, a 10 per cent year-on-year increase. India follows with jewellery demand totaling 562 tonnes in 2023. India also ranks among the top ten nations with the highest gold reserves, holding approximately 804 tonnes worth $50 billion.
Mohammed Suhaib, Managing Director of Unique World Group, says, the new Gold Destination will help jewellery sales to accelerate further. 'As the population of Dubai and UAE increases rapidly – to cross 3.8 million in Dubai and 10.8 million in the UAE – we see the creation of a new Gold and Lifestyle Hub an important step in facilitating this industry to grow further,' Suhaib said. 'In addition to the population growth, a jump in annual tourist inflow – many of whom have gold and diamond in their shopping list – will require a new Gold and Lifestyle Hub that will help shoppers to hunt for new and trendy collection.'
Unique World Group is a Dubai-based diversified business conglomerate with interests in Business Centre, Education and Real Estate sectors, and is currently embarking on a new more diversified growth trajectory.
Unique World Group, established by Sulaiman TM, a non-resident Indian serial entrepreneur from Kerala state, has demonstrated leadership in all the areas that he had ventured in – in the UAE. Over the last 27 years, the group has grown from strength to strength with a vision to continuously grow and expand, leveraging the power of digitalisation and innovation.
In more than a quarter of a century, the group helped thousands of new businesses with business advisory services, trade licenses, office facilities and a bouquet of business enabling services to help them establish in the UAE.
The company actively seeks new opportunities and partnerships, aiming to improve, evolve, and establish itself as an industry leader in the Business Centre, Education, and Real Estate sectors. He and Muhammed Suhaib, the scion of the family, are now getting ready to embark on a new journey that will add greater value to Dubai's economy.
Established in 1998, Unique World Group currently manages a portfolio of five business centres, educational institutions and a number of real estate assets in the UAE with a team of more than 100 professionals working day and night to expand the group's business into new economic sectors.
Over the last 27 years, the Group has evolved from a small business into a formidable corporate entity, mirroring Dubai's remarkable economic success. Through its business, the group has impacted more than 500,000 businesses with a substantial number of satisfied clients.