QFCRA, Oman Air, Ithmaar and Batelco Shine at ’Academy Awards’ of Annual Reports in New York

NEW YORK, September 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Four Annual Reports from the Gulf received high acclaim by winning 14 awards at the 25^th International ARC Awards, popularly dubbed ‘the Academy Awards’ of Annual Reports. The Annual Reports of Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA), Oman Air, Ithmaar Bank and Batelco put the Middle East on the global annual reporting map with their rich haul of wins. Accepting these awards on behalf of their clients were Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Ananda Jagoda and Luxshmanan Nadaraja of Smart Media - The Annual Report Company. The awards were presented by Ms. Cheryl Casone of the Fox Business Network at a gala black tie banquet held at the plush Plaza Hotel in New York on the 22^nd September in the midst of a large international gathering of top corporate executives.

     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110925/481437 )

QFCRA's Annual Report won eight awards which included two Golds and two Grands for the best non-English Annual Report and Printing and Production respectively.

At the ARC Awards, the Best of the Golds are nominated for Grand awards, which are considered as the ‘Oscars’ of the annual reporting world.

Oman Air's Annual Report won two Golds as did Bahrain's Islamic Retail Bank, Ithmaar Bank. The latter included the Gold for the Best Chairman's Letter. Ithmaar Bank had presented a unique joint statement by the Chairman and the CEO titled ‘A Candid Letter’. Oman Air, which is rapidly forging ahead as a top class international airline, sported in their Annual Report the bold theme ‘Gold Standard’. All these Gold awards received nomination for Grand awards.

Batelco, Bahrain's largest capitalised company also won an award for their annual report titled ‘Bahrain's Pearl of Great Pride’.

All the Middle Eastern Annual Reports that won at the ARC Awards were produced by globally renowned Smart Media – The Annual Report Company who won a total of 48 awards including 19 Golds and 4 Grands on behalf of their clients from different parts of the world.  Commenting on the Middle East's performance, Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media, said that “these top international awards would play their part in improving perceptions on governance, risk management and transparency of companies in the Middle East in general.”

“The Middle East would feature prominently in our expansion as we believe that annual reports of top Middle Eastern companies are generally punching well below their weight,” added Dr. Kannangara.

Smart Media were also recipients of the League of American Communications Professionals Gold award for the worldwide agency of the year for annual reports in July this year.

Photo Caption:  Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman Smart Media - The Annual Report Company speaks whilst accepting one of the Grand Awards on behalf of Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority.

About Smart Media - The Annual Report Company

Smart Media – The Annual Report Company is one of the very few companies in the world that specialise in producing annual reports. The Company has produced over 1,400 annual reports during a period spanning some fifteen years. Among these annual reports have been many pioneering and ground breaking ones.

This press release has been issued by Smart Media - The Annual Report Company.  For further information, please contact Ms. Varni Suriacumaran, Chief Officer Product Development ([email protected] / +1-732-491-3534) or Ms. Sashini Gajanayake, Project Manager ([email protected] / +94-773-745-875)

SOURCE Smart Media - The Annual Report Company

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED