Mobile Telecommunications KSC : Zain reveals new thought-leadership report at WEF Davos, which links innovation to overcoming regional challenges

- Entitled 'Bringing the Future Closer with Innovation', report emphasizes the role of innovation in overcoming prevalent socio-economic deficits and promote overall human development

Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innovator in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa, announces the publication of its latest thought-leadership report entitled, 'Bringing the Future Closer with Innovation: Pursuing Innovation as a Means to Overcome Challenges in the MENA Region'. The report sets about illustrating the indispensable role of innovation in achieving sustainable development and transitioning towards a knowledge-based economy, from a regional perspective.

The report was revealed and discussed at the annual World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland 20-23 January, 2016, where Zain Group CEO, Scott Gegenheimer; Emre Gurkan, Group Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer; and the Group's Head of Corporate Sustainability, Jennifer Suleiman, conveyed the findings of the report liaising with leading political and economic personalities from across the globe.

Importantly the report emphasised the role of innovation in enabling the MENA region to overcome prevalent socioeconomic deficits and promote overall human development. It addresses the question: 'How can stakeholders in the region come together to further society's innovative capacity as a means to driving sustainable, inclusive growth while promoting human development?'

Commenting on the release of the report, Scott Gegenheimer said, 'Given the high-profile nature of our business, and the profound impact it is able to have on people's lives across the region, we feel it is our responsibility to publish information that offers insights into how innovation and technology in general can drastically improve living standards.'

Gegenheimer continued, 'As with any region in the world, MENA faces specific challenges that we can overcome collectively through our desire of a more enabling environment. From Zain's perspective, our ties to the region run deep, and we look forward to continuing to render support and inspiration that results in positive outcome to people's lives even beyond our own customer base.'

The challenges faced by the region include: high unemployment (particularly amongst youth); insufficient economic growth; undiversified economies; ongoing socio-economic exclusion and inequality; high rates of displacement due to conflict; an innovation deficit; and high vulnerability to climate change, to name only some.

Jennifer Suleiman commented, 'Corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives represent an integral part of Zain Group's strategy and are taken very seriously at all levels of the organization. Our thought-leadership efforts are an opportunity for us to review the factors that can aid socio-economic development from a technological standpoint, and also gives us a chance to draw attention to our own efforts given our position as a leading regional innovator.'

Bringing the Future Closer with Innovation: Pursuing Innovation as a Means to Overcome Regional Challenges in the MENA Regionshowcases Zain's innovation by providing case studies undertaken by the company including its Zain Innovation Center in Jordan, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary; the Zain Great Idea challenge to generate and incubate fresh new ideas; the Smart Schools Project in Jordan, Zain's support of the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition; the Taaleb E-Learning Project; and the Light a Candle App to name a few.

Zain believes that by developing the innovative capacity of the region through a multi-stakeholder approach, MENA can overcome these challenges and achieve sustainable growth solutions.

To download the complete report, available in both Arabic and English, please download from below link or visit: http://www.zain.com/en/social-responsibility/thought-leadership-reports/

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About Zain Group:Zain is a leading telecommunications operator across the Middle East and Africa providing mobile voice and data services to over 45.6 million active customers as of 30 September 2015. With a commercial presence in 8 countries, Zain operates in: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and South Sudan. In Lebanon, the Group manages 'touch' on behalf of the government. In Morocco, Zain has a 15.5% stake in 'INWI', through a joint venture. Zain is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (stock ticker: ZAIN).For more, please [e-mail] visitwww.zain.com,www.facebook.com/zain;www.twitter.com/zain;www.youtube.com/zain;www.instagram.com/zaingroup;www.linkedin.com/company/zain