ALL ABOUT BANZ

BANZ GROUP & GEODIS WILSON H I G H L I G H T S :

Banz Joint Ventures

Flying Horses for Bahrain

Welcome announcement

International Women’s

Day at Banz Group

Get to know us

Tree of Life

Banz Group BSC (c) , Kingdom of Bahrain May 2014 Volume 1, Issue 1

ALL ABOUT BANZ

Banz Geodis Wilson W.L.L. Opens in Bahrain.

Geodis Wilson has formed a Joint Venture partnership with the

Warehousing and Distribution Division of the Banz Group in Bahrain

as part of its corporate development strategy to extend and

consolidate its growing global network.

The day to day management of the new organization will be led by David Richter, who will in turn

report to the Middle East Cluster Managing Director Sascha Geiken.

The management team will in turn report to a board of Directors consisting of; Abdullah Buhindi,

Chairman Banz Group, Alain Chimine, Regional Vice President EMEA Geodis Wilson, Jason Smith,

CEO Banz Group, Sascha Geiken, Cluster Managing Director Middle East Geodis Wilson.

The new joint venture operation will start with 18 employees based at their office and 8,000 sqm

warehouse, including ambient, chilled and frozen in Juffair, Bahrain.

Says Richter and Geiken, ‘From day one we are offering a full freight service menu of Air, Sea,

Road, Sea-Air, Industrial Project, and Contract Logistics (inbound and outbound) as well as

customs clearance, cargo insurance and other value-added services.

As is typical of Geodis Wilson, our Bahrain based customers will also be able to benefit from our e

-services including online booking, track & trace, delivery and shipment control, document status

entry, e-invoicing and EDI, all available through our customer portal.

We will use our market-leading technology and internal work-flow process to ensure rigorous

attention to detail on every aspect, and in particular to absolute, fail-safe compliance with the

stringent local Bahraini requirements for import/export documentation.

Commenting on the significantly expansionary move Geodis Wilson’s business leader in the Middle

East, Sascha Geiken commented, “We will certainly be following our five corporate guiding

principles: passion, innovation,

solidarity, commitment and trust in

developing business in Bahrain. We are

confidently looking forward to

spectacular growth and success by

aiming to build on the current blue-chip

client base.

Geodis Wilson & Banz have had a

relationship for many years, the

formalization of this Joint Venture is

the natural next step to further build

on our past and present successes and

take the company forward.

ALL ABOUT BANZ 2

F L Y I N G H O R S E S F O R B A H R A I N

It has been an exciting start for the newly formed joint venture of Banz Geodis Wilson W.L.L., Bahrain.

The international event organizer PICO (pico.com) has awarded Banz Geodis Wilson with the transportation of 12 horses from

France into Bahrain and Return, as part of the Lorenzo International Horse Show performing in Bahrain on March 22 to 24.

After extensive preparation at both ends, all events were perfectly timed to ensure the well-being of the horses during the entire

transport. The journey started in the south of France by road, followed by veterinary inspection at the Animal Lounge in

Frankfurt Airport, before loading the horses into special horse stall ULD’s for uplift by freighter aircraft. Six hours later, in the

early morning hours of the following day, the live cargo arrived at Bahrain International Airport.

Customs and Ministry officials were on high alert to clear this shipment on top priority. Almost 24hours en route, the horses

arrived safe and sound at their final destination.

The prestige show event was hosted by the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Lorenzo was performing on three consecutive days; then the horses were returned back to Frankfurt in the same professional

manner.

We received congratulation on the job well done from PICO and Royal Officials in Bahrain, which we would like to share with

everybody involved on this showcase project.

A special Thank You goes to Mr. Ajith Pallath, from the Banz Geodis Team, for the tremendous work he put in day and night for

making this transport a success.

ALL ABOUT BANZ 3

W E L C O M E A N N O U N C E M E N T

David Richter, Country Manager

Banz Geodis Wilson WLL

We are pleased to announce that Mr. David Richter has been appointed Country Manager of the

Banz Geodis Wilson effective from 23Feb 2014. David is German national and arrived to Bahrain 6

years ago after graduating from Freight Forwarding & Logistic School in Hamburg, Germany.

He has a strong background in the freight forwarding industry and has built up extensive expertise in

his previous job as Key Account Manager for Saudi Basic Industries Corporation at Panalpina. We

welcome David to the family and wish him all the best as we go forward jointly as Banz Geodis Wilson.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L W O M A N ’ S D A Y

As part of our belief in the importance of strong employee relations, Banz Group celebrated the

International Women’s Day with its female team members.

Attended by Banz Group team, the event included our motivational speaker Michael Munhuwei, Chief

Financial Officer who started the event with “It is a special day that we should recognize the

achievement and the support given of women across our group”.

International Women’s Day celebration was made to honor those whose influence went beyond the borders and spread all over

of Banz Group, Bahrain.

In turn, Lily, Sakeena and Zahra stated, “It’s a pleasure to be able to celebrate this special occasion together in such a great

atmosphere as we honor our male staff for their part as well in our success.”

ALL ABOUT BANZ Newsletter is an internal publication of BANZ Group B.S.C. (c), printed and published by Human Resources

Department. For limited circulation only.

ALL ABOUT BANZ 4

G E T T O K N O W U S

Congratulations Zainab Ramadhan on the safe arrival of your

newest family member “FATIMA”!!

May you cherish this special

time and may it be filled

with lots of joyous

memories.

All the very best,

Banz Family

N E W M E M B E R S I N T H E F A M I L Y O F B A N Z T R A D I N G

We welcome your feedback, suggestions and comments regarding ALL ABOUT BANZ. Please email us on: husnia@banzgroup.com

T H I N G S T O D O

The Tree of Life (Shajarat-al-Hayat) in Bahrain is approximately 400 year-old, 9.75 m (32 ft) high Prosopis cineraria tree located

2 km (1.2 mi) from Jebel Dukhan. The tree stands on top of a 7.6 m (25 ft) high sandy tell that formed around a 500-year-old

fortress.

The tree is a local tourist attraction, as it is the only major tree growing in the area. The tree is visited by approximately 50,000

tourists every year and the tree often is damaged by graffiti carvings. It is also believed to be the site for cults practising ancient

rites. Since October 2010, archaeologists have unearthed pottery and other artefacts in the vicinity of the tree, some of which

may date back to the Dilmun civilisation.

Trees and shrubs of Prosopis genus are extremely well adapted to arid environments with one of the deepest known root

systems.

The tree is mentioned in the movie L.A. Story. It is also

mentioned, is a minor part of the plot, and is shown in key

scenes, in the true-story adaptation, made for television movie,

The Princess and the Marine.

T R E E O F L I F E

Congratulations Zakia Habib on your new baby “ALI”!!

This is such a wonderful time for your family and we hope

that babyhood is filled with

lots of fun, love and

cuddles.

All the very best.

Banz Family