MEC MENA, the region’s leading media specialist firm and a member of the MENACOM Group, highlighted its ongoing growth in the Middle East and North Africa, including especially significant expansion in Egypt and Qatar. Underlining its growing business partnerships in the region, MEC MENA had recently won the prestigious Nestle Middle East account for media buying, planning and digital engagement services. “A decade after the founding of MEC MENA, the firm has never been more strongly positioned for future growth,” said Joseph Ghossoub, chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group. “An innovative company, focused on active engagement with its clients, partners and the media, MEC continues to increase its range of specialist services, its total staff size and its ability to stay ahead of market trends, especially in the area of digital media.” Mohan Nambiar, chief executive officer of MEC MENA, speaking at the firm’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Dubai, said that the firm has appointed a new General Manager for Egypt, Wassim Hmaidan, and for Qatar, Pradeep Menon, who is also overseeing MEC’s operations in Bahrain. In addition to these senior appointments, MEC is growing its overall staff strength across the 17 markets it serves through 13 offices in the wider Mena region. He added that MEC recognised the enormous importance of hiring, training and retaining young staff in the Mena region, where new media continues to rapidly transform the communications landscape. “Here in the Arab world, where 200 million people are under the age of 25, we cannot succeed as a firm if we do not understand the hopes, fears and aspirations of our largest demographic,” Nambiar said. “That’s why we are focused on identifying the next generation of leaders at MEC including recruiting them directly from universities here in the UAE and across the Middle East. “We are also focused on providing training to our existing staff, with special attention to digital media,” he said. “In the past year alone, we have invested more than 1,000 man hours training many of our over 240 staff, highlighting our  commitment in this area.” Reflecting MEC’s focus on creativity, bestselling author and entrepreneur Fredrik Haren provided the keynote address at the firm’s 10th anniversary celebrations, bringing to life the key insights from his latest book, The Developing World. More than 300 industry professionals attended the event, which took place over two days, at the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre. From : Khalij