Abdulrahman Alireza (left), GM, Reza Food Services, and David Hoffman, President, McDonald's Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa, sign the agreement recently at the McDonald's Middle East & Africa Developmental Licensee Summit in Cyprus. McDonald's Middle East and Africa Development Company, the corporation representative responsible for the growth and development of the McDonald's business and brand across the region, has extended its partnership with McDonald's Saudi Arabia. A formal signing ceremony took place recently at the McDonald's Middle East & Africa Developmental Licensee Summit in Cyprus between Abdulrahman Alireza, GM, Reza Food Services, and David Hoffman, President, McDonald's Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa (APMEA) representing the McDonald's Executive Leadership team. Commenting on the signing ceremony, Alireza said “we are today celebrating a significant milestone, building on years and years of a successful business partnership and the investments we have made in our local community. We are extremely proud to be renewing and reinforcing our partnership with McDonald's, and look forward to supporting the brand's expansion and growth plans in Saudi Arabia and the wider region, as well increasing our commitment to our local economy, people, and community.” The McDonald's Developmental Licensee Summit brought together senior executives from the Middle East & Africa with business owners and their respective senior marketing and operations teams from 16 countries. The developmental licensee model is a form of franchising that McDonald's adopts in the Middle East – whereby restaurants are 100 percent owned and operated by the local business owners. “APMEA is a very successful area for McDonald's with over 9,500 restaurants, and the Middle East and Africa is an integral part of these operations,” said Yousif Abdulghani, Managing Director, McDonald's Middle East and Africa. “Later this year, we will be opening our 1,000th restaurant in the Middle East and Africa, and we are aiming to grow that figure to 1,400 restaurants by the end of 2015.” “The McDonald's Developmental Licensee Summit is a great platform for our partners – including our Saudi partner Reza Food Services - to network and meet other leading business people from across MEA, and share their experiences of operating a successful brand,” Abdulghani added. During the summit, presentations were delivered by McDonald's executive leadership team to inspire business confidence in the region in readiness for expansion and investment, and to set the stage for 2014-2016 business planning process. Business partners also shared best practices and thinking being implemented in the region, as well as witnessed examples from other McDonald's operations across the world. — SG
