Kone is accustomed to life’s ups and downs. The Finnish engineering company, best known for its lifts and escalators, has been chosen as the vertical transportation provider (elevators to you and me) for the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The tower is scheduled to become the world’s tallest building, when completed in late 2018, with a height of more than 1 kilometre.
“The building will be more than 1,000 metres and the elevator shaft will be 637 metres in one shot,” said Henrik Ehrnrooth, the president and chief executive of Kone Corporation. “It will be the highest, longest, above ground, lift shaft in the world. There will be a double decker elevator which will be the fastest in the world to cover the near half-a-mile distance. There are faster elevators in the world which are not double decker, but the speed at which these will travel will be swift and comfortable. Your ears will be able to balance and that is the compromise.”
The Kingdom Tower will have 65 elevators and escalators with the main shaft employing Kone’s UltraRope technology. The new hoisting rig will allow future elevator travel beyond the 1km limit, twice the distance that is currently possible.
Globally in new equipment, Kone is the second largest player but No 1 in the region. Half of Kone’s market is in the maintenance and modernising of older equipment but the engineer is hoping that the new technology will push sales in the region higher.
“In the Middle East and the UAE we consider that it is one of the key growth markets globally with a lot of opportunities and a strong market for elevators, therefore it’s a strategic area for us,” said Mr Ehrnrooth.
“There are only two countries in the world where we have more than 10 per cent of sales that is the US and China. If we look at the Middle East overall it is still less than 5 per cent of sales but it is clearly a growing market. We are investing lot in this region and looking higher.”
ascott@thenational.ae
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Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Fixtures
Wednesday
4.15pm: Japan v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: UAE v Italy (Group A)
6.45pm: Russia v Mexico (Group B)
8pm: Iran v Egypt (Group B)
BABYLON
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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
