Jean Claude Farah President- Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and CIS, Western Union and Amr Diab
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced its association with one of the Arab world’s most popular pop stars – Amr Diab, as a Brand Ambassador. As an Arab star with a strong international following, Amr Diab will now represent Western Union and its quick, convenient and reliable money transfer services, offered across 200 countries and territories. He will grace the global payment leader’s advertising and print campaigns throughout the region during 2015.
Amr Diab’s hard work and passion for creating quality music and new stylized musical techniques has endeared him to all his multi-national fans around the globe and proved that he is one of the best Middle Eastern singers with extraordinary talent, determination and charisma. During his career, Amr Diab has earned seven World Music awards, four of which are for Best Selling Middle Eastern Artist. At the World Music Awards 2014, he was recognised as the Best Egyptian Artist, Best Male Arab Artist and World’s Best Arab Male Artist Voted Online.
“We are thrilled to have Amr Diab as a Western Union ambassador. He has enormous appeal to Arab audiences around the world and will create a strong bond with our customers just as we do as a brand by enabling money transfers for families around the world with their loved ones back home,” said Jean Claude Farah, President-Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and CIS, Western Union. “Our association with Amr Diab will help us leverage music as a universal platform given its influential role in helping Arab audiences and the diaspora around the globe to remain connected to their homeland while helping them enjoy his music and bringing a slice of happiness into their lives.”
According to Amr Diab, “I am very excited to represent the Western Union brand. As a respected and innovative global company, their ability to connect people around the world with their loved ones through their services was really great to see. I was impressed by their passion for their customers and the business and I felt very comfortable with the brand considering our shared values in terms of pursuing excellence and a deep commitment to finding innovative ways to connect people around the world.”
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of September 30, 2014, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of over 500,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and over 100,000 ATMs and kiosks. In 2013, The Western Union Company completed 242 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $82 billion of principal between consumers, and 459 million business payments. For more information, visit http://www.westernunion.com .
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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