Faraz Khalid will steer the e-commerce platform through its launch later this year

  DUBAI – Faraz Khalid, former managing director of online fashion retailer Namshi.com, has been named chief executive officer (CEO) of the US$1-billion e-commerce platform Noon.com founded by Mohamed Alabbar of Emaar Properties. Noon.com is a joint venture of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and several prominent Gulf investors and will be launched later this year. In appointing Khalid, Alabbar said the former co-founder of Namshi "has built a successful e-commerce business in the region, and brings the right domain experience and market knowledge to his role as Noon's chief executive officer." "We are confident that along with the team at Noon, Faraz will deliver an e-commerce platform like no other in the region," he added. Khalid, for his part, said, "With our local market knowledge and presence, and our focus on product authenticity, supplier value creation, superior logistics, professional service and competitive pricing, we aim to bring a transformational e-commerce experience to the Middle East." Meanwhile, Alabbar said Emaar is on track to launch Noon.com this year with the final work on the infrastructure and payment systems being completed. "Several of the region's leading brand owners and suppliers have come on board, underlining our local strength," said Alabbar. Noon.com had announced late last year that it has a warehouse in Dubai that is of the same size as 60 football fields and a head office in Riyadh. It planned to launch with 20 million original products on its platform. The creation of Noon.com is timely as e-commerce businesses in the region are flourishing, especially after American online retail giant Amazon bought Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com for US$650 million. GAC/Expat 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