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|By Arabian Post Staff| DP World announced that Sir Richard Branson has decided to step down from his role as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, which has a project with the Dubai-headquartered global port operator to launch DP World Cargospeed–an international brand for hyperloop-enabled cargo systems to support the fast, sustainable and efficient delivery of palletized cargo. Virgin Hyperloop said Branson’s decision is based on the increased […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai CommerCity, a joint venture between Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) and the Wasl Asset Management Group, dedicated to e-commerce firms, says its investment value has increased by 18.5 percent to AED 3.2 billion with an increase in the total leasable area by 32.5 percent. Launched in 2017, Dubai CommerCity is an area of ​​2.1 million square feet located in Umm Ramool, an […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should continue to breathe a little easier in the year ahead. Barring any major increase in geopolitical risk or a sharp fall in oil prices, 2019 should mark a stabilization of GCC banks’ financial profiles, following three years of significant pressure, Standaard & Poor’s said in its latest review. What’s more, with the transition to IFRS […]

|By Arabian Post Staff|Dubai has annonnced the world’s first faciltiy to make Blockchain-based digital payments for school fees, bills and retail purchases. The digital currency has been launched in partnership between Blockchain payment provider Pundi X, Ebooc Fintech and Loyalty Labs along with Dubai’s Credit Bureau named emcredit. Consumers in Dubai, UAE will be able to use digital currency to make retail payments in-store, pay for government […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| New York: Demby Coin, the world’s biggest ICO, has debuted at an investor conference in New York, eliciting keen interest from investors looking for alternative investment opportunities. Demby Coin, which will power the world’s first ever all-inclusive marketplace with the combined effect of the likes of Amazone and Ebay, seeks to bring the much-needed liquidity into the crypto currency ecosystem, by enabling purchases […]

RAK Ceramics announced that it has acquired the remaining minority shares of its joint ventures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and therefore now fully owns its KSA operations. Over the last few years RAK Ceramics has been consolidating its global operations and this latest purchase follows acquisitions in Europe, India, and Australia. Europe and KSA are the company’s major export markets, followed by the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. In 2017 around 31.7% of its […]

|Arabian Post Staff|Dubai continues to generate strong demand for premium office space according to new data released by global real estate consultancy firm CBRE. Total office stock in the emirate stood at 9.21 million sqm of gross leasable area (GLA) in the first half of 2018. This represents a 14% rise from levels recorded during the same period in 2014. Recent completions in the market further highlight […]

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|By Arabian Post Staff|In a bid to achieve food security in developing countries and eradicate global poverty, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the leading national entity for development aid, has allocated nearly AED3.2 billion towards development projects in the agricultural and irrigation sectors. Representing 7 per cent of the total financial assistance contributed by the Fund in supporting developing countries to date, this assistance has allowed […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Emirates is looking at taking over Abu Dhabi’s Etihad airline, Bloomberg reported quoting people familiar with the matter. If the plan materialises, it would create the world’s biggest carrier by passenger traffic. Bloomberg said the talks, which are at a preliminary stage, would see Emirates acquire the main airline business of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, which would keep its maintenance arm. Both airlines initially declined […]

/ByArabian Post Staff/ The UAE Cabinet has announced that upon retirement, expatriates over the age of 55 will be granted a five-year retirement visa if they meet a set of clauses which include either having properties worth at least AED 2 million, a minimum of AED 1 million in savings or an active income of more than AED 20k per month. The law is said to come into […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| In an unusual move, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund,which is a stake holder in Elon Musk’s Tesla, has invested $1 billion in rival Silicon Valley start-up Lucid Motors. This means the Saudis will benefit, irrespective of which new generation car company achieves leadership in this automobile sector. Lucid  is set to start making its first model, the Air sedan, in 2020. The comapny […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| DP World said it will continue to pursue all legal means to defend its rights as a shareholder and concessionaire in Doraleh Container Terminal SA (DCT) in the face of Djibouti’s blatant disregard for the rule of law and respect for commercial contracts. On 9 September the President of Djibouti enacted a decree which purportedly transferred the shareholding of Port de Djibouti SA […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| All non-UAE operations of leading global money transfer and foreign exchange solutions brand UAE Exchangeis being rebranded as Unimoni. Australia has become the 13th countryin the UAE Exchange Group’s global network to adopt the Unimoni brand. The announcement came as part of the brand’s global rebranding exercise across APAC, Americas and EMEA markets. “Australia is key to the group’s global strategy and we […]

By James M. Dorsey Dug in for the long haul in its increasingly bitter dispute with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Qatar is emerging as a key player in efforts to prevent tension between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, from spinning out of control. Qatar’s increasing role counters Saudi and UAE efforts to shape Palestinian politics in their mould. It further […]

Etihad Airways has launched a new hand baggage only ‘Deal Fare’ across selected destinations, allowing travellers to purchase lower fares in Economy Class if no checked baggage is required. The ‘Deal Fare’ includes a complimentary carry-on baggage allowance of 7kg and is available on flights between Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Azerbaijan. Robin Kamark, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “After […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar (ibq) have announced that they have signed a final agreement regarding the merger of the two banks to create a leading Sharia compliant financial institution with a solid financial position and robust liquidity to support Qatar’s economic growth and finance development initiatives in line with Qatar National Vision 2030. According to this merger agreement, the two […]

By James M. Dorsey Less than a week in office, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has made blasphemy one of his first issues, empowering militants and initiating international moves, long heralded by Saudi Arabia, that would restrict press freedom by pushing for a global ban. Mr. Khan, in his first address as prime minister to the Pakistani Senate, said he intended to raise the blasphemy issue in […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Media reports have quoted Houthi forces as claiming a rocket battalion attack on the Dubai International Airport. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), however, denied the Houthi media claims and affirmed that the UAE air traffic was operating business as usual. The denial was carried by official news agency WAM in a one-sentence statement. According to the Houthi forces’ official media wing, […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Saudi Arabia shocked global capital markets by announcing scrapping of its plan to float  state-owned energy giant Aramco through an IPO, which the world was keenly looking forward to, media reports said. The initial public offering was among the initiatives announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of his ambitious plan to overhaul the Saudi economy. The Saudis had hoped to […]

Dubai will become a multi-billion dollar magnet for stone trade suppliers from around the globe next month as massive urban growth and infrastructure development continues to make the Middle East one of the world’s highest spending construction markets, analysts say. According to market analysts BNC, a raft of new mega projects valued at US$29.19 billion were launched in the Middle East and North Africa’s residential, hospitality, retail, healthcare and […]

By James M. Dorsey Financial injections by Qatar and possibly China may resolve Turkey’s immediate economic crisis, aggravated by a politics-driven trade war with the United States, but are unlikely to resolve the country’s structural problems, fuelled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s counterintuitive interest rate theories. The latest crisis in Turkey’s boom-bust economy raises questions about a development model in which countries like China and Turkey witness moves towards […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| GCC sovereign debt issuance is expected to reach US$53 billion in 2018, surpassing last year’s US$49.5 billion, according to Fisch Asset Management, a Zurich-based asset manager. “GCC sovereign debt issuance has had another strong first half, with the two multi-tranche sovereign bond transactions of Saudi Arabia and Qatar leading issuance of over US$30 billion in the hard currency market,” Fisch Asset Management said […]

|By Arabian Post Staff| Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has announced the distribution of more than AED 23.4 billion in cash dividends to around 406 thousand investors on behalf of listed companies in 2018. The cash dividends paid out by listed companies increased around 5.5% compared AED 22.2 billion in the year 2017. This announcement is a confirmation of ADX’s success in providing a distinct investment climate and […]

By James M. Dorsey An offer by a Saudi-backed bank to lend financially strapped Pakistan US$4 billion is likely intended to bolster Saudi influence when former international cricket player Imran Khan is sworn in in the coming week as the South Asian country’s next prime minister. The offer was most immediately related to a statement by Asad Umar, Pakistan’s new finance minister-in-waiting, that Pakistan would decide on whether to seek […]

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