A stampede by competing apartment buyers in Dubai this week may have obscured signs that Dubai’s latest real estate boom is more restrained than the last one, which pushed the government close to default. Dubai’s property spree in the middle of the last decade was built precariously on bank loans, spelling disaster for indebted developers when prices eventually crashed. The crisis shook financial markets around the world. […]
Kuwait’s new finance minister has issued a stinging criticism of the country’s bloated administration and bureaucratic red tape, saying the economy cannot continue growing robustly in the long term if they are not reformed. The comments by Sheikh Salem Abdulaziz al-Sabah, carried by state news agency KUNA on Monday, were his first extensive public policy statement since he took his job in August. Sheikh Salem left the […]
A Dubai government-owned firm will refund $24.3 million to a property developer after a land deal turned sour, in a case at a special tribunal set up to settle claims against Dubai World that could help restore investor confidence in the emirate. Nakheel World, part of government-owned Dubai World and separate to Nakheel – builder of Dubai’s palm islands – will repay the money to Saudi-owned Al […]
Cityscape Global, the annual real-estate exhibition in Dubai, is seeing a large increase in exhibitors and floor space this year as the emirate’s market recovers. Developers are gearing up to announce a number of large projects around the show, he says. A lot of the new activity centers around Mohammed bin Rashid City, a huge swath of desert that Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, […]
Qatar’s Doha Bank said on Monday it would seek shareholder approval to issue a debt instrument worth 2 billion riyals ($549.3 million) to boost its Tier 1 capital, which would be sold by March 30 next year. No date for the shareholder meeting was given in the statement to the Qatar bourse. Tier 1 capital is considered the core indicator of a bank’s financial health. The notes […]
The HSBC Holdings unit once known as Household International Inc. lost its bid to undo a 2009 securities fraud trial verdict and is liable for about $1.5 billion in damages plus interest, a judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman in Chicago today denied the lender’s motions for a new trial or a decision in its favor and ordered plaintiffs’ lawyers to submit a proposed final judgment […]
President Barack Obama on Wednesday scaled down a long-planned trip to Asia, as a U.S. government shutdown entered a second day with no end in sight to the funding row in Congress that triggered it. Obama is expected to leave on Saturday for summit meetings in Indonesia and Brunei. Malaysian media quoted Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying he would now skip a subsequent visit to Kuala […]
Dressed in a green surgical gown and cap, British restaurateur Rekha Patel cradled her newborn daughter at the Akanksha clinic in northwestern India as her husband Daniel smiled warmly, peering in through a glass door. “I can’t believe we have our own child at last,” said Patel, 42, gazing in wonderment at five-day-old Gabrielle. “We are really grateful to our surrogate mother who managed to get pregnant […]
Using public transport in Dubai is about to get a whole lot easier. With a simple swipe of a phone, riders can board whatever service they desire thanks to a new deal inked between Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and telecommunications providers Etisalat and du to launch the ‘Smart Nol’ Service for Dubai commuters using public transport. The service aims to ease the transportation process for commuters […]
Dubai’s government is working on new rules to protect its real estate market and prevent any excessive rise of property prices that could end in a crash, a senior official said on Tuesday. The bursting of a property bubble in 2009-2010 caused prices to plunge by more than 50 percent, pushing Dubai close to a debt default. The market is recovering strongly this year, with apartment prices […]
Arabtec Holding and Samsung Engineering announced the launch of Arabtec-Samsung Engineering in the Middle East and North Africa’s oil and gas, power and related infrastructure sectors. Arabtec-Samsung Engineering is incorporated and headquartered in Abu Dhabi and is owned 40% by Arabtec, 40% by Samsung Engineering and the remaining 20% is owned by Tasameem Property Investment. The shareholder agreement was formalised on September 24th at a special signing […]
Doctors at RAK Hospital marked the opening of a new era of intervention in congenital heart disease for this part of the world by carrying out an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Closure without surgical intervention on a young adult by the technique of Device closure ASD device (Amplatzer septal occluder) is a relatively new non-surgical technique used to treat patients with atrial septal defect in which patients […]
Dubai-based oil services firm NPS Energy has put itself back up for sale, hoping to fetch up to $700 million after a deal to be bought by Norway’s Aker Solutions fell apart last year, sources familiar with the matter said. Oil services company Aker agreed to buy NPS Energy for about $460 million in May 2012, including $110 million in debt, but the deal collapsed in November […]
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has mandated Citigroup, HSBC, Mizuho and RBS to arrange a series of fixed income meetings ahead of a potential US dollar denominated senior bond. The state-owned company, rated A1/A+/A+, will hold meetings in Europe, Middle East and Asia between September 22 and September 25. A Reg S only senior guaranteed note may follow subject to market conditions via a special purpose vehicle […]
The notion of Syria giving up its chemical weapons, or at least putting them under foreign control, has long been on the table in the consultations between Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and his allies in Moscow. In the course of the civil war that has been raging in Syria for more than two years, “we discussed this possibility many times from many different angles,” says Russian […]
With the United States threatening to attack Syria, U.S. and allied intelligence services are still trying to work out who ordered the poison gas attack on rebel-held neighborhoods near Damascus. No direct link to President Bashar al-Assad or his inner circle has been publicly demonstrated, and some U.S. sources say intelligence experts are not sure whether the Syrian leader knew of the attack before it was launched […]
It would hardly be a surprise to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or his military if American missiles start hitting Syria soon. With weeks to prepare for an attack, Assad might benefit in some ways from the delay in any strike caused by President Barack Obama’s decision to seek approval from a divided U.S. Congress. U.S. officials and defense experts say Assad’s forces cannot take enough targets out […]
Residential property prices in Dubai are in the midst of another boom, but this time it’s fundamentals – and not speculation – at play, Standard Chartered Bank said in a new report, indicating that the rally will continue as long as the fundamentals remain in place. Economic growth, improving demographics, return of investor confidence and improving regulations have been cited as the primary factors fuelling a remarkable […]
Dubai Duty Free is planning to borrow $750 million from a syndicate of international banks in the coming weeks to help further finance the expansion of Dubai’s international airport, the company’s executive vice chairman Colm McLoughlin said. DDF, which operates all of the retail outlets at Dubai’s airports, raised its first international financing last year, a $1.75 billion, six-year syndicated loan with tranches in dollars and U.A.E. […]
The low quality in construction labor and raw material used to build several buildings, especially those up for sale, has unleashed a wave of anger at contracting companies in charge of carrying out projects. Many complaints were recently filed by buyers and real estate companies against contracting companies focusing on low quality construction, breach of the terms of signed contracts, the use of cheap construction material, late […]
MANILA: The Philippine economy posted robust expansion in the second quarter, matching the pace of China as the two fastest growing in Asia, as strong fundamentals and domestic spending buttressed the country from the region’s fund outflows. The solid growth pace lifted the peso from nearly 3-year lows and would help the Philippines keep its favoured status among investors amid more market volatility. The Philippines has overtaken […]
The Indian rupee rebounded on Thursday from a record low after the central bank’s move to provide dollars directly to oil companies provided relief to the currency, while a recovery in emerging market currencies also helped offer support. The central bank decision is aimed at removing a major source of dollar demand from the spot market – worth $400 million to $500 million daily – and so […]
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran’s take-home salary would be the envy of many investment bankers. With his majestic ten-and-a-half-foot frame, the elegant Kerala resident is said to earn Rs 1 crore by working just seven months a year. Little wonder then that he’s a Facebook star. Except that the 48-year-old Ramachandran is a large elephant, and a wildly popular fixture in most ceremonial temple processions in the state. His […]
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), owner of U.S.-based engine repair and maintenance business StandardAero, is in talks to merge parts of its business with British aircraft services firm BBA Aviation , it said on Monday. Dubai government-owned DAE said the talks were at a preliminary stage and gave no further details. Its statement came after the Sunday Times newspaper reported BBA was holding talks with StandardAero over a […]
