|TAP Special by K Raveendran| Landmark events about the development of a shopping mall generally involve major leasing deals or signing up flagship brands, or the launch of the mall itself. But Qatar’s Tawar Mall, coming up in a prime Doha locality, was the scene of a bit of fanfare this week for none of the above. The mall owners, belonging to the leading Qatari business family […]
|TAP Special by K Raveendran| Landmark events about the development of a shopping mall generally involve major leasing deals or signing up flagship brands, or the launch of the mall itself. But Qatar’s Tawar Mall, coming up in a prime Doha locality, was the scene of a bit of fanfare this week for none of the above. The mall owners, belonging to the leading Qatari business family […]
|TAP Special by K Raveendran| The UAE healthcare sector was the scene of high drama as the Al Noor Hospitals Group, being pursued by leading sectoral player NMC Group to form the country’s biggest private healthcare provider, apparently broke off and announced it has reached an agreement for a merger with South Africa’s Mediclinic International Ltd. Al Noor will also be renamed Mediclinic International. Al Noor said […]
|TAP Special by K Raveendran| The Dubai residential market continues to face downward pressure as rents and sale prices decline. It’s perhaps indicative of a systemic shift that the current phase’s first bankruptcy has just been filed. According to a JLL report citing the REIDIN indexes, the sales index dropped by 8% for the one-year period ending June 2015, with declines in apartment sale prices exceeding that […]
|TAP Special By K Raveendran| With the fuel subsidies issue having been settled, attention now shifts to the possibilities of introducing value added tax as another option to bolster the UAE’s financial resources. Starting August 1, 2015, special grade petrol across fuel stations in the UAE will cost Dh2.14 per litre, up 24.4 per cent from Dh1.72. The super grade will cost Dh2.25, up 22.9 per cent […]
|By K Raveendran| The deregulation of fuel prices in the UAE is no doubt a highly opportunistic move in the sense that the current oil price levels support market-driven pricing. But a major factor that prompted the decision is believed to be the recommendations of IMF. The UAE Ministry of Energy recently announced that domestic gasoline and diesel prices would be deregulated starting from 1 August 2015. […]
|By K Raveendran| The Dubai property market, which has of late shown strong signs of weakening, may get support from a very unlikely source. Wealthy Chinese investors cashing out of the stock market carnage are said to be scouting for overseas property markets in leading cities to park their funds. Dubai might be one of them. Around 20 percent has been knocked off the value of Chinese […]
|By K Raveendran| The trigger for Dubai’s property crash of 2009 had come in the form of a Standard & Poor’s report that warned of a serious price correction in the wake of a highly unrealistic boom. Six years later, the rating agency has issued another ominous report on Dubai’s property market, although there are not even the faintest signs of a boom present now. The warning […]
|By K Raveendran| There is much hype about the opening up of the Saudi stock market, but any detached view is least supportive of optimism. The more realistic assessment is based on the fact that the market has already factored in the positivity and moved too far ahead in the expectation of large foreign inflows, making the market expensive for any new entrants. According to the assessment […]
|By K Raveendran| Qatar has maintained complete silence over any possible connections with the indictment of FIFA officials on various charges, including acceptance of gratification in awarding World Cup editions. The situation continues to hold suspense amidst reports coming from the US that criminal charges are to be brought against more people. Bloomberg reports quoting Internal Revenue Service’s chief investigator that the U.S. investigation of corruption in […]
|By K Raveendran| The battle for supremacy between American and European legacy airlines on one side and the Gulf carriers of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways is apparently entering another interesting phase. An indication of how the tussle might play out in the days to come was available a couple of days ago, when one of the Gulf players threatened the other side with dire economic consequences […]
|By K Raveendran| Samena Capital, which recently completed the purchase of UAE’s global ceramics leader RAK Ceramics, has acquired a significant stake in London-based private banking and corporate advisory Kleinwort Benson Bank. (KBBL) The transaction opens up the possibility of the bank establishing a new global merchant banking operation in Dubai to offer advisory services for corporate in the region. The transaction is expected to close by […]
|By K Raveendran| Bank customers often find themselves being led up the garden path by the sweet talk of sales agents and rosy promises held out by advertisements when they change their bank. The new choice invariably turns out to be worse than the one that had been given the ditch. There is consolation on the way for such disconcerted customers. The UAE Banks Federation, the collective […]
|By K Raveendran| India has raised tax rates on petrol and diesel, taking advantage of falling oil prices to bolster government revenues, which will help Narendra Modi’s government to tough fiscal deficit targets. The move has disappointed even the most ardent Modi fans, who would have expected the government to take advantage of the falling oil prices to reduce retail prices of petrol and diesel. But a […]
|By K Raveendran| The run-away success of Alibaba’s blockbuster IPO is seen inspiring other online players to take similar routes. Among the probable candidates is leading online trading and investment entity Saxo Bank. “The IPO is one of the options the management has under consideration,” Jakob Beck Thomsen, CEO of Saxo Bank Dubai, told The Arabian Post. But he refused to commit himself on a specific time […]
By K Raveendran at CeBIT Eurasia, Istanbul Turkey’s Aktif Bank has no branches. In fact, in 2007, when the bank embarked on its journey, it did not even have a signboard. But today, the bank has one of the country’s fastest growing customer bases and every man on the street is its potential customer. Modelled as a ‘shop in shop’, its products and services are sold by […]
By K Raveendran at CeBit Eurasia, Istanbul Deutsche Messe, organisers of CeBIT technology shows and global conferences, is keenly watching the success of Dubai’s Gitex but is for the present content with carrying on with CeBIT Eurasia Turkey as the regional edition, although the leading global technology show organizer considers Dubai as a most desirable venue. Deuteche Messe apparently believes that Gitex is such a strong contender […]
|By K Raveendran| The Chinese presence in the UAE, Gulf and the Middle East is well-entrenched, with China becoming almost a byword for manufacturing, engineering, construction and supply of any kind of goods. Over the years, China has also built up a global footprint for its consumer electronics industry, where the ingenuity of its people to come up with cheaper versions of the most sophisticated products not […]
|By K Raveendran| Is the ‘irrational exuberance’ man at it again? Allen Greenspan, whose description of the state of the market during the course of a nondescript banking speech in 1996 presaged a bubble burst three years later, has spoken out again. The former Federal Reserve Chairman has in a TV interview suggested that the ‘extraordinary esteem’ in which dollar is held around the world may not […]
|By K Raveendran| The Dubai real estate scene today has several similarities with the pre-crisis situation of 2008, which ultimately led to the emirate’s property bubble. Conflicting signals, including a series of big ticket announcements, entry of new developers and growing concern about overheating in the market, are making it a thoroughly confusing proposition. The announcement of the Mall of the World, a domed, climate-controlled city more […]
|By K Raveendran| It is indeed a milestone in the history of UAE’s expatriate business. The purchase of a controlling stake in Travelex by Dr B R Shetty is easily the biggest acquisition by an expatriate both in terms of its value and profile. It is also perhaps the biggest global brand acquired by a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur. There have been buyouts of higher values, but these […]
Coca-Cola’s Facebook page is supposed to have the biggest fan base for any brand. As per the latest tally, the page has over 82 million ‘likes’. A large part of this is obviously built up through paid promotion, but given that this is the highest number any single brand has managed to pull together on any social media platform, it is an achievement that the soft drink […]
Dubai is set to become a smart city in the next three years, which would see a thousand government services going smart along with other changes that will make daily life of the residents smoother. There will be service booths in public places like malls equipped with video conferencing, document scanning and printing services so that people can complete almost all paperwork without visiting any of the […]
| By K Raveendran| A number of banks have failed to complete the process of providing credit data of their customers for the past two years. The Etihad Credit Bureau, the federal government entity responsible for administering the credit data base, has expressed concern over the delay and pointed out that effectiveness of the bureau’s reports would depend on the submission of quality data by the banks […]
| By K Raveendran| There has been a considerable media buzz over the recent Saudi announcement that work to build the a kilometre tall Kingdom Tower in Jeddah is set to start within a few days. The regional media, in particular, is celebrating the prospect of the new tower deposing Dubai’s iconic Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest skyscraper. According to the project consultants, the Saudi tower […]
|By K Raveendran| Samena Capital, an investment firm founded by Shirish Saraf, a former colleague of Arif Naqwi in Abraaj Capital, is in talks to buy as much as 50 percent of RAK Ceramics, the world’s biggest maker of ceramic tiles, according to two people familiar with the matter. Established in 2008, Samena Capital focuses on the Subcontinent, Asia, Middle East and North Africa, collectively the SAMENA […]
|By K Raveendran| The agreement for the roll-over of $20 billion debt between Abu Dhabi and Dubai is expected to help Dubai refinance some of the other upcoming debt maturities with confidence, which depended a lot on the successful resolution of repayments owed to Abu Dhabi government and the UAE central bank, and continue to spend heavily on the ongoing infrastructure development. Dubai has already approached creditors […]
|By K Raveendran| Abu Dhabi is set to launch an inaugural issuance of treasury bills of around $1 billion this year, along with an issue of $500 million commercial debt by Sharjah to invest in capital projects, sources familiar with the subject reveal. Also on the cards s a sukuk issue by Ras Al Khaimah, which has to refinance about $400 million in debt coming due this […]
|By K Raveendran| Limitless, a major government related entity in the Dubai Inc, is understood to have approached lenders with a waiver request for the first amortization payment of $0.4 billion due in December 2014 under its 2012 debt restructuring agreement of a $1.2 billion loan. It was a similar waiver request in the past that had precipitated Dubai’s financial crisis beginning 2008. The $0.4 billion amortization […]
|By K Raveendran|The recent vote by the European Parliament to allow visa-free travel to Europe for UAE nationals and the reciprocal arrangement under which European citizens can visit the UAE without the need for pre-entry visas will be a tremendous boost to bilateral tourism. The development represents a major achievement for the UAE in terms of its standing in international comity. That this has come despite powerful […]
