|By Matein Khalid| I had written an article titled “six reasons to be bullish Saudi equities in 2018, published in the KT on January 28. Yet I was surprised to see Saudi Arabian equities become the world’s second best performing stock market in 2018 after Egypt. The Saudi equity index fund (KSA) I recommended in my column is up 18% at a time when the MSCI emerging markets […]
By Matein Khalid A dismal legacy of civil war, sanctions, insurgency, foreign invasion and terrorism has had a catastrophic impact on the Iraqi economy. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told the assembled global elite at Davos 2018 that Iraq needed $100 billion in postwar construction. Yet money alone will not solve Iraq’s problems of systemic corruption, a society divided by sectarian cleavages, poverty, the displacement of 2 million […]
By James M. Dorsey Twin attacks earlier this week on Pakistani security forces in the troubled province of Balochistan cast a light on a sustained and violent campaign against police and paramilitary units as well as Shiite and Christian minorities. The attacks by groups, some of which have had links to Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence apparatus as well as Saudi Arabia, spotlight the Pakistani state’s inability to […]
By James M. Dorsey Bangladesh, in a twist of irony, is looking to Saudi Arabia to fund a $ 1 billion plan to build hundreds of mosques and religious centres to counter militant Islam that for much of the past decade traced its roots to ultra-conservative strands of the faith promoted by a multi-billion dollar Saudi campaign. The Bangladeshi plan constitutes the first effort by a Muslim country to enlist […]
By James M Dorsey The Middle East has a knack for sucking external powers into its conflicts. China’s ventures into the region have shown how difficult it is to maintain its principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. China’s abandonment of non-interference is manifested by its (largely ineffective) efforts to mediate conflicts in South Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan as well as between Israel and Palestine and even between Saudi […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Overall sentiment in the GCC’s construction sector has improved over the last two years by approximately 7 per cent (from 32 per cent to 39 per cent), according to recent findings from Pinsent Masons’ GCC Construction Survey. The findings show that the UAE remains the number one market expected to deliver growth in 2018, with 38 per cent of respondents expecting the country […]
|Mark Ackerman| Automation has the ability to transform society for the better. Every day I see the powerful impact it can have, revolutionising the way business and everyday tasks are done, saving time, money and delivering game-changing economics. It will increase productivity, which is essential for future growth and prosperity. It will also see the end of employees spending time on mundane, repetitive tasks, instead freeing up […]
|By Matein Khalid| When I first started on a Treasury bond futures trading desk in New York fresh out of Wharton, a senior mentor once advised to keep track of the four heartbeats of gold finance in real time. The price of money (interest rates), the price of currency (the US dollar), the price of oil and the price of gold. The price of money can be […]
|By Matein Khalid| Dubai based Gulf Islamic Investments (GII) acquired a one million square foot Amazon logistics center in Dortmund, Germany for $144 million. This deal is a testament to the boutique global merchant bank created in Dubai by GII’s co-founder/CEO Pankaj Gupta, who I am honored to call a friend. I consciously model my own firm Asas Capial on the strategic path laid out by GII and […]
|By Matein Khalid|The rise in Brent crude to $60 a barrel and the trade volume ballast generated by the world’s first post Lehman synchronized economic recovery is hugely positive for UAE economic growth in 2018. After all, the UAE is unique because Abu Dhabi’s 100 billion barrels of proven oil reserves is complemented by Dubai’s role as the Gulf’s financial, logistics, aviation, shopping and services hub. The […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| UAE-based multinational company, Crescent Enterprises, has announced the successful closing of its investment in ColubrisMX and XCath, two next-generation micro-robotic medical device companies through its newly launched corporate venture arm, Crescent Enterprises Venture Capital (CE-VC). Developed at the University of Texas Medical School’s Microsurgical Robotics Laboratory and incorporated in Texas, USA, both companies design and develop next-generation robotic technologies that are expected to revolutionise […]
|By Matein Khalid|I am often asked by investors to articulate my “philosophy” of real estate investing. Tough question. My ideal deal is one where it is possible to buy brick and mortar assets at 60 – 70% of replacement cost. This usually occurs in the aftermath of a banking crisis or economic shock. This was the case in Florida homes in 2009 or Spanish office space in […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Boeing and flydubai signed a landmark agreement for 225 737 MAX airplanes with a list price value of $27 billion. The deal represents the largest-ever single-aisle jet order – by number of airplanes and total value – from a Middle East carrier. Signed at the 2017 Dubai Airshow in flydubai’s hometown, the agreement includes a commitment for 175 MAX airplanes, and purchase rights […]
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid’s new cabinet formation is predicated on a futuristic approach that lays greater emphasis on science and technology, transparency and the empowerment of women and youth. It marks a departure from the traditonal approach to governance steeped in the past rather than future. The age profile of some of those inducted into the new ministry would sound as though they are at the start […]
|By Matein Khalid| Jamie Dimon, the unanointed king of Wall Street and chief executive of New York banking colossus J.P. Morgan did not mince his words. He called Bitcoin “a fraud”, a speculative bubble comparable to the Dutch tulip mania of the seventeenth century and declared he would fire any trader at his bank trading in the cryptocurrency “in a second” for “stupidity”. This has only reinforced the […]
|By Matein Khalid| Trump’s post Charlottesville remarks, the Barcelona terrorist attacks and Cisco’s results unnerved the US stock market bulls last week. Friday was a surreal moment in the history of Wall Street. It was entirely rational for traders on the New York Stock Exchange floor to cheers and the Dow Jones Index rise 150 points when news broke that Trump had fired his alt-right, white nationalist chief strategist […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Teneo Holdings, the global CEO advisory firm, today announced that it has acquired Credo Business Consulting LLP, a leading management consulting firm with operations in London and Dubai. Credo is a highly-respected management consulting firm focused on corporate strategy, transaction services, commercial and operating model transformation and performance improvement. With an outstanding reputation for depth of analysis and insight, Credo has helped many of the world’s leading organizations […]
|By Arabian Posr Staff| The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Borealis have signed a framework agreement to expand both ADNOC and Borealis downstream petrochemicals business and support the delivery of ADNOC’s integrated smart growth and partnership strategy. Under the agreement, ADNOC and Borealis will move to the pre-feed (front end engineering and design) stage for the construction of the Borouge 4 complex, which encompasses a world-scale, mixed […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The GSMA announced the appointment of Laxmi Akkaraju as Chief Strategy Officer. Ms. Akkaraju, who was most recently Senior Vice President, Global Delivery at EVRY, will join the GSMA effective 1 September and will report to GSMA Director General Mats Granryd. As Chief Strategy Officer, Ms. Akkaraju will work with the GSMA’s operator members in identifying opportunities that will advance the development of the […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Xanadu Real Estate Development, a Dubai-based property developer, announced the delivery of nearly 200 luxury villas and townhouses with a development value exceeding Dh750 million, part of the Dh8 billion worth of projects it helped deliver with its partners over the last six years. These include 130 Townhouses at Jumeirah Village Circle, worth Dh300 million and 68 luxury villas at Jumeirah Golf Estates, […]
DUBAI // In an age when so many of the tales told about the Arab world are tinged with despair, there was at least one night set aside to celebrate some good. That’s what the audience wanted, and they came by the thousands to see it first hand. There to hear the inspirational stories were Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh […]
Google will launch its payment system Android Pay in Brazil by the end of 2017, the company announced yesterday. The company’s director of engineering for payment products Varouj Chitilian told delegates at Google’s I/O 2017 event taking place this week that “the momentum and the traction is just incredible” for the company’s contactless payment offering. “I’m personally very excited about Brazil because it will be our first […]
The event discussed latest technology developments, created business opportunities and tackled industry issues and challenges Qatar, Doha, 18 May 2017 Billed as Middle East’s premier event for the real estate and hotel industry, Hotelier Summit Middle East 2017 gathered once again some of the biggest names in the local and international hospitality sector to engage in focused face-to-face business meetings, discuss the latest technology developments, create business […]
Chemists, materials scientists and nanoengineers have created what may be the ultimate natural sunscreen. They report the development of nanoparticles that mimic the behavior of natural melanosomes, melanin-producing cell structures that protect our skin, eyes and other tissues from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. (via WSJ)
