|By TAP Staff| Middle East carriers recorded a 9.9% increase in passenger traffic demand in September, well down on the 13.7% year-over year growth experienced in August, International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced. Capacity rose 12.9% and load factor slipped 2.1 percentage points to 75.7%. Major economies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have experienced slowdowns in non-oil sectors, it pointed out. […]
|By Matein Khalid| I was in a pensive-philosophic mood last week as I decompressed from a trip to a hauntingly beautiful post Soviet country in the Caucasus, the land that produced Koba from Gori and Prince Pyotr Bagration, the fallen hero of Tsar Alexander’s imperial guard at Borodino. Yet Georgia gave me time and perspective to think about the financial firestorms on Wall Street, Marounuchi, the Gulf […]
|By TAP Staff| With the departure of AC056, Air Canada inaugurated new service between Toronto and Dubai, the newest addition to its growing international network. The new route will be operated using Air Canada’s most modern aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner featuring its new cabin interior design with three classes of service, including its next generation, lie flat suites in International Business Class. “Air Canada is very […]
Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) has launched its Islamic finance business in Dubai, to focus on sharia-compliant loan syndications with later plans to offer project financing, a bank official said. Large Asian lenders from China to Japan are increasingly interested in Islamic finance as a way to tap large pools of liquidity in southeast Asia and the Gulf. In July, BTMU received approval from the Dubai […]
|By Matein Khalid| Saudi Arabia has fascinated me since I first met Hani AZ Yamani as a teenage student all those years ago at Wharton. Hani’s father was Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, legendary Saudi Oil Minister (1962-86) under Kings Faisal, Khalid and Fahd. Sheikh Yamani managed the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks, survived a terrorist assault in Vienna by Carlos the Jackal, midwifed the birth of Saudi […]
|By TAP Staff| Majid Al Futtaim, owners of Carrefour franchise in the Middle East, has launched a benchmark $500 million, ten-year sukuk issue, with initial pricing set around 270 basis points over midswaps. The banks involved with the issue are Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC, National Bank Of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered. The sukuk will use the wakala structure, in which one party […]
|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 […]
|By TAP Staff| Etihad Airways won a great PR opportunity when a German court allowed it temporary injunction to continue operating all its codeshare flights with airberlin to destinations in Europe, the US and the UAE. The injunction granted by the Administrative Court of Braunschweig is valid until 8 November. It provides an opportunity for the parties to resolve outstanding differences through ongoing consultation between the Governments […]
The world is awash in crude, but big oil companies are lining up to develop new fields in Iran even as they slash spending and abandon exploration elsewhere. One thing explains this paradox: cost. The Middle Eastern country is one of the cheapest places in the world to tap new oil fields and pump from existing wells. The slump in crude prices makes Iran even more attractive […]
|By TAP Staff| About 60-70% of the Middle East businesses are owned by family businesses and 88% of them are present in five or more sectors, most common being real estate, construction, retail, manufacturing, and travel and leisure, according to the findings of a study on GCC family businesses undertaken on behalf of the Gulf Family Business Council (GFBC), the regional association of Family Business Network International […]
|By TAP Staff| Etihad Airways and IBM announced a ten-year technology services agreement worth approximately US$700 million. The transformational agreement, one of the most important strategic collaborations by Etihad Airways, will provide access to the latest cloud-based technologies and services for the airline, its group companies and equity partners. Etihad Airways, one of the fastest-growing airlines in the world, carried 14.8 million passengers in 2014, and serves […]
| By Yaroslav Trofimov| Despised by some, admired by others, the U.S. has been the Middle East’s principal power for decades, providing its allies with guidance and protection. Now, however, with Russia and Iran thrusting themselves boldly into the region’s affairs, that special role seems to be melting away. As seasoned politicians and diplomats survey the mayhem, they struggle to recall a moment when America counted for […]
|By TAP Staff| Majid Al Futtaim Holding is weighing an offer to acquire Abu Dhabi consumer finance firm Dunia Finance, Chief Executive Officer Alain Bejjani said in an interiew. “Dunia is an opportunity that was presented to us, so we are looking at it,” Bejjani said, but clarified that the company has not yet decided on a formal bid. Dunia’s shareholders, including Mubadala Development Co. and a unit […]
|By TAP Staff| Dubai-based developer Buroj Property Development said it plans to invest $4.8 billion to build a luxury tourist resort near Sarajevo, in what could be the biggest foreign investment of its kind in the Balkan country, Reuters reported. Bosnia, where Muslim Bosniaks are the largest of its three ethnic groups, has seen an influx of tourists from the Middle East in recent years and a […]
|By TAP Staff| Dubai Islamic Bank is exploring an entry into India as it seeks to benefit from the funding needs of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, it was reported. “We as part of our international growth strategy are looking into India as one of the emerging Islamic finance markets,” Chief Executive Officer Adnan Chilwan said in an e-mailed response to questions from Bloomberg News. India […]
UAE. Across the GCC, public pension funds amount to US$397 billion, representing nearly a quarter of GDP and US$15,000 per national. This is according to EY’s GCC Wealth and Asset Management 2015 report – “Fast growth, divergent paths”, launched at the FundForum Middle East 2015. GCC Governments are relooking at existing models of both public and international pension funds to ensure they are sustainable. George Triplow, MENA […]
SAUDI ARABIA. JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, today released its third quarter (Q3 2015) Riyadh and Jeddah Real Estate Market Overview reports that asses the latest trends in the office, residential, retail and hotel sectors. Mr Jamil Ghaznawi, National Director and Country Head of JLL KSA, commented: “The Riyadh real estate market has maintained a steady performance this quarter. The office sector […]
JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities announced Monday night that they had apprehended a group of Palestinian militants affiliated with Hamas who admitted responsibility for the fatal shooting last week of an Israeli couple in front of their four children in the occupied West Bank. “We will act with a very harsh hand against terror and also against incitement,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said in a […]
|By TAP Staff| There are 1,275 ultra wealthy individuals in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), representing 20% of the total ultra wealthy population in the Middle East, Wealth-X research shows. The combined wealth of the UAE’s ultra high net worth (UHNW) population stands at US$255 billion. Wealth-X defines UHNW individuals as those with US$30 million and above in net assets. The study also reveals that 57% of […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Another landmark structure in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra has been deliberately destroyed by Islamic State militants, according to local antigovernment activists and Syrian officials. The building involved this time was a set of triumphal arches, erected in the second century. Since seizing Palmyra from government forces in May, Islamic State fighters have destroyed some of the most beautiful and historically significant monuments in […]
TEHRAN — As the music ended and the crowd rose in a standing ovation, several women in the audience could be seen with heads bared, the obligatory head scarves draped around their necks. This was no underground concert by an indie band in North Tehran, though. Rather, it was a recital by a classical lute player in Vahdat Hall. As the opera house emptied, the women casually […]
DUBAI // The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai on Sunday launched a development foundation to fight poverty, spread knowledge, build communities and encourage innovation in more than 100 countries. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives will consolidate the work of 28 existing aid organisations, such as Dubai Cares, UAE Water Aid and the blindness-prevention charity Noor Dubai, with an annual operating budget of Dh1 […]
SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia is leveraging low oil prices to accelerate development of its downstream petrochemical derivatives sector, and will add over 30 million tonnes of production capacity by 2020, raising production to 126 million tonnes from 2014 levels of 94.6 million tonnes, the latest edition of The Oil & Gas Year (TOGY) revealed. Capital expenditure in the petrochemical sector as well is set to further […]
