Branding on a budget DUBAI, 16 days ago How does a lone entrepreneur create a brand image and message and keeping costs low? While this really depends on how lean your start-up will be, there are a number of tools which one can pick and mix to launch a brand, a report said. The fundamental strategy when branding on a budget is to eliminate the need for […]
The path to a wearable future lies in academia NEW YORK, 16 days ago By Jeremy Wagstaff For a glimpse of what is, what might have been and what may lie ahead in wearable devices, look beyond branded tech and Silicon Valley start-ups to the messy labs, dry papers and solemn conferences of academia. There you’d find that you might control your smartphone with your tongue, skin […]
UAE. A new study reveals that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs can significantly increase UAE companies’ performance and recognition. The research, commissioned by the social enterprise Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3) and conducted by the global market research company YouGov, presented today at the CSR Summit in Dubai, shows that around three-quarters of residents are more likely to purchase from companies that actively contribute to […]
UAE. The findings of a new study by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy, shows that mobile technologies are creating immense value for consumers – value that greatly exceeds the costs of owning a mobile device. In fact, consumers worldwide value mobile technologies at 11 to 45 percent of their income – well above what […]
UAE. Landmark real estate regulatory changes including the UAE-wide Federal Mortgage Cap and Dubai’s doubling of Property Registration Fees last year, which was aimed at curbing speculative activity, have together gradually and successfully contained a market that was in danger of overheating with the level of transactional activity now dramatically reduced, according to latest research released by international real estate consultancy Cluttons. Cluttons Spring 2015 Dubai Residential […]
CRM behemoth Salesforce is rolling out the next iteration of Community Cloud, technology that lets companies combine business data and processes with its customer relationship management (CRM) platform to create personalized, mobile destinations. Specifically, Salesforce is adding Targeted Recommendations, Lightning Community Builder and Templates and Salesforce Files Connect for Google Drive. The goal is to help companies connect with stakeholders in new ways. Community Cloud was already […]
Market research firm Gartner Inc. on Thursday estimated that 7.3 million Chromebooks would be sold this year, fueled mostly by demand from the education industry. Gartner said its sales estimate was an increase of 27 percent from 2014, when the education industry accounted for 72 percent of sales. Chromebooks, the computers powered by Google’s Chrome operating system, are designed to be used primarily to access the Internet […]
MUMBAI Indian e-commerce firms are offering funding help and tech support to woo small retailers, emulating a strategy used by Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to expand into the towns and villages home to the majority of consumers. India’s biggest e-tailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and the local arm of Amazon.com Inc are online marketplaces, with commission from sellers accounting for the bulk of […]
|Special by TAP Staff| RERA’s Rent Index system continues to be unrealistic as it fails to factor in variables such as views, size of units, age of the building, and this might may trigger a period of ‘off-grid’ deals, where landlords and tenants agree to rents that are not in sync with RERA’s recommendations, property consultants Cluttons has predicted. The Cluttons’ report highlights that with supply levels […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Properties announced its intention to list its Egyptian subsidiary Emaar Misr for Development to proceed with an IPO, which will be listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange. The offer will comprise a part meant for retail investors in Egypt, and a private placement to institutional investors. Emaar Misr plans to use the net proceeds raised from the offering to further the development of […]
|By TAP Staff| Arch Reinsurance Ltd. (Arch) announced completion of its acquisition of Gulf Reinsurance Ltd. (Gulf Re), a specialty reinsurer based in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Gulf Re was founded jointly by Arch and the Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) in 2008. In 2014, Arch and the GIC signed an agreement whereby Arch would acquire 100% ownership of Gulf Re. The agreement provides that, among other […]
|By TAP Staff| The sale of residential properties in Dubai may continue to slide by one to five percent in the first half of this year, according to a report for Deloitte Financial Advisory. But the report forecasts a pickup in the second part of the year. It added that super prime malls will experience further growth in tourist numbers whilst residents will drive demand for convenience […]
|By TAP Staff| RP Global – part of RP Group of Companies, a global business conglomerate with an annual turnover of over US$4 billion – made its entry into the Dubai real estate market by breaking ground on its new multi-storey residential tower project RP Heights. RP Global will initially develop two prestigious projects in the heart of the city with a total development value of over […]
|TAP Special| US airlines companies hired secret accountants to unearth how Gulf governments subsidized their airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, western media has reported. As the battle intensifies over U.S. airlines’ allegations of unfair state subsidies to three Persian Gulf rivals, American carriers have been gathering data to support their claims sheds light on the vast financial reporting divide between the two sides. The U.S. […]
|By TAP Staff| Emaar Malls , the shopping malls and retail business majority-owned by global property developer Emaar Properties, records net profit of AED 433 million (US$ 118 million) during the first quarter (January to March) of 2015. This is 32 per cent higher than Q1 2014 net profit of AED 329 million (US$ 90 million). The revenue during Q1 2015 across all its mall and retail […]
Dubai Investments said on Wednesday it plans to enter new markets in Africa and the Gulf region, as it reported a 6.5 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit. “Several new investment proposals are currently under evaluation, with some of them in advanced stages of negotiations,” Khalid bin Kalban, the firm’s chief executive, said in a statement. Kalban said the firm was targeting diversified sectors such as […]
Talhouk … turning data into insights. Microsoft summit highlights data analysis trends DUBAI, 1 days ago The second Microsoft Dynamics Summit, which concluded recently in Dubai, UAE has provided new insights on how Dynamics tools will enable organisations to more effectively make sense of data and fuel greater speed and precision in decision-making. The summit took place at Jumeirah Beach Hotel and attracted hundreds of business leaders, […]
Doha Bank posts $115m net profit, up 5.2pc DUBAI, 18 hours, 57 minutes ago Doha Bank has posted a net profit of QR420 million ($115.2 million) for the first quarter of the year, compared to QR399 million for the same period last year, an increase of 5.2 per cent. The bank’s net operating income increased 2.3 per cent to QR714 million, while its total assets increase QR4.1 […]
Alitalia SpA may follow British Airways parent IAG in quitting the Association of European Airlines as a rift widens over the competitive threat from Gulf carriers, which are the biggest shareholders at both companies. “A strong signal is needed and other airlines have already done that,” Alitalia Chief Executive Officer Silvano Cassano, whose Rome-based company is 49 percent owned by Etihad Airways PJSC, said in an interview. […]
|By TAP Staff| The Middle East is set to witness $640 billion worth of construction projects, with each one exceeding $1 billion in the next five years, according to organizers of the Leaders in Architecture MENA 2015, being held in Dubai from today. These projects are spread across a combination of retail, real estate, leisure, health and education asset developments as well as transport, communication and supporting […]
/Marshall Hargrave/investorsalley.com/The end of Google’s reign as the king of search is near. Competitors are eating away market share and growth is sputtering. Trying to cherry-pick the next winner in search, however, is akin to rolling dice at a casino. All luck. Where investors are going to make their millions is in this red hot sector that is on the vanguard of life-saving technology that will revolutionize […]
Dubai’s drive to develop its Islamic finance sector is fuelling growth of sharia-compliant banking but the benefits are unevenly distributed, with some lenders struggling to compete against burgeoning competition. In 2013, Dubai’s government announced plans to turn the emirate into a centre for an “Islamic economy” with sharia-compliant businesses ranging from banking to asset management, trade, food preparation and certification, fashion, education and tourism. This looked like […]
In my previous column, I outlined the innovative German system of cooperative study and universities of applied sciences. These institutes in particular support a practical, hands-on approach to learning about engineering. But where do managers of mid-sized business learn the tools of their trade? As we have seen, traditionally, the answer would be through common sense and trial and error. The majority of world-leading mid-sized enterprises were […]
Deutsche Bank must pay the largest ever fine levied by the regulator of Dubai’s financial free zone for what the watchdog described as “serious contraventions” by the German lender’s wealth management business in the emirate. The $8.4 million levy from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) is the latest regulatory blow for the Frankfurt-based lender, which faces billions of euros in potential claims or settlements over alleged […]
