Qatar reduced the number of stadiums it plans to build for the 2022 soccer World Cup by a third amid rising costs and delays. The country, which won the right in 2010 to host the world’s most-watched sporting event, plans to build eight stadiums for the games, Ghanim Al Kuwari, the organizing committee’s senior manager for projects, said at a conference in Doha yesterday. The country originally […]
Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi’s biggest developer, is returning to development with three new projects and studying plans for an additional 20 amid a nascent recovery in the emirate’s property market, the company’s chairman said today. Aldar, which took over a smaller rival in June, will start sales of three residential developments in Abu Dhabi valued at a total of 5 billion dirhams ($1.36 billion). The projects include […]
|By TAP Staff| The Dubai World Trade Centre on Saturday announced that 2.2 million trade delegates and attendees visited exhibitions centre last year – marking the first time the figure has crossed the 2 million milestone. Dubai World Trade Centre hosted 373 meetings, incentives, conferencing, and exhibitions (MICE )and business events throughout 2013, up from 302 in the previous year. Exhibitors from more than 130 nations attended. […]
Office stock in Dubai continues to see significant growth with over 1.8 million square metre set to be delivered by the end of 2017 amid a sustained year-on-year rental rally of 21 per cent, according to CBRE. The average prime annual rental rate now measures dh1830 per square metre in dubai and this figure is expected to experience further upward movement. There is a large pipeline of […]
The masterplan for the $1.6bn Bluewaters Island project off the coast of Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Residences is to undergo a redesign. The island, which is being developed by government-owned developer Meraas, is currently split into three zones. One contains the Dubai Eye – the world’s tallest, 210m-high Ferris Wheel – and is surrounded by other retail and leisure units. A second zone, facing out onto the Arabian […]
Amina al-Rustamani, a member of a prominent UAE family, raised eyebrows among friends and relatives when she started her career in Dubai 13 years ago as an electrical engineer, becoming one of few females in the Middle East to enter the profession. Success in a male-dominated environment helped give her the confidence to rise up the career ladder and break more barriers. She is now chief executive […]
Ahli United Bank (AUB), Bahrain’s largest lender, is evaluating a sale or a merger with a rival bank in a potential $5 billion deal, several bankers familiar with the situation said. A deal of this size would be the largest banking transaction in the region for the past 20 years, according to Thomson Reuters data, beating Emirates Bank’s $3.7 billion acquisition of National Bank of Dubai in […]
The wrenching selloff in U.S. high-growth technology and biotech shares could leave investors braced for more than a minor pullback when earnings pick up speed this week. First-quarter earnings estimates have fallen sharply as many companies have blamed the brutal winter for weak outlooks. With high-valuation stocks under pressure, earnings could be subjected to even more investor scrutiny than usual. “There’s skepticism among investors about the outlook, […]
Dubai’s benchmark stock index fell the most in a month, tracking a decline in global markets last week, on investor concern this year’s rally was overdone given prospects for earnings growth. Saudi Arabia’s gauge dropped. The DFM General Index tumbled 1.7 percent, the most since March 12, to close at 4,759.15 in the emirate. Dubai Islamic Bank , the United Arab Emirates’ biggest shariah-compliant bank, declined for […]
|By TAP Staff| FDI investment in the UAE reached US$ 12 billion in 2013 and is projected to grow 20 percent in 2014 to reach US$ 14.4 billion, according to Fortress Investments. The estimated growth rate in 2014 would represent a 260 percent increase over 2008, which not only demonstrates full recovery from the global financial crisis, but reflects huge future growth potential for UAE economy that […]
|TAP Special| The Mayor of Oakland, California, caused a stir last week claiming that Dubai crown prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum has partnered with the developers of a sports and entertainment centre at Oakland Coliseum complex. According to a report in Oakland Tribune, Mayor Jean Quan, however, retracted her claim a day later. The Mayor’s spokesman said one of the developers did have connections with […]
General Motors engineers were well aware of serious problems with ignition switches in GM small cars, but rejected several opportunities to make fixes, according to dozens of confidential documents released on Friday by a Congressional committee investigating the deadly defect. Parts supplier Delphi Automotive also repeatedly tested switches and found they did not meet GM specifications, according to emails and other memos. The internal documents from GM, […]
The U.S. government warned banks and other businesses on Friday to be on alert for hackers seeking to steal data exposed by the “Heartbleed” bug, as a German programmer took responsibility for the widespread security crisis. On a website for advising critical infrastructure operators about emerging cyber threats, the Department of Homeland Security asked organizations to report any Heartbleed-related attacks, adding that hackers were attempting to exploit […]
Vodafone Group Plc said it expected to close on Friday a deal to buy an 11 percent stake in its Indian business from minority partner Piramal Enterprises Ltd, giving it full ownership. Piramal said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its 11 percent stake to the British group for 89 billion rupees. A Vodafone spokesman separately said the group had already completed a transaction to buy […]
The company planning the first initial share offering on Dubai’s main stock market for five years says it will spend the proceeds on opening more than 100 fashion stores, restaurants and cafes across the Gulf Arab region over the next five years. Marka, created by prominent businessmen in the United Arab Emirates, will offer for sale 55 percent of its capital or 275 million shares at 1 […]
New York’s highest state court has ruled that a lawsuit by the Algosaibi family conglomerate, claiming that a Saudi billionaire who married into the family committed a $150 million fraud, should be heard in Saudi Arabia. In the lawsuit, Ahmed Hamad al Gosaibi & Brothers Co claimed that Maan al-Sanea, the billionaire head of the Saad Group, used its accounts with Dubai-based Mashreqbank PSC to commit fraudulent […]
John Defterios speaks with the developers behind a waterfront development hoping to make Cyprus island a luxury yachting destination. If your browser has Adobe Flash Player installed, click above to play. Otherwise, click below. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. (via CNN)
The Cumberland Hotel in London where the savage attacks on the UAE women happened Following the horrific attack on three Emirati women at the Cumberland Hotel in London on Sunday (6 April), police arrested four people late on Tuesday (8 April). Warrants were executed at addresses in Islington and three men (aged 32, 34 and 56) were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Also, a woman (aged […]
Warburg Pincus, the private-equity firm managing about $37 billion in assets, is considering investments in Africa and the Middle East as capital starts to flow back into emerging markets. “We are looking beyond the core euro-zone markets into the rapidly growing emerging markets around Europe for investment opportunities,” Joseph Schull, head of Warburg Pincus in Europe, said in an interview yesterday. “Africa is the next big frontier […]
|By TAP Staff|Last year the Pay TV market in the MENA region grew 11.2 percent in terms of market share and 14.13 percent in terms of subscriber numbers, according to the findings of the latest Middle East Media Market report released by IHS, a leading global source of business information and insight. Over the last decade (2004 – 2013) the number of primary Pay TV subscribers almost […]
A majority of private-equity firms inflate fees and expenses charged to companies in which they hold stakes, according to an internal review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, raising the prospect of a wave of sanctions by the agency. More than half of about 400 private-equity firms that SEC staff have examined have charged unjustified fees and expenses without notifying investors, according to a person with […]
Dubai-based real estate investment trust Emirates REIT IPO said it had expanded the size of its initial public offer of shares on NASDAQ Dubai, the emirate’s first IPO since its financial crisis erupted in 2009, because of strong demand. Emirates REIT will raise $175 million in the IPO, which was 3.5 times oversubscribed, by selling 128.68 million new shares, it said in a statement on Sunday. In […]
Abu Dhabi real estate developer Aldar Properties will consider floating its property management unit Khidmah through an initial public offer of shares in coming years, the company said in a statement on Sunday. Aldar, which is majority state-owned and is Abu Dhabi’s largest property firm, is the majority shareholder in Khidmah with a 60 percent stake. “We believe there is a strong case to consider listing the […]
When Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi gave a speech on the virtues of smaller government and privatization on April 8 last year, supporters called him an ideological heir to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died that day. Modi, favorite to form India’s next government after elections starting on Monday, has yet to unveil any detailed economic plans but it is clear that some of his […]
