|By James M. Dorsey| A series of Gulf and Middle East-related developments suggest that resolving some of the Middle East’s most debilitating and devastating crises while ensuring that efforts to pressure Iran do not perpetuate the mayhem may be easier said than done. They also suggest that the same is true for keeping US and Saudi interests aligned. Optimists garner hope from the fact that the US Senate may […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX), the region’s leading financial market, together with General Holding Corporation (SENAAT), one of the largest holding companies in industrial investment in the UAE, rang the market opening bell to celebrate the listing of the first tranche of SENAAT sukuk. Valued at $300 million (1.1 billion AED), it is the first of its kind dual listing between Abu Dhabi Securities […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Global trade enabler DP World announced the successful closing of the acquisition of 100% of the Unifeeder Group, an integrated logistics company with the largest and best-connected feeder and growing shortsea network in Northern Europe with connectivity to approximately 100 ports. Unifeeder operates the largest and most densely connected common user container feeder and an important and growing shortsea network in Europe, serving both […]
|By Matein Khalid| OPEC”s ministerial meeting on December 6 will have a seismic impact on the outlook for global oil markets. OPEC has been unnerved by a 30% fall in crude oil prices in the past two months on expectations of lower oil demand due to a Chinese economic slowdown, spectacular growth in US shale oil supply, King Dollar’s chilling impact on the commodities complex and long […]
|By Saifur Rehman|A 37 percent jump in fuel price has reduced the half-yearly net income of Emirates Group by 53 percent to $296 million in the first half of 2018-19 year, a company statement said. The high fuel cost as well as currency devaluations in India, Brazil, Angola and Iran, wiped out approximately Dh4.6 billion from the group’s profits. Emirates Group, which operates the world’s largest international […]
|By Matein Khalid| The post Lehman decade was defined by the Federal Reserve’s “lender of the last resort” strategy to stabilize the global banking system. The American central bank expanded its balance sheet from $900 billion to $4.5 trillion. This led to a collapse in money market rates, Treasury bond yields and asset market volatility. Bull markets are born in panic and die in a frenzy of […]
James M. Dorsey The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and potential Western sanctions against Saudi Arabia has sparked renewed debate about the value of the longstanding alliance between the United States and the kingdom. The debate is not limited to the US or the kingdom, both of which are assessing the reliability of the other even if that is a debate that is waged in Saudi Arabia behind […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Smart Dubai and IBM announced the launch of the Dubai Blockchain Platform, the first government-endorsed blockchain platform as-a-service in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Delivered through an IBM Cloud environment and built locally in the UAE, the enterprise-ready platform will serve as a stepping stone for organizations in the UAE and globally to transition their blockchain testing and development into full-production. It will also […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| DP World announced that Sir Richard Branson has decided to step down from his role as chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One, which has a project with the Dubai-headquartered global port operator to launch DP World Cargospeed–an international brand for hyperloop-enabled cargo systems to support the fast, sustainable and efficient delivery of palletized cargo. Virgin Hyperloop said Branson’s decision is based on the increased […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai CommerCity, a joint venture between Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) and the Wasl Asset Management Group, dedicated to e-commerce firms, says its investment value has increased by 18.5 percent to AED 3.2 billion with an increase in the total leasable area by 32.5 percent. Launched in 2017, Dubai CommerCity is an area of 2.1 million square feet located in Umm Ramool, an […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should continue to breathe a little easier in the year ahead. Barring any major increase in geopolitical risk or a sharp fall in oil prices, 2019 should mark a stabilization of GCC banks’ financial profiles, following three years of significant pressure, Standaard & Poor’s said in its latest review. What’s more, with the transition to IFRS […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Dubai has annonnced the world’s first faciltiy to make Blockchain-based digital payments for school fees, bills and retail purchases. The digital currency has been launched in partnership between Blockchain payment provider Pundi X, Ebooc Fintech and Loyalty Labs along with Dubai’s Credit Bureau named emcredit. Consumers in Dubai, UAE will be able to use digital currency to make retail payments in-store, pay for government […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| New York: Demby Coin, the world’s biggest ICO, has debuted at an investor conference in New York, eliciting keen interest from investors looking for alternative investment opportunities. Demby Coin, which will power the world’s first ever all-inclusive marketplace with the combined effect of the likes of Amazone and Ebay, seeks to bring the much-needed liquidity into the crypto currency ecosystem, by enabling purchases […]
RAK Ceramics announced that it has acquired the remaining minority shares of its joint ventures in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and therefore now fully owns its KSA operations. Over the last few years RAK Ceramics has been consolidating its global operations and this latest purchase follows acquisitions in Europe, India, and Australia. Europe and KSA are the company’s major export markets, followed by the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. In 2017 around 31.7% of its […]
|Arabian Post Staff|Dubai continues to generate strong demand for premium office space according to new data released by global real estate consultancy firm CBRE. Total office stock in the emirate stood at 9.21 million sqm of gross leasable area (GLA) in the first half of 2018. This represents a 14% rise from levels recorded during the same period in 2014. Recent completions in the market further highlight […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|In a bid to achieve food security in developing countries and eradicate global poverty, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the leading national entity for development aid, has allocated nearly AED3.2 billion towards development projects in the agricultural and irrigation sectors. Representing 7 per cent of the total financial assistance contributed by the Fund in supporting developing countries to date, this assistance has allowed […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Emirates is looking at taking over Abu Dhabi’s Etihad airline, Bloomberg reported quoting people familiar with the matter. If the plan materialises, it would create the world’s biggest carrier by passenger traffic. Bloomberg said the talks, which are at a preliminary stage, would see Emirates acquire the main airline business of Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, which would keep its maintenance arm. Both airlines initially declined […]
|By Alexander Stewart|Advertisers are increasingly appreciative of the value in data-driven, channel-specific creative messaging. Given the associated costs of BRTV spot advertising, more and more brands are focussing their efforts elsewhere – social, programmatic OLV, on-demand programming. Viewership is moving away from linear television to go online, with 54% of 25-34 audience in Ukraine claiming to watch online video content every single day. As smartphone penetration continues […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| All non-UAE operations of leading global money transfer and foreign exchange solutions brand UAE Exchangeis being rebranded as Unimoni. Australia has become the 13th countryin the UAE Exchange Group’s global network to adopt the Unimoni brand. The announcement came as part of the brand’s global rebranding exercise across APAC, Americas and EMEA markets. “Australia is key to the group’s global strategy and we […]
Is the human race winning? It seems that the answer is no. We go slowly along a pathway that plays with the notion of progress. We digress constantly from focussing upon what would fix issues of division, disagreement and despair. The fundamentals are wrong. This is because we became strong believers of what deceives us. We see policies formulated on the basis of hatred, and not practicality. […]
By James M. Dorsey Less than a week in office, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has made blasphemy one of his first issues, empowering militants and initiating international moves, long heralded by Saudi Arabia, that would restrict press freedom by pushing for a global ban. Mr. Khan, in his first address as prime minister to the Pakistani Senate, said he intended to raise the blasphemy issue in […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Saudi Arabia shocked global capital markets by announcing scrapping of its plan to float state-owned energy giant Aramco through an IPO, which the world was keenly looking forward to, media reports said. The initial public offering was among the initiatives announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of his ambitious plan to overhaul the Saudi economy. The Saudis had hoped to […]
By James M. Dorsey Financial injections by Qatar and possibly China may resolve Turkey’s immediate economic crisis, aggravated by a politics-driven trade war with the United States, but are unlikely to resolve the country’s structural problems, fuelled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s counterintuitive interest rate theories. The latest crisis in Turkey’s boom-bust economy raises questions about a development model in which countries like China and Turkey witness moves towards […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) has announced the distribution of more than AED 23.4 billion in cash dividends to around 406 thousand investors on behalf of listed companies in 2018. The cash dividends paid out by listed companies increased around 5.5% compared AED 22.2 billion in the year 2017. This announcement is a confirmation of ADX’s success in providing a distinct investment climate and […]
