Dubai’s success in bidding to host the 2020 World Expo will trigger billions of dollars of investment in the emirate, but it may risk a repeat of the boom-and-bust cycle which nearly caused financial collapse just a few years ago. After competing against three cities, Dubai was awarded the world’s fair by the Bureau International des Expositions on Wednesday, setting the seal on a dramatic economic recovery. […]
Dubai’s Arabtec Holding denied on Tuesday what it called “recent market and media speculation” that it was looking to buy local contractor Drake & Scull. “Arabtec Holding confirms that there have been no discussions between the management of both companies about a potential deal, and there are no current plans to acquire Drake & Scull either in full or in part,” it said in a bourse filing. […]
Istithmar World, a unit of Dubai World, has sold its 50 percent stake in Miami Beach’s landmark Fontainebleau hotel back to south Florida developer Turnberry, a source close to the seller said on Tuesday. Dubai World, one of the emirate’s big state-owned conglomerates, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Reuters had reported in September that the Fontainebleau deal was close to being completed; the price was […]
Commercial Bank of Qatar is open to tie-ups with local financial institutions and could sell bonds next year to fund infrastructure lending in the Gulf Arab state, its recently appointed chief executive was quoted as saying. The lender, which earlier this year completed the purchase of a 74.2 percent stake in Turkey’s Alternatifbank, is also open to further foreign acquisitions but will wait to see the performance […]
India’s exports of gold jewellery fell by almost a third year-on-year in November as restrictions continued to hit shipments, and industry officials said recovery was unlikely any time soon. India’s government has slapped a record 10 percent import duty on gold, its second-biggest import after oil, as it seeks to curb a swollen current account, and has said 20 percent of all imports must be turned around […]
Holders of Dubai-based developer Emaar Properties’ convertible bonds have asked the company to convert them into shares, Emaar said in a bourse statement on Sunday. Emaar said its board would discuss the matter at a meeting on December 17. Emaar issued a $500 million convertible bond in 2010. The sale marked the Dubai developer’s return to the debt markets after more than a year and an opportune […]
Dubai is considering tests of ‘robot’ or driverless cars on its busy highways, the local transport agency said, after a Google executive told Al Arabiya News he would “love” to bring the technology to the emirate. So-called driverless cars navigate traffic and road signals automatically, using special sensors like radar, GPS and computer vision. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) says it is considering whether to allow […]
By Lewis Braham Don’t try to catch a falling knife. It’s one of the oldest saws on Wall Street. But to make a lot of money, sometimes you have to get a little bloody. So say contrarians like Brian Singer. The risk is great, “but the return is of such an astounding magnitude, you’re willing to do it,” says Singer, manager of the William Blair Macro Allocation […]
General Motors Co said it would stop making cars in Australia by 2017 due to high costs and a cripplingly strong currency, fuelling fears rival Toyota Motor Corp will follow suit and put the entire local autos industry at risk. The decision by the world’s second-largest auto maker to close its Holden plants in South Australia and Victoria states is the latest blow to Australia’s manufacturing industry […]
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) will take on more staff to grow its commercial business and tap the “enormous opportunities” created by Dubai’s successful 2020 World Expo bid, its CEO said, even as it pursues international expansion. The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) largest lender plans to add around 900 jobs to its current headcount of 6,500 next year across 18 countries, with a focus on new […]
Swiss authorities are urging banks to quash their doubts and enter a U.S. voluntary disclosure program aimed at uncovering American tax evaders. The Swiss financial watchdog Finma requested banks to decide by today whether they will join the first stage of the U.S. Department of Justice program by applying for non-prosecution agreements by the end of 2013. Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is scheduled today to respond […]
Dubai’s benchmark stock index rose to the highest in more than five years as the emirate starts regulating the holiday home rental market and construction company Arabtec Holding PJSC won a contract. The DFM General Index advanced 0.6 percent to 3,031.80, the highest since November 2008, at 12:13 p.m. in Dubai. The measure has surged 87 percent this year, making it one of the world’s best performers […]
Booming housing markets in emerging Asia have pushed global residential property prices to a new peak, according to a report on Friday. Consultancy Knight Frank’s global house price index rose 4.6 percent over the 12 months to the end of September, taking it 4 percent higher than its previous peak in the second quarter of 2008. “The index’s strong performance has been assisted not just by headline […]
The US National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable, The Washington Post reported. The records feed a vast database that stores information about […]
Dabur India Ltd, the household goods maker controlled by the billionaire Burman family, is expanding in the rural market of the world’s second-most populated nation to revive sales that grew at the slowest pace in two years. The company increased its rural network to cover 36,000 villages as of October from 14,000 in March 2012, Dabur said in an e-mail. That helped the maker of Hajmola digestive […]
Investment Corp of Dubai, the flagship holding firm of some of the emirate’s top companies, has acquired the Atlantis hotel from a unit of Dubai World for an undisclosed sum, a statement said on Thursday. The hotel, which sits at the head of a manmade island in the shape of a palm tree, was set up in 2008 as a joint venture between Dubai World’s Istithmar World […]
The giant inflatable duck that appeared on Dubai Creek this week has caused a stir after it emerged it is not a piece of art that has toured the world – but is in fact a replica bought in China. 7DAYS reported on Monday how people went quackers for the 18m rubber bird that was launched on the creek on Sunday. It was part of a campaign […]
Just a few days after being chosen to host the 2020 World Expo convention, the glittering city of Dubai was also named the world’s leading destination at the 20th edition of the World Travel Awards which took place in Doha over the weekend. The city of superlatives, home to some of the world’s most impressive architectural and engineering feats and holder of several Guinness records, now also boasts the […]
Middle East crude for immediate delivery traded at its biggest premium in two years to later shipments last month after Royal Dutch Shell bought an unprecedented number of cargoes. The price gap between the earliest loadings of the benchmark Dubai grade and those for two months later climbed to $2.82 a barrel on Nov. 21, the widest spread since 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The […]
Saudi Arabia seems to have few viable options for pursuing a more independent and forthright foreign policy, despite its deep unease about the West’s tentative rapprochement with Iran. Upset with the United States, senior Saudis have hinted at a range of possibilities, from building strategic relations with other world powers to pushing a tougher line against Iranian allies in the Arab world and, if world powers fail […]
The Palestinian poet and filmmaker Hind Shoufani moved to Dubai for the same reasons that have attracted millions of other expatriates to the glitzy emirate. In 2009, after decades in the storied and mercurial Arab capital cities of Damascus and Beirut and a sojourn in New York, she wanted to live somewhere stable and cosmopolitan where she also could earn a living. Five years later, she’s won […]
The United States on Friday congratulated the United Arab Emirates on landing the 2020 World Expo trade exhibition — the first time that a Middle Eastern nation will host the event. The UAE on Thursday won its bid to host the six-month event in Dubai, beating out Russia, Brazil and Turkey. “This is a significant first as the UAE serves not only as the region’s business hub, […]
A maritime services company that had millions of dollars in contracts suspended by the U.S. Navy this week says the action stemmed from a billing dispute probed by the Justice Department several years ago, and it hopes to resolve the issue quickly. The Navy said on Wednesday it had suspended all contracts with British-based Inchcape Shipping Services Holding Ltd, a unit of Dubai World, because of questionable […]
Dubai’s benchmark stock index rallied the most in more than two months after the emirate won the right to host the World Expo 2020. The DFM General Index advanced 4 percent to 3,015.65 at 10:02 a.m. in the city, bringing the gain for the year to 86 percent. Emaar Properties , builder of the world’s biggest shopping mall by floor space, jumped 3 percent and Dubai Investments […]
