United Arab Emirates

The UAE has signed a financial cooperation agreement worth Dh12.5 billion with the government of Bahrain to support the country’s financial stability and stimulate economic growth. The contribution will be managed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD). The Dh12.5 billion from the UAE is within the framework of …

Our survey shows more than 40 per cent of people are looking to buy new smartphones this Gitex. So we’ll take you on a walkthrough of this year’s event, the biggest electronics shopping jamboree in this region, from October 2-6 at the Dubai World Trace Centre. It’s a prelude to …

An air hostess claimed that she feared for her life, as she recounted in court on Wednesday, how an off-duty pilot got drunk and threatened to have the aircraft downed by an Iraqi missile. The Emirati off-duty pilot had earlier showed up in the Dubai Court of First Instance where …

Dubai His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has enacted the DIFC Regulatory Amendment Law, No. 06 of 2018. The Law, which amends the Regulatory Law of 2004, will come into force on October 29 and, together with …

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, visited today (Tuesday, October 2, 2018) the stand of Falconcity of Wonders LLC (FCW), the developer of the ongoing Falconcity of Wonders multipurpose mega project in Dubai, during its participation at Cityscape Global 2018 exhibition running from October …

Dubai has approved an ambitious tourism strategy to attract 21 to 23 million tourists by 2022 and 25 million visitors by 2025. This is a part of a strategy to strengthen Dubai’s position as a favoured destination and the most visited city in the world. The strategy was approved during …

The government Wednesday said it will start refunding this month bank guarantee given by companies and business owners for each worker, a move that is expected to inject an estimated Dh14 billion liquidity into the private sector. A new low cost insurance system will replace the bank guarantee given by …

GCC countries are expected to see a pick-up in economic growth in 2018 and 2019, according to the latest forecasts by the Institute of International Finance (IIF). Higher oil prices and improved output, along with some easing in fiscal consolidation, are driving the growth. “We expect economic conditions to strengthen …

Mahatma Gandhi’s images beamed on Burj Khalifa this evening, marking the commencement of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of India’s Father of the Nation. The special LED show, jointly organised by the Indian Embassy, Abu Dhabi, Indian Consulate in Dubai and Emaar Properties, took place at 8:20pm and 8:40pm on Tuesday. Gandhi Jayanti …

US-based Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) on Tuesday unveiled its first full-scale transportation capsule at Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, which will be ready for passengers in 2019. The 32-metre “Quintero One” passenger capsule will be delivered to HyperloopTT’s research and development centre in Toulouse, France, for additional assembly and integration …

The Enoc Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Enemed, the state-owned fuel distributor and supplier in Malta, to strengthen cooperation for capital projects in Malta and other international markets. As part of the agreement, the group will explore growth opportunities in Malta, and potential areas of cooperation between …

The first phase of a development that will see either side of Hyatt Regency in Deira being completely transformed over the next 15 years has been officially launched. Government-controlled Ithra Dubai will be overseeing the “Deira Enrichment Project”. Phase 1 involves 36 plots from Hyatt Regency and stretching all the …

The World Council of Muslim Communities — an Abu Dhabi-based international organisation to address challenges faced by Muslim communities across the world and fulfil their ambitions — will present UAE’s model strategies including women empowerment and youth engagement to the Muslim communities across the world, a top official said on …

Everything you want to know about Emirati culture is now out in a new book. ‘UAE 101’, jointly written by an Italian journalist and an Emirati writer is filled with a raft of curious pointers on life in the country, including personal experiences from the past. From chapters about greetings, …

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), the parent company of telecom operator du, has opened a new track for growth that is not in the connectivity business by unveiling an Ideal Hub on Monday. The Dubai-based operator aims to showcase strategic advanced technologies to transform the digital services landscape in the …

A zero-deficit federal budget of Dh180 billion for the next three years has been approved by the UAE Cabinet, it was announced on Sunday. His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the approval of the federal budget following a …

The ongoing era of digital transformation taking place in the region promises profound change and great opportunity, but it also brings new risks and uncertainties. As the business function that evaluates risk management, internal audit could be critical to making an organisation’s digital transformation a success. Equally, unless the function …

Sharjah-based Gulftainer has secured a 50-year concession to operate and develop the port of Wilmington in the state of Delaware in the United States, the company said on Wednesday. Gulftainer will invest $600 million (Dh2.2 billion) in the expansion to turn the port into one of the largest gateways on …

Sales open on Sunday at the Dragon Towers in Dubai, with Nakheel pricing entry level units from Dh449,000. The twin-towers are the first residential component at the developer’s Dragon City cluster, which also features Dragon Mart. Aiming for completion in 2021, Dragon Towers on the Hatta-Oman road will be linked …

A two-day surge turned a sludgy, sulphurous crude into the world’s costliest oil benchmark this week, confounding traders and throwing the market into turmoil. Oman oil on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, which will play a key role when Saudi Arabia sets the cost of its shipments to Asia next month, …

Air India has cancelled its discount on the cargo fare for transporting human remains from the UAE, and stopped the free repatriation of mortal remains for distressed Indians as well, drawing flak from social workers here. An official from India’s national carrier on Thursday confirmed that the airline cancelled the …

The excitement for Dubai Expo 2020 is building up and today another country has unveiled the details of its upcoming pavilion. This time, the design is inspired by one of the projects of a famed scientist who was interested in finding extraterrestial life. British officials have confirmed that the UK …

Pakistan ambassador to the UAE expects more investments to flow into Pakistan following the visit of the newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan to the UAE last week. “We are very positive and hopeful that more investments will flow into Pakistan following the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister to the …

Japan has been announced as this year’s guest of honour at Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), which will run from October 31 to November 10 at Expo Centre Sharjah. SIBF’s organisers, the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), said the selection aligns with their goal of introducing Arab readers and intellectuals to …

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) on Wednesday awarded a major contract valued at Dh3.16 billion to boost gas supply and meet Abu Dhabi’s growing energy needs. A consortium of Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas and Abu Dhabi’s Target Engineering Construction Company will design, supply and build a new gas plant on …

Dubai’s developers just aren’t pushing ahead with their projects fast enough – only about 16,750 new homes will get delivered this year. That compares with forecasts of 30,000 units made at the start of the year and only a slight improvement on the 15,000 actually delivered last year, according to …

Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), which has just begun operations is aiming to boost UAE exports and diversification of the economy by providing credit insurance to exporters and investors. The federal government owned ECI, capitalised at Dh1 billion will also have the support of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of …

Residents of Karama are bracing for a facelift of their neighbourhood, as one of Dubai’s oldest areas goes through a series of new developments that includes wider roads, swanky buildings and new hangouts. One of the busiest and most sought after localities by expatriates, both for its central location and …

A video about one of the female members from Dubai’s ruling family has become an internet sensation. Social media users across the region were ecstatic to see Shaikha Moza Bint Marwan Bin Mohammad Bin Hasher Al Maktoum flying an Emirates aircraft to Italy, as she addressed passengers via the aircraft …

Brent crude extended gains from the highest level in almost four years as a chorus of banks and trading houses argued prices may spike after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s call to rapidly boost production. Futures rose as much as 1.2 per cent …

Opec and no-Opec members including Russia have decided there will be not be any additional increase in supply to offset falling Iranian oil exports in a rebuff to US president Donald Trump’s calls for increasing output to bring down oil prices. Ministers and officials from the Organisation of the Petroleum …

“Currently … we’re at 4 million barrels per day and with expansion I think our target is 6 million barrels per day,” President and Chief Executive Ebrahim Al Bu Ainain said at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC). About 50 per cent of the 2.5 million bpd of oil products …

Emirates Steel, the largest steel producer in the UAE, has hired BNP Paribas to coordinate a $400 million (Dh1.47 billion) loan financing, sources familiar with the matter said. The company, owned by Abu Dhabi’s Senaat, a state-owned investor in the emirate’s industrial sector, will use the loan proceeds to refinance …

Entertainment services supplied to employees, such as staff parties and retirement gifts, should not be exempt from Value Added Tax (VAT), the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has said. The authority noted in a statement posted on its website Monday that according to the federal law on VAT, the five per …

Dubai-based ride-hailing company Careem has acquired the talent and technology of India’s third largest mass transport app — Commut — for an undisclosed amount. The Hyderabad-based Commut is a minibus shuttle service for daily office commuters in the state since November 2015. Careem said in a statement the deal will …

The UAE was ranked with the best health care sector in the Middle East, while also faring high scores on a global scale. An annual Bloomberg analysis that was carried out in almost 200 countries ranked countries according to a health-efficiency index to rank with average life-spans of at least …

The High Court of England and Wales in London has upheld an injunction prohibiting the Port de Djibouti, a state-owned port company, from interfering with the management of a joint -venture company. The Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT) in Djibouti is a joint venture between Dubai’s DP World and the African …

Smart Dubai on Sunday integrated blockchain technology into its online payment portal, DubaiPay, to allow reconciliation and settlement transactions to be performed in real time, officials said. Mira Sultan Obaid Abdul Rahman, director of smart services enablement department at Smart Dubai Government, told Gulf News the strategy was to increase …

The Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) recently opened five new service stations in Dubai, expanding its network to 122 stations in the UAE. The group is on track to increase its fuel retail presence by 40 per cent by 2020, the company said in a statement. Two of the newly …

Remittances, which are essentially the money earned abroad and sent home by expatriate workers to their families, are the backbone of some economies outside the Gulf. Remitted funds are mainly used to cover the costs of basic expenses of dependents, including housing, food, education and medical bills. They also boost …

The member countries of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen have provided a total of US$17.6 billion worth of assistance in three years. ”Out of this assistance, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, accounted for more than $11.5 billion,” said Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, the Supervisor-General of the …

New details surrounding the final major pavilion at Expo 2020 have been released by the organisers of the event, revealing a theme of “rope and light.” The Opportunity Pavilion is based on the core tenets of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and to be built out of natural …

Residents can now check their criminal status in financial cases in Dubai, thanks to a new service by Dubai Police, an official said on Thursday. Brigadier Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, director of the Artificial Intelligence Department at Dubai Police, said that people can log on to their website to use …

Picture this. It’s a Friday morning and you’re hanging out at your favourite beachfront cafe or your neighbourhood public park. While sipping on your latte or relaxing after a 5-km run, you catch up on all the emails and social media chatter you couldn’t quite grasp during your busy week …