Dallas / Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. will be the first carrier to receive Boeing Co.’s new Max version of its best-selling 737 aircraft. Those planes may sit idle unless a new contract with the carrier’s 8,000 pilots is reached. Their union says the Max isn’t listed in the current labor agreement as an aircraft they can fly, a common practice ...

ALKESH SHARMA / EMIRATES BUSINESS Building on strong sales performance in the UAE in 2015, BenQ Middle East & Turkey, the renowned provider of digital lifestyle products and global DLP projector leader, has strengthened its presence in the UAE by opening two new shop-in-shop concepts. “2015 was a strong year for us in the UAE where we experienced 30 percent growth ...

DUBAI / OUR CORRESPONDENT Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the flagship venue for world-class events, is all set to host 22 mega-trade events in this month alone which is set to draw over a quarter million visitors. As a pivotal arm in Dubai’s efforts to diversify its economy, DWTC will host events across core sectors including ICT (information and computer technology), ...

FUJAIRAH / WAM Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, approved on Monday projects for the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, worth AED7 billion, during a field visit to the East Coast. The projects include approvals for housing aid, the building of new residential complexes, roads, schools, health centres ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Higher Organising Committee of the second Unmanned System Exhibition, UMEX 2016, and the pilot edition of the Simulation Conference and Exhibition 2016, has revealed that the upcoming editions of the region-leading defence events will offer 6 times more exhibition space compared to the debut edition of UMEX last year. The much-anticipated defence events, covering the ...

SHARJAH / WAM The Ministry of Economy (MoE) and the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq, on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen ties, increase commercial, economic cooperation and expand investment opportunities in Sharjah. The MoU was signed by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), and Sultan Al Mansouri, ...

DUBAI / WAM Etisalat Group and Huawei have announced plans to work on the first ever Proof of Concept and design for an all-inclusive network architecture for the Etisalat Regional Cloud Factory. Once developed, the enterprise solutions provided by the innovative Cloud Factory will be offered to businesses across Etisalat’s international footprint. The initiative will examine the technical and business ...

New Delhi / AFP India’s government promised billions of dollars to help struggling farmers and boost the rural economy as it unveiled its annual budget on Monday, looking to kickstart growth and bolster its flagging popularity. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley acknowledged the challenges as he presented the budget in parliament, but said he had a “vision to transform India”. “We ...

Dubai / WAM A survey by the Alliance Business Centres Network for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has shown that Dubai ranked first among the best centres for the expansion of companies on a global level. The survey noted that Dubai was the choice of 21% of the total 300 companies that participated in the survey from Asia, ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Following the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Abu Dhabi Ports – the master developer, operator and manager of ports and Khalifa Industrial Zone in the Emirate – has launched the second edition of its Internal Excellence Award, MAFNOOD ...