Dubai / WAM Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the leading international financial hub in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Finance Innovation, France’s official innovation cluster for the financial industry, based in Paris. The collaboration will support the development of the Fintech ecosystem in both markets and facilitate knowledge ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business A tourism delegation led by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) took a promotional roadshow to two key destinations within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region this month, promoting the UAE capital as a leading destination of distinction in Kazakhastan’s largest city of Almaty, and the Ukrainian capital ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi has been ranked top of a list of cities in Africa and the Middle East in the McKinsey Global Institute study ‘Smart Cities: Digital Solutions for a More Livable Future.’ The study looked at how cities all over the world use technology to increase the quality of life across a wide range of ...

GENEVA / WAM The United Nations Human Rights Council (UN OHCHR) adopted the UAE’s third report on the human rights situation in the country as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) during the 38th Session of the Human Rights Council held in Geneva from June 18 to July 6. The review identified the progress made over the past four ...

DUBAI / WAM The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai announced the completion of key tunneling works of Route 2020 Project stretching 3.2 km at a depth ranging from 12 to 36 metres. Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, said, “The tunnel-drilling works commenced last October as the giant Tunnel ...

WASHINGTON / WAM The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched a National Summary Data Page (NSDP), becoming the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), country to implement the recommendations of the enhanced General Data Dissemination System (e-GDDS). The NSDP is a national data portal that serves as a one-stop vehicle for publishing essential macroeconomic data in both human and machine-readable formats. The ...

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Institute of Banking and Financial Studies (EIBFS), a regional leader in banking and finance education and training, in association with leading UAE banks and insurance companies, launched the EIBFS Fintech Training Lab seeking to enhance access to skills training in the latest digital technologies such as Blockchain, AI, IoT, Big Data, Cloud, Application Programme Interface and ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM With the support and participation of the Government of the UAE, Egypt will host the Egypt Government Excellence Conference 2018. Sponsored by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the country’s first event of its kind seeks to modernise government work, activate a strategic partnership and facilitate exchange of experience between the two countries with the aim of ...

President Trump has hurled so many thunderbolts recently that people may have missed the one that could have the greatest long-term impact on America’s national security — his directive to the Pentagon last week to start creating a new military service that he dubbed the ‘space force.’ It’s certainly a Trumpian idea: big and bold, with a Hollywood glitz factor; ...

Europe’s leaders will face an awkward truth when they meet at a crucial summit on July 5. For much of the past decade they’ve been able to duck difficult decisions, secure in the knowledge that the European Central Bank (ECB) would step in and fix things. Mario Draghi did this repeatedly, first by providing a backstop to the monetary union ...