Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the leading national entity for development aid, has extended a concessionary loan of AED110 million ($30 million) to the Government of Mali to support its National Social Housing Programme. HE Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of ADFD, and HE Dr Boubou Cisse, Malian Minister of Economy and Finance, ...

Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The UAE, the second biggest Arab economy, is leading the Arab World in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In 2016, the UAE attracted 29 percent of the total FDI inflow in to the Arab World, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, told the media in an interview ahead of the Annual Investment ...

DUBAI / WAM The Department of Economic Development (DED), in Dubai witnessed increasing business registration and licencing activities during the month of March 2018, reaffirming the emirate’s position as a preferred place for business start-ups and expansions. According to the ‘Business Map’ digital platform of DED, more than 26,410 business registration and licencing (BRL), transactions were completed in March, compared ...

SHARJAH / WAM For the first time in the region, the Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) received on Saturday, the CMA CGM ANTOINE DE ST EXUPERY, France’s largest containership. The Vessel docked at the Port and about seven thousand containers were unloaded. Tariq Al Hammadi, Director of Security and Administrative Affairs at Khorfakkan Port, said the French ship had landed at ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Registration for Fikra Labs, an acceleration programme aimed at driving innovation and fostering entrepreneurship in the Abu Dhabi travel and tourism sector, has officially closed and the selected startups are now embarking upon a four-week incubation programme. Launched in early February as part of the UAE Innovation Month, the programme was led by four of Abu ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump’s got the stock market on a string, but investors are less sure of the game he’s playing. The Republican president’s renewed ramblings on trade dominated US equity markets this week, with a tweet-induced swoon on April 6 leaving the S&P 500 Index 1.4 percent lower than where it started on Monday. The gauge swung wildly, notching four ...

Reuters The Saudi Arabian stock market remained in positive territory on Sunday after rebounding late last week from several days of profit-taking, while a pullback by two blue chips dragged down Abu Dhabi. The Saudi stock index closed up 0.2 percent. Food and beverage company Almarai added 3.5 percent after announcing first-quarter net profit of 344 million riyals ($91.7 million) ...

Bloomberg Saudi Basic Industries Corp plans to boost production capacity 70 percent by 2025 as the Middle East’s dominant chemical maker works with new joint-venture partners and expands its footprint in the heart of the US shale boom. Increasing chemical production is crucial to Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” blueprint, which envisions creating higher-value products and jobs, Yousef al Benyan, chief ...

LONDON / Reuters Gasoline stored in ships off Europe’s coast has ballooned to more than 400,000 tonnes, putting pressure on the continent’s traders to compete for buyers once summer demand starts. Several vessels have joined the three initially booked to store fuel off Europe’s ports in mid-March, and brokers said even barges have held cargoes of gasoline for three to ...

ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria is offering motorists incentives to more than double the number of cars running on natural gas by 2021 in an effort to reduce consumption of costly imported fuel amid strained public finances, officials said. The North African country has been struggling with a halving since 2014 of vital oil and gas revenues, which make up 60 ...