Bloomberg Swiss watch exports kicked off 2018 with the strongest growth in more than five years, buoyed by strong demand for high-end timepieces in Asia and a later Chinese New Year. Shipments rose 13 percent to 1.6 billion francs ($1.7 billion) in January, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said. That’s the biggest jump since October 2012 and the ...

Bloomberg Asia’s icy winter just spawned Europe’s strongest jet fuel market in over three years. The fuel’s premium to diesel, the most-watched measure of market strength, jumped to $2.59 a barrel in Europe, the highest since December 2014. Freezing weather in Asia is drawing cargoes of kerosene, which is almost identical to jet fuel, from Middle East refineries that were ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, has stated that the initial figures for the UAE’s total foreign trade in 2017 will reach a value of AED1.7 trillion while expressing his expectation of continuous growth in the country’s trade during 2018 and the following years, in light of its policy of openness and its efforts ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Nasser bin Thani Al Hamli, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, has met separately with Francisco Chacon Hernandez, Ambassador of Costa Rica to the UAE, and Milos Perisic, Charge d’affaires of the Embassy of Serbia to the UAE. During the meetings, they discussed cooperation relations between the UAE, Costa Rica and Serbia in fields of common ...

Bloomberg Emirates NBD PJSC is preparing to submit a bid for Sberbank PJSC’s wholly-owned Turkish unit in March, people with knowledge of the matter said. Dubai’s biggest bank is evaluating an offer for Denizbank AS, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. It could take several months before Sberbank decides whether or not to ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Customs has continued its efforts in bolstering Dubai’s external food trade. A recent statistics issued by Dubai Customs in parallel with Gulfood 2018 showed that the value of this trade during the period from January to September 2017 reached AED70.2 billion, where imports had the lion’s share with AED44.6 billion, followed by exports with AED12.6 billion ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, have congratulated Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan on his safe return to ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Monday received a delegation from the US Senate headed by Richard Burr, US Senator of North Carolina and Chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, who are currently visiting the country. ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), launched ‘payit’, the country’s first fully-featured digital wallet, in support of the UAE’s goal to become a cashless economy. The safe and secure service is available to anyone with a valid Emirates ID. Using ‘payit’, Emiratis and residents can send and receive money instantly 24/7, make payments through merchant partner apps, ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA), inaugurated the interactive Halal map, the first of its kind worldwide, on Monday in Dubai. The minister confirmed that the United Arab Emirates is currently leading global efforts to assess the size of the Islamic economy sector ...