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Bloomberg Ministers from Opec+ are gathering in Abu Dhabi with deeper production cuts off the agenda for now, but with a backdrop of growing concern about strength of oil demand as the global economy slows. Crude lurked in the low $60s for most of the summer as escalating tensions between the US and China and increasing fears of a looming …

BEIJING / WAM A total of 362 deals worth valued at $26 billion have been signed at the fourth China-Arab States Expo, reported the People’s Daily. The expos was held in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, with Chinese President Xi Jinping relaying a congratulatory message during the opening ceremony of the event. According to People’s Daily, “Over 2,900 regional …

Bloomberg Saudi Aramco has picked a slew of banks to work on its planned initial public offering following intense lobbying by some of the world’s top dealmakers, people with knowledge of matter said. Aramco selected firms including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley for top …

Bloomberg The man in charge of Norway’s trade policies is sanguine about the prospects of the country’s largest export destination potentially leaving the European Union without a deal. Torbjorn Roe Isaksen, Norway’s Trade and Industry Minister, is this week meeting with colleagues in London to discuss trade in the run-up to Brexit and sketch the framework for a permanent agreement …

DUBAI / WAM The UAE has ranked first globally in mobile-broadband subscriptions and network coverage, and second in mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions, according to the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019, issued by the World Economic Forum. Commenting on this achievement, Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director-General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, stated, “The UAE’s global achievements are the result of …

Bloomberg Oil advanced to highest level since July after the head of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said that the group had been “very conservative” with its oil demand estimates and that there was no global recession on the horizon. Futures rose as much as 1.6% in New York on Tuesday, gaining for the fifth consecutive day. At a …

Bloomberg Arabtec Holding shares soared in Dubai after the company started talks to merge with Abu Dhabi-based Trojan Holding LLC. The stock advanced as much as 13%, the steepest intraday gain since July 2017, as Arabtec said the entities began a study to potentially combine their construction businesses and may merge after technical, financial and legal reviews. It didn’t provide …

Bloomberg A spat between the world’s most populous countries is holding up a pan-Asian trade agreement encompassing nearly a third of all global trade. Trade ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries this week hailed a “critical milestone” after seven years of talks and vowed to wind them up before a regional summit in November. But officials involved in the process say …

Bloomberg State oil giant Saudi Aramco said it’s lining up banks for its long-awaited initial public offering (IOPO) as the sale is now imminent. Banks will be chosen “soon,” Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said at an industry conference in Abu Dhabi. Confirmation of the underwriters will signal that the share sale — set to be the world’s largest — is …

SAINT PETERSBURG / WAM International tourist arrivals grew 4 percent from January to June this year, compared to same period last year, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer published ahead of 23rd World Tourism Organisation General Assembly. Growth was led by the Middle East (+8 percent) and Asia and the Pacific (+6 percent). International arrivals in Europe grew …