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DUBAI / WAM Dubai Customs’ training center launched a sign language training programme exclusively for customs’ personnel. This comes in response to the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and the guidelines of “My Community – A City for Everyone” initiative. The initiative aims at turning Dubai into a disability-friendly city …

Dubai / Emirates Business The largest Bugatti showroom in the world is opening its doors on Sheikh Zayed Road in the centre of Dubai. The French super sports car manufacturer’s facility in Dubai is the 15th location in the brand’s global dealership network with the new award-winning brand design. Bugatti’s longstanding sales and service partner in the UAE is Al …

LONDON / Reuters Oil traders are snapping up options to protect against another steep price drop in case OPEC and its partners fail to deliver enough of a supply cut to satisfy investors of their commitment to tackle a three-year-old surplus of unused crude. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets on May 25 and will discuss extending its …

DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Al Borg Medical Laboratories, one of the largest private medical laboratory chains in the Gulf, has agreed to buy the lab business of Anglo Arabian Healthcare, majority owned by Waha Capital, sources told Reuters. The two parties signed an agreement in December though a number of terms and conditions remain to be met before the …

Bloomberg What is taxing for some in India has become brisk business for others. With seven weeks to go before the nationwide Goods and Services Tax is implemented, Indian companies are rushing to bring in experts to help prepare their accounting and information technology systems for the tax-system overhaul. That’s created a windfall for international professional services firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers …

Bloomberg China National Building Material Group, the nation’s biggest cement maker, aims to capitalize on a surge in business opportunities from President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” initiative as projects spur an infrastructure boom in the region, according to its chairman, Song Zhiping. “If you want to get rich, build a road first,” Song said in a Bloomberg Television interview …

Bloomberg China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition frenzy is ending almost as dramatically as it began. After stunning the world with a record $246 billion of announced outbound takeovers in 2016, Chinese dealmakers are now struggling to cope with tighter capital controls and increasingly wary counterparties. Cross-border purchases plunged 67 percent during the first four months of this year, the biggest drop …

Bloomberg India plans to develop roads in neighboring countries as it seeks to strengthen its position in South Asia amid the growing influence of China. State-owned National Highways Authority of India plans to build roads abroad even as it falls short of construction targets at home and seeks to raise funds overseas to finance local projects. “There are lots of …

Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co. forecast a surprise drop in annual profit on expectations for higher raw material costs and a stronger yen, and as price competition increases in the US and China. Operating profit will probably fall 7.7 percent to 685 billion yen ($6 billion) in the fiscal year through March, compared with the average analysts’ estimate for a gain …

Bloomberg Growth in the euro area will be slightly stronger this year than previously forecast, the European Commission said, adding that some risks to the outlook have eased following the defeat of populist parties in France and the Netherlands. The commission sees the 19-nation economy expanding 1.7 percent this year — up from 1.6 percent forecast in February — and …