News

Dubai / WAM Expo 2020 Dubai has convened a second virtual meeting of its Steering Committee, with representatives of the countries taking part in the event, as part of ongoing consultations that the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19) will have on global preparations of Expo 2020 Dubai. Participating countries briefed the Steering Committee on the global precautionary measures that have to ...

Bloomberg Oil slumped to a 17-year low as coronavirus lockdowns cascaded through the world’s largest economies, leaving the market overwhelmed by cratering demand and a ballooning surplus of crude. Futures in London fell as much as 7.6% to lowest since November 2002, while New York crude briefly dipped below $20 a barrel. Physical oil markets are struggling to store fuel, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM ADCB Group, including Al Hilal Bank, on Monday announced its commitment to ensure the continuity of employment at the Bank, pledging that no employee will be made redundant during 2020 as a result of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Commenting on the announcement, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of ADCB Group, said, “The banking sector plays an important role ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s central bank is ordering lenders to provide concessional loans to businesses grappling with the fallout of the coronavirus so companies won’t have to cut jobs. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama) wants banks to immediately put in place a lending program for at least six months to “assist in maintaining employment levels,” according to a document sent ...

HANNOVER / WAM The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) – a joint initiative by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on Monday announced that the third edition of its Summit (GMIS 2020) will be converted into a series of digital sessions. The summit invited thought-leaders from the global manufacturing community ...

Sydney / WAM Australia will spend AU$130 billion ($79.85 billion) to subsidise the wages of an estimated six million people, marking a third tranche of stimulus designed to limit the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic on the country’s economy, Reuters has reported. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the six months of funding was necessary to ensure businesses were able ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has announced that Rammas, its virtual employee that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) responded to over 1.2 million queries in 2019. Rammas is available round the clock to answer written queries and audio chat in both Arabic and English. It is available on Dewa’s smart app, website, Facebook page, Amazon’s Alexa, Google ...

DUBAI / WAM The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced on Monday that an additional five applications were made available across all UAE networks. In a statement, the TRA noted that it had coordinated with UAE telecom operators — Etisalat and du — to the applications accessible “on an exceptional basis and until further notice” as part of the UAE’s efforts ...

Sharjah /WAM Sharjah Airport Authority (SAA) continues to implement a number of preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Covid-19, as part of an integrated plan. The measures include implementing sterilisation and disinfection procedures throughout the airport in the Departures and Arrivals halls and public facilities, and sterilising and disinfecting equipment used by passengers and staff. To prevent ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Higher Corporation for Specialised Economic Zones, ZonesCorp, announced that it has stepped up precautionary measures against Coronavirus, Covid-19, at its workers residential cities. As part of the move, ZonesCorp hosted an awareness workshop to educate workers on how to protect themselves from Covid-19 in collaboration with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. ZonesCorp’s precautionary measures ...