News

Dubai / WAM The UAE has ranked first in the Arab region according to the 2019 Government Electronic and Mobile Services (Gems) Maturity Index. Issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the indicator is a measuring tool of progress at the national level in achieving transition to digital services. It was carried out across ...

CHENNAI / DUBAI / WAM DP World UAE Region and Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) showcased their capabilities and offerings at the FoodPro Exhibition and Conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai, India to support and facilitate India’s food and beverage exports. The DP World team engaged with F&B companies looking to expand their businesses outside ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has begun carrying out procedures related to implementing the latest Cabinet decision on excise goods, excise tax rates, and the method of calculating the excise price, issued in August 2019, which expanded the scope of excise goods to include electronic smoking devices and liquids, and sweetened drinks. The new decision goes ...

Bloomberg It’s getting tougher to bet on oil in the age of Trump trade tweets and Chinese retaliation, with hedge funds getting it wrong for a seventh time in nine weeks. This time around, short-sellers made their biggest retreat in a year in week ended August 20, slashing by 25% their wagers that West Texas Intermediate crude would decline, data ...

Bloomberg A Nigerian high court ordered the government to renew Shell Petroleum Development Co.’s operating license for the Oil Mineral Lease 11 field, which was withdrawn earlier this year, Lagos-based Punch newspaper reported. The Federal High Court in Abuja, ordered the license be renewed for maximum 20 years, and not 30 years the oil major was seeking, the newspaper reported. ...

Bloomberg India rolled back an additional levy on foreign funds and announced a raft of measures to boost economic growth from a five-year low. The enhanced surcharge on long and short-term capital gains has been withdrawn, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in New Delhi. She also announced an immediate infusion of 700 billion rupees ($9.8 billion) set aside in the ...

Bloomberg Taiwan registered stronger industrial production than even the most bullish economist’s forecast as companies benefited from increased US orders and burgeoning demand for 5G smartphones. Factory output rose 3% in July, compared with estimates for a 0.6% contraction, according to data released by Taiwan’s economics ministry. The ministry said output represented a record high for the month of July. ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s government extended the suspension of mobile-data services in Papua and West Papua provinces after riots broke out in the region, the country’s cabinet secretariat said, citing the Communications and Information Ministry. The ministry cited a high volume of hoaxes, false information, racial and provocative messages being distributed in the area as the reason for the suspension. The ministry ...

Bloomberg Thai officials glimpse a silver lining in the US-China trade war as companies such as Sony Corp. move production to Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. At least 10 firms are in the process of relocating some production to Thailand from China, according to the National Economic & Social Development Council. More than a dozen others could potentially choose Thailand, it ...

Bloomberg The US and Japan agreed on a broad framework for a trade deal that will keep US tariffs on Japanese automobiles in place for now, while removing barriers to beef exports to Japan, Japanese media reported. Robert Lighthizer, the US Trade Representative, and Japan Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reached an agreement in Washington, the Nikkei and Kyodo News reported, ...