News

DUBAI / WAM The UAE’s Kimberly Process Office and the Dubai Central Laboratory, a Dubai Municipality entity, have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to further strengthen technical expertise in the testing of rough diamonds entering the country. The agreement was signed by Maryam Al Hashemi, UAE Kimberly Process Director and Director — Precious Metals and Stones, DMCC, and Amin Ahmed ...

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Transport (ET) has achieved record growth in terms of the number and value of contracts it signed with federal institutions and local authorities during the first half of the current year. The company signed 10 new contracts to provide transportation and rental services with eight government and federal authorities during this period. Abdulghaffar Mohammed Yousef, Accounts ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) on Monday announced a 45 percent increase quarter-on-quarter in trading activity on the exchange’s forward curve and a 33 percent growth in exchange average daily volume (ADV) during the first half of 2019. Forward curve volume reached 208,997 contracts from April 2019 through June 2019 versus 143,703 contracts traded in Q1 2019. Exchange ...

ABYAN / WAM The UAE and Saudi Arabia are supporting a project, titled, “Urgent Support for Improving Livelihoods of Underprivileged Families,” in Abyan Governorate, Yemen, which has benefitted 4,200 local fishermen. The project is being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), supported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and in partnership with ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Land Department (DLD) has signed a partnership agreement with Online Auction company to boost the real estate market’s activities, and provide new competitive options that enhance investor confidence. The strategic partnership agreement that was signed by Sultan Butti bin Mejren, Director General of DLD, and Ahmad Mustafa Ahli, Owner of Online Auction, will impact on achieving ...

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp will invest $2 billion in Indonesia through ride-hailing giant Grab over the next five years and plans to explore investment opportunities in the country’s electric battery and renewable energy sectors. The Japanese conglomerate, which announced plans last week to raise a total of $108 billion for its second Vision Fund, will also increase its investment in ...

Bloomberg With no let-up apparent in global and regional trade tensions, Singapore’s business community has slashed its expectations for the near-term economic outlook. “Because we are hugely export-dependent, because of the slowing down in the economy, because of tension, because of loss of business confidence — we need to adjust” growth expectations, Ho Meng Kit, CEO of the Singapore Business ...

Bloomberg India’s growing affluence is seeing its population turn more carnivorous, leading the country with the world’s highest number of vegetarians to import more corn for chicken feed than ever before. Corn purchases by Asia’s second-biggest grower are set to climb to a record 1 million tons in the year starting in November, said Jaison John, general manager for procurement ...

Bloomberg China Evergrande Group may be a long way from challenging Tesla Inc, but it’s at least thinking about how customers can charge their electric cars more cheaply. The property developer has established a joint venture with State Grid Corp of China to co-develop smart car-charging technology, according to a statement on Evergrande’s website. In China, electric-vehicle owners pay about ...

Bloomberg Japan’s unusually long and cool rainy season dampened demand for apparel, furniture and other goods, with some retailers already reporting steep drops in merchandise sales. Shimamura Co, a chain of affordable clothing shops, reported that same-store sales through July 20 fell 18 percent from a year earlier. Many of Shimamura’s customers reach the company’s 1,433 locations in Japan via ...