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Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has launched a roadshow to communicate directly with businesses subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) that haven’t registered yet, urging them to benefit from the exemption given by the Authority until April 30, 2018, which took into consideration the lack of preparedness among businesses in an effort to promote compliance ...

DAMMAM / WAM The UAE Armed Forces are participating in the final maneuvers of the region’s largest scale military drill ‘Joint Gulf Shield I’ with the participation of 24 friendly Gulf, Arab and Muslim countries. The drills will also be witnessed by Arab and Muslims leaders and heads of state on Monday in the Saudi Eastern Province. “The drills reinforce ...

Bloomberg OPEC is on the verge of “mission accomplished” in its quest to clear the global oil glut that caused the worst industry downturn in a generation, the International Energy Agency said. Less than 10 percent of the surplus in oil inventories remains, as OPEC and its partners have cut production by even more than they intended while world demand ...

MILAN / Reuters Italian energy group Eni is considering stepping up its investment in nuclear fusion, potentially doubling down on a technology considered so uncertain that Eni remains the only global oil company prepared to place a bet on it. Eni and bigger rivals such as Shell and BP have been looking at moving into renewable energy as climate change, ...

Bloomberg Iraq delayed an international auction of rights to 11 of its oil and natural gas deposits, pushing back the bidding date after introducing changes to the contract, according to people familiar with the matter. The oil ministry re-scheduled the auction for April 25, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. ...

BEIJING / Reuters China’s March crude oil imports climbed from a month earlier to the second highest on record, calculated on a daily basis, as refiners replenished stocks on generous government quotas and ahead of peak maintenance season. March shipments came in at 39.17 million tonnes, or 9.22 million barrels per day (bpd), the General Administration of Customs said. That ...

Bloomberg Fortis Healthcare Ltd. said it has received a joint investment proposal from two Indian business families, intensifying a race to gain control of the country’s second-largest private hospital chain. Hero Enterprise Investment Office and the Burman Family Office have made a binding offer to invest a total of 12.5 billion rupees ($192 million) through a preferential share allotment at ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s plan to roll out broadband internet services to Indian households this year under Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. has the potential to alter the segment’s competitive landscape, credit rating company S&P Global Ratings says. The new service may add $5 billion to parent company Reliance Industries’ valuation, according to CLSA India. The brokerage firm anticipates a $611 ...

Bloomberg A Chinese e-commerce site called Pinduoduo, or PDD, has raised more than $1 billion at a valuation of about $15 billion, roughly 10 times the level just a year ago, according to people familiar with the matter. The Shanghai-based company, founded by ex-Google engineer Colin Huang, is getting the money from existing investors including Sequoia Capital China and Tencent ...

Bloomberg Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed company, can’t own a patent over genetically modified cotton seeds in India, a court ruled. The Delhi High Court verdict said that certain items such as seeds, plants and animals can’t be patented under Indian laws. The court rejected Monsanto’s plea to stop Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd., an estranged licensee of the company, from ...