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SHARJAH / WAM For the first time in the region, the Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) received on Saturday, the CMA CGM ANTOINE DE ST EXUPERY, France’s largest containership. The Vessel docked at the Port and about seven thousand containers were unloaded. Tariq Al Hammadi, Director of Security and Administrative Affairs at Khorfakkan Port, said the French ship had landed at ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Registration for Fikra Labs, an acceleration programme aimed at driving innovation and fostering entrepreneurship in the Abu Dhabi travel and tourism sector, has officially closed and the selected startups are now embarking upon a four-week incubation programme. Launched in early February as part of the UAE Innovation Month, the programme was led by four of Abu ...

Bloomberg Saudi Basic Industries Corp plans to boost production capacity 70 percent by 2025 as the Middle East’s dominant chemical maker works with new joint-venture partners and expands its footprint in the heart of the US shale boom. Increasing chemical production is crucial to Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” blueprint, which envisions creating higher-value products and jobs, Yousef al Benyan, chief ...

LONDON / Reuters Gasoline stored in ships off Europe’s coast has ballooned to more than 400,000 tonnes, putting pressure on the continent’s traders to compete for buyers once summer demand starts. Several vessels have joined the three initially booked to store fuel off Europe’s ports in mid-March, and brokers said even barges have held cargoes of gasoline for three to ...

ALGIERS / Reuters Algeria is offering motorists incentives to more than double the number of cars running on natural gas by 2021 in an effort to reduce consumption of costly imported fuel amid strained public finances, officials said. The North African country has been struggling with a halving since 2014 of vital oil and gas revenues, which make up 60 ...

ASTANA / Reuters Kazakhstan hopes to settle a profit sharing dispute with global energy companies developing the Karachaganak gas condensate field by June, its deputyenergy minister said, after talks were repeatedly extended. Eni and Shell have the biggest stakes in the Karachaganak project, which they jointly operate. “Negotiations on the Karachaganak project are rather active, we meet almost daily, our ...

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese technology giant, used its stake in online retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as collateral for an $8 billion loan from a group of banks in what is one of the biggest deals of its kind, according to people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. ...

Bloomberg Chinese peer-to-peer lender Weidai Hangzhou Financial Information Service Co. is planning an initial public offering that could raise about $400 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Weidai, which means “microlending” in Chinese, aims to sell shares in the US as soon as this year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariff threats have left China’s Xi Jinping with a tricky balance to strike. He’s got to show he’s ready to retaliate against US trade threats while demonstrating China’s commitment to opening up. The Chinese president’s first chance to hit back in person comes in a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia— China’s answer ...

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co. reported a 58 percent surge in profit, topping projections as demand for its memory chips remained strong enough to outweigh concerns about display supplies to Apple Inc. Operating income rose to 15.6 trillion won ($14.7 billion) in the three months ended March, according to preliminary results released from the Suwon, South Korea-based company. That compares with ...