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Abu Dhabi / WAM Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), and Shaheen Chem Investment LLC announced the signing of an agreement for the land lease of a two-phase chemical complex in the industrial zone with an expected investment of AED4 billion ($1 billion). The plant will support the UAE’s growing chemical manufacturing sector as well as supply major industrial ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Noor Bank, a leading Shari’a-compliant bank in the UAE, marked the UAE Innovation Month with its announcement on Sunday of the launch of its redesigned credit and debit cards. The cards unlock a world of innovation, convenience and best-in-class security, while offering a whole new suite of first-in-market benefits. Inspired by modern art and Islamic heritage, ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates has announced several management appointments within its outstation commercial operations team. The changes place top Emirati talent in key country management positions in the Far East and Africa. The commercial appointments further demonstrate the airline’s commitment to strengthening its strategic direction and commercial position within these markets. The new appointments will see three UAE national ...

DUBAI / WAM Data for the opening month of 2018 signalled a pick-up in growth in Dubai’s non-oil private sector. The seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index – a composite indicator designed to give an accurate overview of operating conditions in the non-oil private sector economy – rose to 56.0 in January, from December’s 14-month low of 54.7. ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai will play host to the world’s largest gathering of internal auditors when the International Conference of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) takes place in the city in May 2018, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. “Dubai is once ...

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabian utility developer ACWA Power expects to submit tenders for projects this year worth $4.5 billion in Saudi Arabia and will also target projects in Morocco and the United Arab Emirates, its chief executive said. ACWA Power CEO Paddy Padmanathan also confirmed the developer of electricity and water projects in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast ...

BEIRUT / Reuters Lebanon said it had signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production agreements for two blocks, including a block disputed by neighbouring Israel. Lebanon’s energy minister said the dispute with Israel would not stop Lebanon benefiting from potential undersea reserves in the contentious Block 9, while consortium operator Total said it would not drill the ...

Bloomberg While many oil producers are stepping back from their retail operations, Royal Dutch Shell Plc is doubling down. Shell, which has about 44,000 filling stations around the world, opened its first one in Mexico last year, the start of $1 billion in investments over the next decade. Shell also is ramping up spending in China, India, Indonesia and Russia, ...

Bloomberg Asia pushed past the rest of the world last year to become the biggest buyer of America’s crude oil — and it’s poised to do it again in 2018. Just two years after Washington ended its crude-export ban, the continent soaked up 37 percent of the oil the US sent abroad in 2017, up from about 9 percent in ...

Bloomberg Walmart Inc. is in discussions to pay several billion dollars for as much as 20% of India e-commerce leader Flipkart Online Services Pvt, according to a person familiar with the matter. The world’s biggest retailer would invest in Flipkart as part of a proposed deal that would increase the startup’s valuation as high as $20 billion, said the person, ...