News

Bloomberg Alipay is chasing Chinese tourists to Japan, where it’s signing up a growing number of retailers and eyeing the long-term potential of the nation’s $45 billion digital payments market. The volume of payments processed on Alipay in the country swelled about eight times in the 12 months to September, said Genki Oka, Japan chief executive officer of Ant Financial, ...

Bloomberg Tanzania said Bharti Airtel Ltd.’s local unit belongs to state-owned Tanzania Telecommunications Co., a claim that sets up an ownership dispute between the government and the Indian phone operator. “Airtel, according to the information we have,” is an asset of Tanzania Telecommunications Co., President John Magufuli said on the East African country’s national broadcaster, TBC. “A terrible game was ...

Bloomberg Congress is close to lifting a 40-year-old ban on energy development in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but drilling for oil in that frozen wilderness may still be years away as the effort faces exhau- stive environmental reviews and likely lawsuits. It could be a decade or more before any well is drilled, following required environmental scrutiny and permit ...

Bloomberg The last survivor among a slew of major US nuclear power projects is getting one step closer to seeing the light of day. The project could become the first US nuclear plant licensed in recent years that gets to be built, following delays that sent total estimated costs soaring to more than $25 billion. “We hope a decision is ...

Bloomberg Pakistan’s drive to tackle its polluted skies has left it with a problem: It has more dirty fuel oil than it wants. Their solution? Swap it with shipments of cleaner liquefied natural gas. The top oil marketing firm in South Asia’s second-largest economy, Pakistan State Oil Co., is exploring whether it can take delivery of LNG cargoes in return ...

Bloomberg A Greek shipowner is predicting new rules for marine fuel will put thousands of the world’s merchant vessels out of business in the next two years, roiling global trade. In fact, he’s wagering $1.1 billion on it. Evangelos Marinakis, chairman of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp., based near Athens, says his company has invested that much in the last ...

DUBAI / Emirates business Mega malls are boosting the GCC’s retail market to nearly $300 billion by 2018, driving investment in aluminum ceilings to enhance the customer experience, mall safety and sustainability, industry experts said on Wednesday. Thanks to new mega-malls from Mall of the World in Dubai, to Al Maryah Central in Abu Dhabi and Mall of Saudi in ...

DUBAI / WAM Middle East passenger numbers are forecast to grow 7% in 2018 according to the International Air Transport Association. Aviation will feature heavily in the programme at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018, which is being held between April 22-25 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Alan Peaford, current president of the UK’s Institute of Internal Communications, said, “Aviation ...

DUBAI / WAM Etisalat, on Wednesday, announced the opening of its ultramodern ‘Open Innovation Centre’ in Dubai taking the lead in creating a hub to showcase the most innovative solutions and help drive digital transformation by enabling the use of latest technologies. The Open Innovation Centre is the first of its kind in the region showcasing digital innovation, its capabilities ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business Emirates on Wednesday announced that it is to launch a new daily route from Dubai (DXB) to London Stansted (STN) on June 8, 2018. With its strategic position close to the tech and pharma hubs of Cambridge and Peterborough, Emirates will be the first Middle Eastern airline to operate out of the popular North East London ...