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DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai Startup Hub, an initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, launched its new Market Access programme which aims to enhance cooperation and facilitate deals between innovative startups, SMEs, leading companies, and government entities in Dubai. The launch announcement was made during GITEX Technology Week 2017, where Dubai Startup Hub is exhibiting and showcasing the ...

DUBAI / WAM Represented by the Department of Finance (DOF), and Smart Dubai Government Establishment (SDG), Dubai Government signed a partnership agreement with Mashreq Bank to collect payments made via Smart Dubai Portal. Under the agreement, Mashreq Bank is to become an acquirer of payments made with credit and debit cards issued by banks in or outside the UAE. In ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business Dubai Land Department (DLD) in cooperation with Pixonal, a leading innovation design firm, is showcasing the largest flip-dot screen to ever be constructed in the Middle East at GITEX Technology Week. The six by two meter screen is set to showcase DLD’s latest news which includes live real-estate transactions and project progress updates. DLD recently announced ...

Bloomberg Oil producers are succeeding in re-balancing an oversupplied market, though they may need to take further steps to sustain the recovery into 2018, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said. Saudi Arabia and Russia are currently leading consultations between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major suppliers about the future of their agreement to cut oil output, Barkindo ...

Reuters Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) plans to buy a 12 percent stake in Kuwaiti telecoms company Zain in a deal that would more than double its stake as part of its expansion strategy. Having purchased a 9.8 percent stake in August to diversify its investment and market position in the region, Omantel said on Monday that it had signed a non-binding ...

Riyadh / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) said on Monday it is creating a 4 billion riyal ($1.07 billion) ‘fund of funds’ to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The special fund will aim to boost SMEs’ access to capital by investing in venture capital and private equity funds, according to a PIF statement. The ...

Bloomberg Sasol Ltd., the world’s largest maker of fuel from coal, abandoned a plan to sell about 13 billion rand ($950 million ) of shares to meet its obligation to repay debt owed by a black investor group. A decline in the company’s stock since the mid-2014 slump in crude prices precluded payouts to more than 250,000 black South Africans ...

Bloomberg For years, investors have played Popeye to the energy industry’s Wimpy, the cartoon character famous for his “I’ll gladly pay you for a hamburger today” motto. In return for the promise of future profits, they’ve funded loss-making energy producers and explorers through a generous mix of loans, bonds and equity. That may be changing, according to a chorus of ...

Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo ordered Sinohydro Corp. and China Railway Construction Corp.’s local mining venture to stop exporting unprocessed copper and cobalt and refine all its metals within the country. Sicomines must ship “only high-value products” as the government looks to “ensure the prompt repayment” of the country’s continuing $6 billion minerals-for-infrastructure deal with China, Mines Minister Martin ...

Bloomberg Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Temasek Holdings Pte, has completed its biggest fundraising for Southeast Asian and Indian technology deals. The Singapore-based firm closed its third Southeast Asian fund at $210 million, a record in the region that exceeded its target of $150 million. The money will be used for early stage investments, aiming to repeat its ...