News

  MOSCOW / AP Commodities giant Glencore and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund have together acquired a 19.5 percent stake in Russia’s top state-controlled oil company, Rosneft, in a deal worth 10.5 billion euros ($11.3 billion), officials said. The long-planned sale is part of the Russian government’s efforts to sell some state assets to help balance the budget amid a two-year ...

  Bloomberg Egypt’s urban consumer prices rose the fastest in eight years in November, driven by a 21.5 percent increase in food costs after the government floated the currency and raised fuel prices. Annual urban inflation accelerated to 19.4 percent, while monthly inflation climbed to 4.8 percent, according to the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS. The annual rate was the highest ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Shareholders in First Gulf Bank PJSC (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), have approved a proposed merger of the two banks, which will create the largest financial institution in the UAE with assets of approximately AED655 billion (US$178 billion). At separate general assembly meetings held on Wednesday, shareholders in FGB and NBAD voted ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM Fares Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation for Security and Military Affairs, met on Wed-nesday, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian President’s Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia. During the meeting, the duo discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them, as well as means ...

  DUBAI / WAM HH Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) unveiled the first ‘Smart Lounge’ of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) to strengthen customer service standards and to ensure round-the-clock access to DED’s business registration and licensing services. Dedicated user-friendly and interactive kiosks and smart devices are ...

  MANAMA / WAM The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states and the United Kingdom have agreed to launch the GCC-UK Strategic Partnership to foster closer relations in all fields, including political, defence, security, and trade. This was announced on Wednesday, following the first GCC-UK Summit in Manama, which was presided over by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, ...

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The 2017 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) is on track to be the most important in the event’s history for driving commercially focused action, said industry leaders at a press event on Wednesday. Hosted by Masdar, the forthcoming ADSW theme is ‘Practical Steps Towards a Sustainable Future’. The week’s anchor event, the World Future ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai Wholesale City, a global integrated wholesale trading hub and member of TECOM Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The China Commodity City (CCC) Group, the world’s largest exporter of goods, in China’s Zhejiang Province. Aiming to build a long-term strategic relationship between the two parties and leverage possible future collaborations between ...

  Manama / WAM British Prime Minister, Theresa May confirmed that the UK will participate in Dubai’s Expo 2020. The Prime Minister informed His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, during a meeting in the margins of the annual meeting of leaders from the GCC currently being held in the Bahraini capital, ...

  Dubai / WAM du, the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, pledged AED1 million over the next two years in support of the philanthropic initiatives of Emirates Foundation, the national foundation of the UAE established to facilitate public-private partnerships for empow- ering youth, as its Gold Partner. The collaboration between the two entities will commence in January 2017, with an aim to ...