News

  Dubai / WAM Official figures released this week have demonstrated the UK’s continued attraction for visitors from the UAE. A record number of UAE nationals used the UK’s electronic visa waiver (EVW) scheme in the last year, according to a report issued by the UK Home Office. It added that there were more than 63,000 applications for EVWs in the ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA) revealed the formation of RASEINA Maritime Domestic & Leisure Working Group, a first of its kind in the UAE, which aims to promote Dubai’s marine and leisure sector activities. The group has been created in a push to advance the Maritime Sector Strategy and further lead Dubai into becoming ...

  Emirates Business Intersec, the world’s leading international trade fair for security, safety, and fire protection, is making its debut in Saudi Arabia, offering global suppliers direct access to the Kingdom’s vast market where security spending continues to rise. Organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East in partnership with Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions (ACE Group), the inaugural edition of Intersec Saudi ...

  Bloomberg Egypt plans to secure a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to ease a crippling dollar squeeze and restore confidence in the economy, an accord that would be the fund’s biggest aid package in a region pummeled by political unrest and the plunge in oil prices. Stocks surged after authorities said on Tuesday evening they will ...

  KHOBAR / Reuters Foreign engineering companies have bid to build Saudi Aramco’s clean fuels project at the state oil giant’s Ras Tanura refinery, industry sources said. The bid deadline was July 17 for the $2 billion-plus scheme which will remove sulphur from refined oil products and is part of a drive by the kingdom to meet stricter environmental standards ...

  Emirates Business Oman’s continued growth as a tourism destination is set to receive another boost as The Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) is on track to deliver three new hotels, providing more than 900 additional rooms, in 2017/18. The hotels include the five-star W hotel currently under construction alongside the expansion of the Royal Opera House in the heart ...

  Reuters Italian oil major Eni, oil services group Saipem and former Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni have been ordered by an Italian judge to stand trial in an Algerian corruption case. The long-running case revolves around allegations Saipem paid intermediaries around 198 million euros ($218 million) to bag contracts worth 8 billion euros with Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach. Saipem has previously ...

  Riyadh / Emirates Business JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, has released its Q2 2016 Riyadh and Jeddah Real Estate Overview reports assessing the latest trends in the office, residential, retail and hotel sectors. With Saudi Vision 2030 pivotal to the diversification and restructuring of the economy in lieu of decreasing oil prices, this report ...

  Bloomberg Japan’s government on Wednesday announced a stimulus package worth more than 28 trillion yen ($266 billion) in its latest attempt to fire up the lukewarm economy, with the central bank expected to unveil its own measures this week. Policymakers are under pressure to boost growth as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ‘Abenomics’ plan to kickstart the world’s number three ...

  Bloomberg The Philippines said on Wednesday it had “vigorously” lobbied Southeast Asian nations to take a united stance critical of Beijing’s claims to most of the South China Sea, but insisted a diluted statement remained a victory. After initially denying doing so, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said he lobbied his counterparts at a meeting of the 10-member Association of ...