News

  Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin is trying to woo foreign investors into the battered Russian economy by offering a chunk of the world’s biggest miner of diamonds. Russia needs cash to help fill a hole in its budget, the result of a collapse in revenue from plunging oil prices. Putin has proposed selling stakes in state-controlled companies including banks and ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s cabinet approved a tax on undeveloped urban land and rules allowing foreign investors to own 100 percent of retail and wholesale businesses, the official SPA news agency said. The 2.5 percent annual tax on the value of undeveloped land designated for residential or commercial use will be applied in stages to owners of plots ...

  ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS Etihad Cargo commenced a new twice weekly A330 freighter service to Brussels Airport in Belgium further strengthening the connectivity options and economic ties between Abu Dhabi and Brussels, and adding freighter capacity to its existing passenger service. The airline already flies a daily passenger service to Brussels with its supporting bellyhold cargo, and the ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai-based developer Nakheel awarded a AED4 million contract to ILF Consulting Engineers’ Dubai branch for Sewage Treatment Plant, STP, work on Dubai’s Deira Islands. As part of the deal, ILF will oversee the design and supervise construction of the STP and lifting stations, which are due for completion at the end of 2017. The STP will be ...

Paris / AFP A huge overhang in oil stocks lingering across the world will keep a cap on any further oil price rises, the IEA said on Tuesday, even as supply and demand move towards balance by the end of the year. Global demand for oil is steadily rising thanks to solid economic growth, and supply has been curbed by ...

  Bloomberg Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, embroiled in a debt payment dispute with 1Malaysia Development Bhd., is seeking $6.5 billion from the troubled Malaysian state investment company as it moves the spat into arbitration. 1MDB and its sole shareholder —Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance—haven’t perform their obligations toward International Petroleum Investment Co. PJSC, the Abu Dhabi fund said in a ...

  Dubai / WAM The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, (Dubai Culture) calling for enhanced cooperation and partnership between the two entities in designing and constructing the Etihad Museum Project along with the new Pole for a flag hoisting 123 meters above the ground. Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed ...

  Dubai / WAM Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) secured a $230 million unsecured loan from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), one of China’s ‘Big Four’ state-owned commercial banks. The loan deal was agreed with the bank’s branch located at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a statement said. The five-year loan is part of ENOC’s ...

  Dubai / WAM Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Ethiopian International Office recently organised a roundtable in Nairobi, Kenya, which brought together representatives from the East African Community, EAC, to discuss and review opportunities for cooperation and investment in the agri-business industry for Dubai businesses and their East African counterparts. The 2nd East Africa and Dubai Agribusiness Roundtable meeting ...

  Vienna / WAM The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, FANR, last week presented to the international community the UAE’s plans for communicating with the public during a nuclear emergency. Fahad Al Bloushi, FANR Manager of Emergency Preparedness and Response, delivered the presentation in Vienna to the Eighth Meeting of the Representatives of Competent Authorities identified under the Convention on ...