News

Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business As the Emirates is heading to the new high-tech world with smart cities, smart homes and now new ViP (Vehicle Identification Pass) technology gas stations. The new innovative technology comes with secured electronic chip that will be placed on top of the fuel tank gasket of the vehicle. After the chip is installed and activated, ...

CAIRO / WAM Emirates NBD affirmed its commitment to supporting mega national projects and securing the necessary financing, thus contributing to the Egyptian economy’s development and boosting production in light of the bank’s expansion plan in the Egyptian market. Emirates NBD Egypt signed a EGP2 billion (AED287mn) facility contract with the Egyptian Electricity Holding company during a signing ceremony at ...

Sharjah / Emirates Business Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is participating in the China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market (COTTM) for the third consecutive year. The leading exhibition, now in its 12th year, starts in the Chinese capital Beijing on April 12, and will run until April 14. SCTDA’s presence at COTTM 2016 comes as part of the ...

Beijing / Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is making its largest overseas investment with a $1 billion deal for control of Lazada Group SA, taking the Chinese e-commerce giant to Southeast Asia and closer to a goal of shedding its home-market reliance. China’s largest online emporium will pay $500 million for new shares in the closely held company and purchase ...

HONG KONG / AP Industry data show that Chinese auto sales rose by nearly 10 percent last month, led by strong demand for SUVs that more than offset slipping passenger car sales. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday that 2.06 million sedans, SUVs and minivans were sold in March in the world’s biggest auto market. That’s 9.8 percent ...

Singapore / AFP Crude prices dipped in Asia on Tuesday but held above $40 as traders awaited a summit of key oil producers next week to discuss freezing output and easing the supply glut. Analysts said prices were expected to see-saw before Sunday’s meeting in the Qatari capital Doha that will bring together both OPEC producers led by Saudi Arabia ...

Beijing / Bloomberg CRRC Corp., China’s only maker of high-speed locomotives, said it’s interested in investing in more US cities after winning a $1.3 billion rail-car contract from Chicago’s transport authorities. The company is bidding for a subway project in Los Angeles and a double-deck train contract in Philadelphia, CRRC Vice-President Yu Weiping said in an interview in Manhattan, without ...

Sydney / AFP It may be the smallest-denominated Australian dollar banknote, but a new design for the Aus$5 bill attracted an outsized amount of criticism when it was unveiled Tuesday, with detractors calling it “hideous” and “like vomit”. The note, which will replace its more bland predecessor from September 1, features a yellow Prickly Moses wattle flower and a colourful ...

Taipei / DPA Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism announced ambitious plans to boost the number of inbound Taiwanese travellers in 2016. The goal, unveiled during an industry event in Taipei, is to attract 275,000 Taiwanese visitors by the end of the year. Taiwan is already a growing source of travellers for the Southeast Asian country, with the number of Taiwanese visitors ...

Bloomberg U.K. inflation accelerated to a 15-month high in March as an early Easter boosted air fares and clothing prices increased. Consumer prices rose 0.5 percent from a year earlier, the fastest pace since December 2014, the Office for National Statistics in London said on Tuesday. That exceeded the 0.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Core ...