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RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business As governments across the GCC embark on more and more ambitious e- and m-government programmes, it will fall upon businesses to keep up with citizens’ expectations, experts opined during Dynamics Summit 2016 held in Dubai. Keeping the same in mind, Microsoft has taken another step forward in helping Middle East businesses achieve more, as the ...

Sunaina Rana Emirates Business Contributing its bit in the overall cycle of sustainable development, Emirates Gas (EMGAS), a subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) has inaugurated its one-of-its-kind mini Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) daughter station at Emirates Driving Institute (EDI) in Al Qusais area of Dubai on Tuesday. This new state-of-the-art CNG station has the storage capacity of 1,500 ...

Emirates Business The Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, one of the leading young musical ensembles in the world, will perform two concerts this week at two stunning locations in Abu Dhabi as part of the emirate’s Abu Dhabi Classics international concert season. The orchestra, based in Vienna, Austria and founded in 1986, comprises 120 musicians, last week made its debut appearance ...

Bloomberg Britain posted a larger-than-predicted budget deficit in February, leaving Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne little room to meet his full-year fiscal forecast. Government spending exceeded revenue by £7.1 billion ($10.1 billion) compared with 7.5 billion pounds a year earlier, figures from the Office for National Statistics show. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had predicted a £5.9 billion-shortfall. In ...

Bloomberg The pound posted the biggest decline among major currencies amid speculation the Brussels explosions will boost the case of campaigners who want Britain to quit the European Union. The tragedy risks making sterling into even more of a political football as the debate over a potential “Brexit” rages. Anti-EU politicians have argued that migration leaves the U.K. vulnerable to ...

Bloomberg German manufacturing grew at the slowest pace in 16 months in March, evidence that the economy is feeling the pressure of cooling global demand. Markit Economics said its Purchasing Managers Index slipped to 50.4 from 50.5 in February, just above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction. While a separate report showed services improved this month, a gauge ...

Bloomberg Economic growth in the euro area probably picked up at the end of the first quarter, according to Markit Economics, which also said that concerns remain about the health of the region. Markit’s composite Purchasing Managers Index of manufacturing and services rose to a three-month high of 53.7 in March from 53 in February. That keeps the measure well ...

Bloomberg On a typical weekday, hundreds of heavy trucks arrive at the Chempark Leverkusen, a sprawling complex of refineries flanking the Rhine River in western Germany. For the past two years, the trucks have been forced to make long detours to avoid a crumbling Autobahn bridge that dates to when the Beatles were singing Twist and Shout in Hamburg. Designed ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg India is expanding its footprint in China’s backyard by forging deals with Russia for stakes in Siberian fields that supply Asia’s biggest economy and crude consumer. Deals last week between Rosneft and Indian state-run companies beefed up the South Asian nation’s share in two assets that are linked to the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline. That conduit ...

Beijing / Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is pushing China to disclose data on holdings of derivatives that could shed light on more-opaque methods of intervention in the yuan’s exchange rate, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. The Washington-based lender is seeking data on the People’s Bank of China’s total holdings of forwards and futures, a step that would be in ...