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Doha / EMIRATES BUSINESS Barwa Real Estate Company plans to develop several new projects in 2016. Company’s Annual General Assembly meeting held on March 16 endorsed recommendation of Board of Directors to distribute cash dividends of 22 percent, equivalent to QR2.20 per share. Addressing the shareholders, H E Salah bin Ghanim Al Ali, Chairman of the Board, Barwa Real Estate ...

Bloomberg Lenders are getting stingier when it comes to funding risky U.S. real estate developments, putting pressure on landlords in need of fresh funding to keep their projects afloat. Banks are proceeding with caution as the specter of slowing economic growth rattles financial markets and shakes investor confidence in a six-year recovery that’s helped lift property values to records. Lenders ...

Bloomberg Qatar Airways remains on the hunt for a stake in discount carrier IndiGo to add to its portfolio of holdings after failing to buy shares of India’s largest airline at the time of last year’s initial public offering. “I cannot force the owners to sell a stake to me,” Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said. “But if they ...

BASEL / AFP The world’s biggest watch fair opened in the Swiss city of Basel on Thursday as a slumping luxury market and the soaring popularity of connected timepieces cast gloom over the industry. Baselworld is the highlight of the year for watch and jewellery makers, with retailers flooding in to snap up the latest eye-candy for their showcases. The ...

Bloomberg When a Fastjet Plc plane flew from Tanzanian business hub Dar es Salaam to Mwanza on Lake Victoria on Nov. 29, 2012, Chief Executive Officer Ed Winter lauded the service as heralding the start of low-cost travel in Africa. Barely three years on and Winter quit this week after a spat with backer and EasyJet Plc founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou ...

Frankfurt / AFP German airline Lufthansa said on Thursday it will resume dividend payments to shareholders after profits soared in 2015, helped by low oil prices, and are set to increase again this year. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said that despite an “emotionally challenging year” due to the Germanwings air crash and the burden of repeated strike action by ...

NEW YORK / AP Forget about slipping out of your shoes because of loose laces or feeling pressure from too-tight tying when doing those sprints. Nike Inc. has unveiled its first power-lacing sneaker — it allows users to make the fit looser or snugger on the fly by pressing buttons on the side of the shoe. The world’s largest sportswear ...

ABU DHABI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, discussed with President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, ways to strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries, as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest. This came when Sheikh Mohamed ...

Dubai / WAM The third edition of the largest entrepreneurship conference in the Middle East and North Africa region, SME World 2016, was inaugurated in Dubai by Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME. He also presented the Disruptive Entrepreneur Awards 2016 to six winning SMEs in two categories, Start-up and Established SME Business. The summit was held under ...

Dubai / WAM In his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has issued Law No (2) of 2016 establishing Dubai Data Establishment (DDE), with the aim to support the Dubai Smart City strategy to transform Dubai into the smartest city in the world by 2017. Meanwhile, ...