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ABU DHABI / Emirates Business His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Free Zone (DFZ) Council, on Saturday chaired the second council meeting which was held at the Emirates Towers. The discussions revolved around the proposed amendments to the draft statute and the financial resources of the council. The meeting also discussed the work progress of ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Insurance Authority (IA) is discussing a proposal to establish a major national life insurance company in which all licensed national companies will hold stakes, the insurance regulator said today. The proposal is based on the performance of life insurance market valued at AED8 billion where the share of foreign companies stands at 81 percent leaving ...

Dubai / WAM Dubai World Trade Centre ( DWTC ) has enhanced its expansive Information Communications Technology (ICT) portfolio by collecting four specialised industry trade platforms under the collective banner of the all-new Future Technology Week. Future Technology Week, which runs March 29-31 across four halls at DWTC, will collect and showcase various ‘pipeline technologies’ and services featured within Gulf ...

Bloomberg The Democratic presidential nomination race shifted to South Carolina on Saturday, with Hillary Clinton banking on the black vote to beat Bernie Sanders and gain momentum ahead of the multi-state “Super Tuesday” contests next week. But in a blow to Clinton on the eve of the vote, Sanders picked up the endorsement of former labour secretary Robert Reich—who served ...

Shanghai / AFP China’s normally reclusive central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan is an unusually prominent presence at the G20 finance ministers meeting in Shanghai, racing from seminar to news conference to spread positive messages about the world’s second-largest economy. After months of silence, the governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) wants investors to know that the yuan currency ...

New Delhi / AFP New industries must be explored to lessen the country’s dependency on traditional commodities, especially in current times when prices are sliding, said Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib said developing new industries, like the biomass sector, had great potential for the country. Malaysia, he said, had set its sight on becoming a premier biomass processing hub ...

Singapore / DPA Developer CapitaLand’s serviced residence business unit, The Ascott, aims to fast-track its expansion into China by forging a strategic alliance with a major mainland player, Dongfu Investment Development Corp. The Ascott is already the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in China, with more than 14,000 units in 24 cities. The partnership, gives Ascott first right to manage ...

Singapore / DPA The strong wage growth that workers enjoyed last year might not be sustainable, given the lacklustre economic outlook and Singapore’s flagging labour productivity. Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) permanent secretary Ow Foong Pheng said at a press briefing that demand for labour may be more subdued this year, given the “challenging near-term outlook for the Singapore ...

Islamabad / DPA The number of Koreans who travelled abroad reached a monthly high in January, according to figures from a government-run tourism agency. Pakistani banks have been allowed to restore normal financial relations with Iran in the wake of lifting of ban on Tehran by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued on ...

Dublin / AFP Ireland faced political uncertainty on Saturday after two exit polls indicated voters had punished the governing coalition in Europe’s fastest-growing economy, still feeling the pain of years of austerity. As counting got under way following the parliamentary election, it appeared PM Enda Kenny’s centre-right Fine Gael and its Labour junior partner would lose support as voters angry ...