Abu Dhabi / WAM Najeeb Al Ali, Executive Director of the Expo 2020 Dubai Office, has said that some of the participating countries in Expo 2020 Dubai will begin building their pavilions at the start of April 2018, while pointing out that over 180 countries will participate in Expo 2020. He also expects the Expo to receive 25 million visitors, ...
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Tencent-backed video site seeks $17bn valuation
Bloomberg Tencent-backed Chinese startup Kuaishou is seeking to raise funds at about a $17 billion valuation, people familiar with the matter said, as it expands its video-streaming service to Southeast Asia. The company is targeting around $1 billion of financing, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private deal. The startup’s desired valuation would be almost six ...
Read More »India stalls plan to cut drug prices
Bloomberg India’s proposal to curb drug prices by stripping generic medicines of their brand names has stalled after the plan faced pushback from the country’s pharmaceutical companies, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Draft Pharmaceutical Policy circulated in 2017 by the Department of Pharmaceuticals has made no progress since opposition emerged from the industry and among some ...
Read More »EU toughens demands on UK for Brexit transition in draft
Bloomberg The European Union has stepped up the demands for concessions that the UK must make during the transition period that follows Brexit, pushing back the cut-off date for the acquisition of rights for EU citizens, according to revised draft negotiating directives obtained by Bloomberg. The UK won’t be able to apply new immigration rules to EU citizens arriving during ...
Read More »BMW sees 5 Series, new X2 fuelling sales increase
Bloomberg BMW AG is betting an overhauled 5Series sedan and new X2 crossover will boost sales this year as the world’s second-biggest luxury carmaker works on its pledge to retake the global lead from Mercedes-Benz. Those models, plus an updated X3 utility vehicle, should carry BMW to gains in all markets, including the US and China, Chief Financial Officer Nicolas ...
Read More »Carillion’s demise shines a light on UK pensions shortfall
Bloomberg The collapse of Carillion Plc with more than half a billion pounds of unfunded pension commitments may increase pressure on some of the nation’s biggest companies to plug their own funding gaps. The construction and services giant employs almost 20,000 people in Britain and has a pensions shortfall of 587 million pounds ($811 million). The government-backed Pension Protection Fund ...
Read More »Russia plans biggest spending spree since Putin re-election
Bloomberg Russia’s government is discussing a proposal to turn on the fiscal taps in what would be the biggest domestic spending spree since President Vladimir Putin last ran for re-election in 2012. Kremlin economic aide Andrey Belousov said expenditures on health, education and infrastructure could be raised by 1.5-2 percent of gross domestic product, the official Tass news agency reported ...
Read More »UAE is following in the footsteps of the founding father: Mohamed
Abu Dhabi / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, honoured the nine winners of the Zayed Future Energy Prize 2018, during an award ceremony held on Monday in Abu Dhabi, as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. The tenth edition of this key ...
Read More »Abu Dhabi unveils world’s largest desalinated water reserve
Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Abu Dhabi on Monday unveiled the world’s largest reserve of high quality desalinated water, secured in a network of 315 recovery wells lying up to 80 meters below the Liwa Desert. The wells are fed by one of UAE’s longest water pipeline networks which runs the water from Shuweihat desalination plant at a rate of ...
Read More »Book on Zayed, ‘Father of the Nation’, launched
Dubai / WAM Coinciding with the designation of the year 2018 as the ‘Year of Zayed’, Dubai-based publisher Motivate Publishing has issued a new book, ‘Father of Our Nation’, containing collected quotations from the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s founding President. 2018 is the 100th anniversary of his birth. Illustrated with a selection of historic photographs ...
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