RIYADH / Bloomberg JODC’s core business of developing projects close to Islam’s holiest site in Mecca, is no longer viable. Jabal Omar Development Company (JODC) is in financial trouble and that much is known from the company’s disclosures to the Saudi Stock Exchange earlier in 2016. It has swung to a loss and the company has been forced to negotiate ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates REIT delivered a strong financial and operating performance during 2015, consolidating its position as a leader in the UAE property asset management industry. By year end, the net asset value of the REIT stood at USD 469.6 million, an increase of 8.7% year-on-year. “We have continued to organically grow overall occupancy and leasing rates in ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Paperworld Middle East, the region’s largest trade fair for paper, office supplies, and stationery, is eyeing continued growth, as its launch partners lead the charge of returning exhibitors with high hopes for a big year in 2016. With more than 250 exhibitors from 42 countries expected this year, the sixth edition of the three-day event in ...

Sunaina Rana / EMIRATES BUSINESS As more and more women are catching up with the pace of the corporate world, QNET (QNet Ltd and QN Europe) continues to nurture the dreams of budding women entrepreneurs. It offers them one of the quickest, easiest and low risk formulas to set up their own business. The renowned Asian direct sales company supports ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The exclusive distributors of Toyota car in the Emirates, Al-Futtaim Motors have officially launched the fourth gen Toyota Prius. It is considered to be one of the most popular hybrid cars in the world. Toyota Prius was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, when it was launched in 1997. Prius fourth generation’s first look was unveiled ...

Doha / WAM Qatar’s tourism and hospitality industry is building momentum as it enters the second half of the decade, with an ambitious target of four million visitors by 2020, supported by US$40-45 billion worth of sector investment under the country’s National Tourism Sector Strategy 2030 plan. The Gulf state returns to ATM this year to showcase its expanding hotel ...

CARACAS / Bloomberg Venezuela boosted gasoline prices for the first time in almost two decades and devalued its currency as President Nicolas Maduro attempts to address triple-digit inflation and the economy’s deepest recession in over a decade. The primary exchange rate used for essential imports, such as food and medicine, will weaken to 10 bolivars per dollar from 6.3, Maduro ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s economy shrank less than forecast in December, capping a year when Latin America’s largest nation entered its worst recession in decades. The seasonally adjusted economic-activity index, a proxy for gross domestic product, decreased 0.52 percent in December from the previous month, after falling a revised 0.64 percent in November, the central bank said on Thursday. The median estimate ...

New York / AFP Wal-Mart Stores trimmed its sales forecast for fiscal 2017 on Thursday due to store closures and the strong dollar as it reported lower fourth-quarter earnings. The world’s biggest retailer saw shares tumble as it reported that it now expects fiscal 2017 sales to be flat, down from the previous outlook for three to four percent growth. ...

Mexico City / bloomberg For nearly 80 years, Pemex has ruled Mexico’s oil industry like a nation unto itself. Few dared challenge the state-owned monopoly, a pillar of government revenue with powerful political allies. Now, a Harvard-educated economist is about to try. Like a thunderclap, the arrival of Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya at Petroleos Mexicanos is sending shock waves across ...