Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a 108 trillion yen ($989 billion) stimulus package, Japan’s largest ever, to rescue the coronavirus-hit economy with Tokyo and six other economic hubs set to be put in a state of emergency. The package, equivalent to about 20% of the nation’s economic output, will include cash handouts worth 6 trillion yen for households and ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) plans to impose tariffs on lighters, plastic fittings from the US in retaliation over controversial American duties on imported steel and aluminum, according to EU officials. The EU intends to apply a 20% tariff on lighters and a 7% levy on plastic fittings for furniture in response to a US decision in February widening the ...

Bloomberg Oil pared losses amid signs that Saudi Arabia and Russia are making progress towards an agreement to curb crude output as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the global economy. Futures fell 3.3% in New York, having earlier plunged 11%. Large oil-producing nations are racing to negotiate a deal to stem the price crash, but hurdles remain. A meeting of ...

Dubai / WAM Emirates Post has announced that it will reduce working hours on a temporary basis at all its Dubai-based Customer Happiness Centres. This decision is in line with the latest directives of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management aimed at containing the spread of the Covid-19. Starting today, Emirates Post Customer Happiness Centres in Dubai will ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, will partner with Australian company Elenium Automation to trial new technology which allows self-service devices at airports to be used to help identify travellers with medical conditions, potentially including the early stages of Covid-19. Etihad will be the first airline to trial the technology, which can monitor ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai Startup Hub, an entrepreneurship initiative of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organised its first online event for its new members, within the framework of its plans to continue delivery of all programmes and activities digitally. This comes in line with its support of business continuity and commitments towards developing entrepreneurship in the emirate, it added. ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Al Ansari Exchange, the UAE-based foreign exchange and worldwide money transfer company, reported witnessing more than 40% increase in mobile transactions from UAE residents to home countries since the beginning of March (and the Covid-19 outbreak). Over 110,000 online transactions were registered through the company’s mobile application. This spike is due to many residents practicing physical ...

DUBAI / WAM Emirates Post announced that it will reduce working hours on a temporary basis at all its Dubai-based Customer Happiness Centres. This decision is in line with the latest directives of Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management aimed at containing the spread of the Covid-19. Starting April 6, Emirates Post Customer Happiness Centres in Dubai will ...

RAS AL KHAIMAH / WAM Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) unveiled support measures that will be in place from mid-April aimed at helping tourism industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It include a six-month waiver of all touristic licences; waiver of tourism dirhams from March to May; a complete exemption of tourism licencing fees for Q2 ...

ABU DHABI / WAM A United Arab Emirates aid plane carrying approximately 10 tonnes of medical supplies was dispatched to Italy to assist the country in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, benefitting over 10,000 healthcare professionals. This initiative is part of the UAE’s commitment to cooperating with countries affected by the Covid-19 outbreak in order to bolster global efforts to curb ...