Bloomberg National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia’s biggest lender, started initial talks with Riyad Bank for a merger — a deal that would create the Gulf’s third-biggest lender with $182 billion in assets. Talks may not result in a transaction, National Commercial Bank said in a statement. The lender said it has coordinated the move with the central bank and ...

Bloomberg China announced another round of tariff cuts, lowering import taxes on more than 700 goods from January 1 as part of its efforts to open up the economy and lower costs for domestic consumers. There will also be cuts to some export tariffs, and temporary import tariff rates will be as low as zero for some goods, the Ministry ...

SHARJAH / WAM Sharjah airport has received the inaugural flight of Pegasus Airline, arriving from Sabiha Airport in Istanbul. Pegasus Airline introduced its new daily service on Sharjah-Istanbul route in response to the increasing demand for travel to and from Sharjah due to the regional and global importance of Sharjah Airport as a passenger hub. The route will provide passengers ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Enhancing bilateral trade and investment opportunities between the UAE and Azerbaijan was the topic under discussion at the Annual Networking Reception hosted at Dubai Chamber’s representative office in Baku. More than 200 representatives from the UAE and Azerbaijan public and private sectors attended the event, which was held in Baku. The annual gathering marks a significant ...

RED SEA COAST / WAM The United Arab Emirates, represented by the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC), has provided new jobs for 3,200 Yemeni citizens in 23 contracting companies, which are implementing hundreds of service and development projects along the villages and cities of the Red Sea Coast. The move is part of the ERC’s framework to provide job opportunities for ...

MUKALLA / WAM The United Arab Emirates, represented by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, has delivered a shipment of medical supplies to the Public Health and Population Office in the city of Mukalla, capital of Hadramaut. This move is part of the UAE efforts to support the medical sector with the provision of appropriate treatment for Yemeni patients ...

Ras Al Khaimah / Emirates Business The inaugural direct flight, carrying 185 passengers, from Wroclaw to Ras Al Khaimah arrived to a warm welcome from officials of the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (Raktda) and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. Launched by Enter Air- a charter airline of reputed tour operator TUI Poland- the new route will be served ...

Dubai / WAM Enoc Group received the ‘Idea of the Year’ award at the 32nd edition of ideasUK event recently held in Manchester, England. The Group was awarded in the ‘Digital and Technology’ category for the development and implementation of innovative solutions across their service stations network. The theme of IdeasUK for this year was ‘Power of Ideas’ that focused ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Registration Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), and the Ministry of Economy have agreed to foster cooperation and coordination with respect to the registration and supervision of auditors with the aim of promoting high standards of financial audits in the UAE. To this effect, an MoU was signed by Dhaher bin Dhaher Al Mheiri, ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Offering the best seasonal deals, Aldar Properties (‘Aldar’) has partnered with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT) to launch the Code Red Sale across all three of its malls – Yas Mall, The Mall at World Trade Center Abu Dhabi (The Mall at WTCAD) and Al Jimi Mall in Al Ain. Held ...