Dubai / WAM A recently-released Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry special report has revealed that the UAE is becoming increasingly competitive in Saudi Arabia’s import market, as the Kingdom constitutes the 2nd largest destination for UAE-made products after India. The movement of goods between the two countries has been facilitated by the GCC customs unification procedures and efficient transportation …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM UAE nationals travelling to the Republic of Senegal will no longer need to apply for a visa in advance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation announced on Tuesday. Under the new rules, holders of diplomatic, official and regular passports will be allowed to stay in the Senegal for up to 90 days. Ahmed Saeed …

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced that there is no legislation in place in the country that obstructs economic movement or the work of local or international companies based in the UAE. This comes in response to several inquiries the TRA has received from companies and institutions about information published in the media recently regarding the …

  Dubai / WAM The 18th Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX 2016), to be held in October 2016, will feature the latest innovative solutions in energy, water and environment. Many of these technologies will be unveiled for the first time regionally to cater to the needs of renewable energy, water and energy conservation sectors. WETEX is being organised by …

  Sydney / Bloomberg Australia’s central bank cut interest rates to a fresh record low as it moves to counter disinflation and support a labour market hampered by high levels of part-time work and underemployment. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens and his board lowered the cash rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent on Tuesday, as predicted …

  MILAN / AP Shares in troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena rose as a capital infusion means the bank won’t be nationalized. But the shares of other Italian banks fell as investors focused on the scale of their mountain of bad loans. Monte dei Paschi was by far the worst performer in stress tests of 51 European …

  Frankfurt / Bloomberg Germany’s second largest bank Commerzbank warned on Tuesday that its profits in 2016 would be lower than the previous year. “The interest rate environment and persistent customer caution in view of the geopolitical uncertainties will continue to weigh on income despite growth,” the bank said in its second-quarter report. Commerzbank has also been forced to set …

  New Delhi / Bloomberg India eased rules to allow applicants to seek permits for setting up banks on a continuous basis, replacing a system that created long delays between approvals. According to the rules — posted on the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) website Monday — professionals with senior-level banking experience of at least 10 years can apply for a …

  Poland / Bloomberg Polish banks jumped on a newspaper report that President Andrzej Duda will tone down his proposal to help the country’s Swiss-franc-denominated mortgage takers and won’t force lenders to convert $36 billion in home loans into zloty. Fixing the issue of foreign-currency loans, mainly in Swiss francs, has hung over Polish lenders for more than a year, …

  Washington / AFP Ever since the IMF participated in the first Greek bailout six years ago, the stinging suspicion has been that the Fund is under Europe’s thumb. Now the International Monetary Fund is again under pressure to come to the aid of Athens, providing likely fodder for critics. Europe forged an 86 billion euro ($96 billion) aid package …