DUBAI / Emirates Business The Startup Focus Program supports more than 3,400 startups worldwide, providing startups with free access to tools, support, and training to develop innovations on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform, and bring them to market in an ecosystem of 2 million people and 310,000 customers in 190 countries. The SAP Training and Development Institute launched the …

  According to Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, Russia is pursuing a “divide and conquer” policy in Europe by trying to boost the eurosceptic populists. “It’s regularly discussed,” Zaoralek told Financial Times. “We have no doubt Russia is finding ways to finance this.” Others before him have made similar allegations but, like Zaoralek, they have been unable to produce proof …

  The world’s central banks are increasingly employing a controversial method to stimulate economic growth: negative interest rates. I’m convinced that this can be a valuable tool, but its power depends a lot on how it’s used. First, some context. A bond that promises to pay $1,000 in a year’s time is said to have a negative interest rate if …

  Yuki Tatsumi SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS On June 9, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) frigate sailed near Senkaku Island. Although the naval vessel stayed in the contiguous zone, and therefore did not enter Japan’s territorial waters, this is the first time that a PLAN vessel came this close to the Senkakus, which are also claimed by China …

  AFP Will he stay or will he go? That’s the question gripping India as speculation whirls about the future of central bank chief Raghuram Rajan, dubbed ‘rock star’ and ‘James Bond’. Rajan’s three-year term as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor ends in September and the Indian media is abuzz with predictions about whether he will be given a …

  Bloomberg Brazil antitrust regulators approved Banco Bradesco SA’s acquisition of the local unit of HSBC Holdings Plc, adding a restriction that the buyer refrain from additional purchases for 30 months. Bradesco will also have to improve quality control, invest in worker training and disclose to its clients the local law that allows customers to switch banks, Cade, the antitrust …

  AP Poland’s lawmakers have approved economist Adam Glapinski to be the nation’s new top banker. Glapinski succeeds Marek Belka, whose six-year term as head of the National Bank of Poland expired. The 66-year-old Glapinski is a member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Council and its board of managers, and is considered to be a moderate. He has vowed to …

  Bloomberg Here’s a tip to buyout funds that rely on bank debt to buy promising companies. Don’t take those same banks to court unless you’re sure you have a very, very good case. Terra Firma’s Guy Hands clearly thought he had his reasons to haul Citigroup before a London court this week over his 4 billion-pound (US$5.7 billion) 2007 …

  Paris / AFP Auto giants are racing to invest in car- and ride-sharing services, lured by the prospect of fat profits yet to be tapped from a billion cars on the world’s roads. A typical car spends 95 percent of its life at a standstill, industry analysts say, making it a vastly under-utilised, depreciating asset. There may be big …

  Marcel Schwantes Tribune News Service Let me ask you: What personal attributes would you say give you a competitive edge? Is it your persuasiveness? Emotional intelligence? Drive to achieve? Is it the ability to understand how Millennials think and how best to lead them? So many of us have untapped, X-men-like skills and abilities that we have yet to …