ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE Cabinet has affirmed that the UAE’s competitiveness as a leading destination in family tourism supports the national economy and enhances domestic and foreign investments in the tourism sector. This came during the Cabinet’s approval of a decision to exempt the accompanying dependents of foreign tourists under the age of 18 from visa fees, from ...

Bloomberg Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent oil trader, is among firms considering bids for Spanish oil company Cepsa Trading SA as its owner weighs alternatives to an initial public offering planned for later this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Cepsa, owned by Abu Dhabi wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co, could be valued at around 10 billion ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The number of Chinese investors in the UAE’s money markets reached 817 as of end of 2017, and value of their trades exceeded AED900 million, according to official statistics of over 15 Chinese investment institutions in the UAE. In 2017, the numbers of buy and sell deals by Chinese investors in the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business Union National Bank (UNB), one of the leading banks based in the United Arab Emirates, recorded a profit of AED841 million for the first half of 2018. The profit for the second quarter of 2018 of AED416 million was lower by 2% quarter-on-quarter as the group continued to remain selective to book new business amid scheduled ...

DUBAI / WAM Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) has achieved a net profits of AED 283.0 million in the first half 2018 compared to AED272.9 million in same period last year, a 4 percent increase. According to first half financial results, total assets reached AED42.8 billion at the end of H1 compared to AED38.3 billion at the end of 2017, representing ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE and China are keen to reinforce and strengthen their overall ties, including in the tourism sector. The strength of their bilateral ties has contributed to the significant growth of the number of Chinese tourists visiting the UAE, which totalled some one million tourists in 2017, as well as to their growing mutual commercial and ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Hala China initiative, jointly launched by Meraas and Dubai Holding earlier this year, announced the signing of its first strategic agreements at a press conference. The event was organised by Meraas, with support from the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai, and also saw the establishment of a new Hala China Board ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Manarat Al Saadiyat Theatre in Abu Dhabi hosted the launch of the Arabic version of the book by Xi Jinping, President of China, on the sidelines of a cultural literary seminar that featured speakers from the UAE and China. The ceremony was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister for Tolerance; Noura bint ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Jordan’s Crown Prince Foundation to support entrepreneurship and development projects in Jordan. This initiative falls in line with its mission to promote entrepreneurship, encourage innovation and achieve sustainable growth of SMEs, while harnessing its experience and replicating its successful model to develop SMEs at ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Economy held an expanded meeting with representatives of the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry and chambers of commerce and industry from around the country, to discuss methods of assisting business, especially with regards to government fees, in light of recently-issued government decisions and recommendations. The meeting sought to strengthen the ...