Emirates Business Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications “MOTC” has signed an agreement with Emirates Classification Society, TASNEEF, authorizing it to inspect the small ships that are not abiding by the international conventions in GCC countries. The agreement will help ensure that all ships and vessels are compliant with the safety requirements of the GCC “GCC CODE”. The Emirates ...

  Bloomberg Iran hinted that it may soon drop its opposition to an oil-production freeze, with a senior official saying the OPEC member’s crude output is closing in on its pre-sanctions level and that limiting supply is “a political decision.” The Persian Gulf exporter is pumping 3.8 million barrels a day, approaching its daily target of 4 million barrels, Mohsen ...

  Emirates Business The Qatar Ministry of Culture and Sports has awarded the operation of two world-class arenas to ELAN Live Nation, a joint venture (JV) between ELAN Group, a diversified and fully integrated media and entertainment group in the Middle East, and Live Nation, the global leader in live entertainment. The JV will operate Lusail Multipurpose Arena in Lusail, ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s economy expanded at the fastest annual pace in four years, driven by a surge in public investment to build roads and railways and continued strength in resource exports. Gross domestic product rose 0.5% in the second quarter from the previous three months, when it grew by a downward revised 1%; economists estimated 0.6% gain. The economy expanded ...

  Bloomberg Government employees playing badminton in a Tianjin office lobby in the middle of the afternoon. Hundreds of miles away in the northern city of Tieling, workers manually cut rubber truck parts in a tiny family workshop that makes about $600 a month. They’re different examples of the same inefficiency hampering China’s rebalancing toward a consumption-led economy and weighing ...

  Bloomberg Singapore is next in line if London loses its status as leading business hub in the world. The Asian island nation ranks behind London as the best global city, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said in a new study, based on social and economic data published before the U.K. voted to leave the European Union. The Cities of Opportunity Index places ...

  Bloomberg Palm oil inventories in Malaysia probably fell to the lowest since 2011 as demand for the vegetable oil used in everything from instant noodles to detergents surged in countries including India and China. Inventories fell 7.9 percent to 1.63 million metric tons in August from a month earlier, the lowest since March 2011, according to the median of ...

  Bloomberg China’s Finance Ministry has submitted a consumer tax overhaul proposal to the State Council, according to two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The proposal is subject to change after other ministries and the State Council, China’s cabinet, give their input, one of the people said. Finance Ministry ...

  Ho Chi Minh City / AFP Recent Vietnamese graduate looking for an English-language teacher? There’s an app for that. Or hunting the best bowl of pho in your Hanoi neighbourhood? There’s now an app for that, too. A decade ago such technology would likely have been developed in California’s Silicon Valley. But today those apps are being churned out ...

  San Francisco / AFP South Korean consumer electronics titan LG unveiled a flagship V20 smartphone aimed at internet age “storytellers” on the eve of an Apple event expected to star a new iPhone. LG introduced the V20 in San Francisco, highlighting camera and audio capabilities aimed at bringing professional-level production quality to even casual of moments captured on smartphones. ...