Bloomberg Corn futures surged into a bull market as production concerns in the U.S. and Brazil, the world’s biggest exporters, sparked optimism that the global grain glut will ease. Dry conditions have beleaguered Brazil’s crops so much that the nation’s chicken processors have been forced to reduce production as domestic consumers compete with foreign buyers for grain supplies. Now, ...

  Bloomberg The death of meaningful U.S. immigration reform, done in by Washington partisanship and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s incendiary comments on foreigners, is leaving crops withering in the field and the farm lobby with nowhere to turn as a labor shortage intensifies. Carlos Castaneda watched one-quarter of his Napa cabbages rot in three of his California fields this ...

  Dubai / WAM The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s (TRA), Computer Emergency Readiness Team, aeCERT, and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) have signed an agreement to jointly promote information security at the DFSA and provide companies with measures to avert all forms of attacks in cyberspace. TRA will provide guidance, education and awareness about online threats, as well as assist ...

  ABU DHABI / Emirates Business Following the Ministry of Economy’s recent announcement of its plan to monitor markets and open channels of communication with consumers during the Holy Month of Ramadan, the Ministry conducted an inspection of the Al Jubail Market in Sharjah on Tuesday. The visit was led by Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, Director of the Ministry’s Consumer ...

  DUBAI / WAM The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in partnership with global e-commerce platform for SMEs, Alibaba, recently conducted two workshops to emphasise the importance of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce and to elaborate on Chamber’s role in facilitating e-commerce activities in the MENA region. The workshops, held at the Dubai Chamber headquarters, provided information about the sector ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business As part of Mashreq’s commitment to support SMEs and provide them with the state of the art banking facilities and innovation, the bank announced the launch of a new and exclusive mobile banking app for SMEs called ‘SnappBiz’. The aim of the app is to provide easier, more efficient and accessible services for SME customers ...

  DUBAI / WAM The Expo 2020 Dubai, the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Dubai SME) and Tejari, the strategic procurement company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will broaden access for thousands of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the emirate to tender for opportunities offered by the AED 25 billion mega-event. ...

  ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business Moving at a fast pace towards ensuring food security and long-term sustainability in the farm industry, UAE has taken firm strides towards organic farming. This smart switch from the traditional farming practices to organic way of cultivating is being seen as a move aimed towards devising solutions to adversities including harsh climatic conditions, saline ...

  ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business The economy of UAE — the world’s eighth largest oil producer — fundamentally remains shielded from the global slowdown, thanks to its 300,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that contribute nearly 60 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Minister of Economy HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri has said he expects the contribution ...

  RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business From tourism to education and health to bio-diversity, UAE has made considerable strides in diversifying its economic prospects. Medical tourism is one such sector that is helping UAE to add to its highly regarded image of being a shopping or luxury holiday destination. Medical tourism has considerably added to the overall tourism sector of ...