March, 2020

• 8 March

  Abu Dhabi streetlights to be replaced with LEDs

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM Tatweer for Traffic Assets and Systems Operation and Management was awarded the contract to replace approximately 43,000 streetlights in the capital with energy-efficient LED lights by the Department of Municipalities and Transport – Abu Dhabi City Municipality. The use of energy-efficient street lighting is expected to save some 900 million kWh, valued at approximately AED264 million ...

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• 8 March

  UAE’s Enas elected as IHAF chair again

  

  DUBAI / WAM The International Halal Accreditation Forum (IHAF) has discussed the halal trade facilitation, growth and cooperation strategy, innovations and market trends at the 7th Board of Directors (BOD) meeting in Dubai. During the meeting, the board re-elected Emirates National Accreditation System (Enas) represented by Mohammed Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi for Chairmanship post and elected Saud Al ...

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• 8 March

  Singapore pushes to win over supply chains hit by virus

  

  Bloomberg Singapore sees opportunities to win investments from companies whose supply chains have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, according to Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing. Speaking after an interview with Bloomberg TV, Chan said the city-state is pursuing a strategy to be “the first one off the blocks” once global economies begin to rebound from the effects ...

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• 8 March

  India cotton trader boosts purchases to help farmers

  

  Bloomberg An Indian state-run cotton buyer is boosting purchases from farmers to prevent them from making distressed sales as the spreading coronavirus curbs demand in key export markets and causes prices to slump. Cotton Corp of India Ltd has bought about 7.5 million bales (170 kilograms each) from farmers so far in 2019-20, and will buy more if growers offer ...

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• 8 March

  SoftBank’s 5G smartphones going on sale from March 27

  

  Bloomberg SoftBank Corp made official its plans for a fifth-generation cellular networking service, something all Japanese carriers are racing towards, in Tokyo. SoftBank, the reliable revenue stream underpinning Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp, will start by selling four 5G smartphones from March 27. It’s getting out ahead of incoming rival Rakuten Inc, whose 4G network will begin service on April ...

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• 8 March

  Japan to offer interest-free loans to small companies, Abe says

  

  Bloomberg Japan’s government will offer financial assistance to small businesses as part of a second round of emergency measures against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. Japan Finance Corp, wholly owned by the government, and other organisations will provide interest-free loans for small- and medium-size companies that are experiencing a sharp drop in revenue, he said. The government aims ...

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• 8 March

  Virus hampering case defense, says Huawei

  

  Bloomberg Huawei Technologies Co says coronavirus is making it harder to defend itself against a US racketeering and trade-secrets theft prosecution. Thomas Green, a lawyer for the Shenzhen, China-based telecommunications giant, said at conference in the case that travel restrictions have made it impossible for defence lawyers to gather evidence. The US State Department last month issued a do-not-travel warning ...

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• 8 March

  The ‘girl with a broken neck’ builds a $4 billion asset manager

  

  Bloomberg Lots of female chief executive officers have stories about conquering adversity. Radhika Gupta’s begins when she entered the world with a broken neck. The birth complication left Gupta’s neck with a permanent tilt, a feature that at times had an impact on her self esteem but has now become a source of inspiration for doing things differently. At 36, ...

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• 8 March

  Eskom warns of 8,000 megawatts power cuts if maintenance delayed

  

  Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd warned that its maintenance plan must be supported by the government or South Africa can expect regular blackouts from power cuts of 8,000 megawatts by mid-2021, a move that would cripple the economy. Shortly after taking up the role in January, Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter said more planned power outages, known locally as ...

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• 8 March

  Vienna utility buys stake in Austria’s EVN

  

  Bloomberg Vienna utility Wiener Stadtwerke GmbH agreed to buy a stake in neighbouring Lower Austria’s EVN AG from Germany’s EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG, tightening Austrian provincial governments’ grip on the power market. Wiener Stadtw-erke agreed to buy EnBW’s 28% stake in EVN, subject to antitrust approvals in Germany and Austria, the municipality-owned company said in a statement. The parties agreed ...

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