February, 2018

• 6 February

  Vistara in talks with Airbus, Boeing for $8.5 billion jet deal

  

  Bloomberg Vistara, the Indian affiliate of Singapore Airlines Ltd., is in talks with Airbus SE and Boeing Co. to buy jets worth as much as $8.5 billion as the carrier seeks to tap India’s growing middle class, according to people familiar with the plans. Vistara, a joint venture with majority owner Tata Group, is seeking to buy about 50 narrowbody ...

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• 6 February

  China’s Comac expects mass production of C919 plane after 2021

  

  Bloomberg The state-owned Chinese company producing the nation’s first homebuilt single-aisle commercial aircraft expects to start mass production of the plane after 2021 as it seeks to chase markets in Asia and Africa. The C919 jet, built by Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., will take about three to four years to get certification for airworthiness from the Civil Aviation ...

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• 6 February

  ‘Changi Airport’s prefunding plan for T5 objectionable’

  

  Bloomberg The airline industry’s most prominent trade body said it objects to any attempts by Singapore to charge travellers to help fund the construction of its new Terminal 5 in Changi Airport. The International Air Transport Association is “strongly against any pre-financing of any infrastructure,” IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac told a media roundtable as part of the Singapore Airshow. ...

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• 6 February

  Online retailers new health rage as Alibaba, Astra link up

  Bloomberg And just like that, another Internet giant is stepping into health care. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said it’s teaming up with AstraZeneca Plc in an effort to improve health services in China, the UK-based drugmaker’s second-largest market. Coming just days after a pledge by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to collaborate on new approaches ...

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• 6 February

  Unilever turns to new shower foams, lotions amid price squeeze

  

  Bloomberg Unilever is rolling out new products such as Dove shower foam to boost sales as it struggles to raise prices on longtime mainstays like Hellmann’s mayonnaise. The Anglo-Dutch consumer-product giant introduced five new brands in its personal-care division in 2017, including Hijab Fresh, a hand and body lotion aimed at Muslim consumers, and soaps formulated for babies. That helped ...

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• 5 February

  UAE outsourcing sector revenue to hit $1bn by 2020

  

  DUBAI / WAM The outsourcing sector is an important pillar of the UAE’s economic diversification and among the fastest-growing sectors in the country with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.2 percent, according to the ‘UAE Outsourcing Market Outlook 2016-2020’, a report by International Data Corporation (IDC). The report estimates that operational management revenues of business process outsourcing (BPO) ...

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• 5 February

  Dubai Holding picks new CEO to run $35bn firm

  Bloomberg Dubai Holding LLC appointed Amit Kaushal as chief executive officer, replacing Edris Alrafi who left the investment firm after less than a year. Kaushal was previously chief financial officer at the conglomerate that manages about $35 billion of assets, according to an emailed statement. He was also senior vice president of funding and treasury management at property developer Meraas ...

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• 5 February

  Damac in talks with banks for dollar sukuk issue

  DUBAI / Reuters Damac Properties is in talks with banks about a possible issue of US dollar-denominated Islamic bonds, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. Discussions about a new issue are at an early stage, said the sources. A spokesman at Damac said: “We are continuously in talks with many bodies on funding possibilities and options. We always ...

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• 5 February

  Abu Dhabi launches start-up incubator

  ABU DHABI / WAM A group of key departments and institution came together in Abu Dhabi on Monday to announce the launch of Fikra Labs, described as an Acceleration Programme for Entrepreneurs. In the belief that research and development (R&D) can contribute to employment creation, national development, tourist promotion and economic growth, the concept of the Fikra Labs Acceleration Programme ...

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• 5 February

  UAE-Saudi ties ‘unique model of cooperation’

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, has said that the UAE enjoys solid bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia, and that the two countries are brought together by strong ties based on shared cultures, history and noble Islamic and Arab values. He went on to say that the relations between the two countries represent a ...

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