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  Abu Dhabi / WAM The Emirates NBD Dubai Economy Tracker Index (DET) eased slightly to 56.2 in February from the two-year high reached in January, according to new data released today by the lender. The DET in February was higher than the average reading for 2016, signaling an acceleration in economic growth at the start of this year. Output and ...

  Sharjah / WAM As part of its participation at the world’s leading travel trade show, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) is reinforcing the emirate’s status as one of the Middle East’s leading tourism destinations by promoting four of its most impressive hospitality venues. Under the umbrella of Sharjah Tourism and Commerce Development Authority, Shurooq is attracting interest from ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Looking ahead to a year of robust growth, DAMAC Properties, a leading luxury real estate developer in the region, on Thursday announced that it awarded 121 construction, supplier and consultancy contracts valued at AED 1.4 billion in Dubai during January and February 2017. The main contracts have been awarded for the provision of various services ...

  Bloomberg As one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies and the most populous Muslim nation in the world, Indonesia is billing itself as a natural home for Middle Eastern investment at a time when the US is turning inward. With a landmark visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Southeast Asia winding down this week, Indonesia has won pledges ...

  Bloomberg Shum Chiu Hung, chairman of Chinese developer Times Property Holdings Ltd., has advice for those dismayed at record land bids in Hong Kong by mainland firms: “Get used to it.” Chinese developers have dominated Hong Kong’s land sales this year, splurging more than $2.9 billion to win all three residential plots tendered, including a record sum for a ...

  ANKARA / AP The United States risks major damage to its relationship with NATO ally Turkey if the US includes Kurdish forces in the fight to retake Raqqa, the IS group’s de facto capital, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday. Turkey and the US are locked in a heated dispute about US plans to liberate Raqqa, with ...

Reuters China has granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks linked to Donald Trump, documents on China’s state trademark office show, giving the US President and his family protection were they to develop the “Trump” brand in the market. The trademarks — which in theory cover a wide sweep of businesses from hotels to mobile libraries and escorts — underline the ...

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump has pledged to reverse what he describes as “astronomical” drug prices in the US Thousands of miles away, Japan, long a profit sanctuary for multinational pharmaceutical companies, is taking a similar tack. About $93 billion is spent annually on medications in Japan, and the government plays a key role on prices because it covers about ...

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s timetable to negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement threatens to slip into an election year for Mexico, which could feel the economic impact of the uncertainty especially if the agreement starts disintegrating. US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the trade talks will probably begin in the latter part of 2017 and shouldn’t last ...

  Bloomberg Akzo Nobel NV, Europe’s largest coatings company, rejected an unsolicited 20.9 billion-euro ($22.1 billion) takeover bid from rival PPG Industries Inc. and said it may separate its specialty chemicals business to boost the stock price. PPG’s bid, worth 83 euros a share at the end of February, substantially undervalued the company, Amsterdam-based Akzo said in a state- ment ...