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Bloomberg Chinese courier company SF Holding Co. says it’s won a license to operate drones, opening up a new potential frontier for package delivery in the world’s second-largest economy. SF, the nation’s largest listed courier provider by market value, said that one of its units was granted China’s first ever drone operation license and that the firm was now legally ...

Bloomberg Nestle SA plans to begin selling slimmed-down Milkybar chocolates in the UK and Ireland in the first implementation of a new technology that promises the same sweetness with 30 percent less sugar. The Swiss food giant said a new version of the candy bars will be available on store shelves next week. It’s introducing them in markets where government ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Grants offered by the UAE inside and outside the country stood at AED39 billion during the first nine months of 2017 an increase of 44.8 percent over the same period of 2016 when it reached AED15.9 billion according to statistics by the Central Bank of the UAE. “Grants provided by the UAE in the first half ...

DUBAI / Reuters United Arab Emirates’ healthcare provider NMC Health has raised a $2 billion loan which will be used for general corporate purposes and partly to refinance existing debt, sources familiar with the matter said. The fundraising, completed earlier this month, was provided by a consortium of banks including Citi, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered, the sources said. London-listed NMC ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Masdar, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korea Energy Agency (KEA) for renewable energy collaboration and investment between the South Korea and the UAE. Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Masdar’s CEO and Dr. Nam Hoon Kang, President and CEO of KEA, signed the MoU, which coincided with ...

DUBAI / WAM Smart Dubai has signed an agreement with Swedish trade and investment board, Business Sweden, at its headquarters in Dubai Design District (d3). The agreement seeks to encourage cooperation and exchange of expertise between the two sides with regards to advanced technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of things (IoT). It also fosters cooperation ...

Dubai / Emirates Business The growth of UAE’s retail industry continues to pick up the pace, drawing momentum from the impressive expansion of the local retail real estate landscape. Based on the latest A.T. Kearney Global Retail Development Index, an annual study that ranks the top-30 developing countries for expansion worldwide, UAE’s ranking improved by two notches in 2017 to ...

Dubai / WAM Local and Federal Government entities play a significant role in supporting the growth of national start-ups by providing lucrative contracts and business opportunities through the Government Procurement Programme (GPP), His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, said. The programme is a leading initiative that ...

Sharjah / WAM His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, will open the seventh International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), at the Sharjah Expo Centre, on Wednesday. Organised by the International Government Communication Centre (IGCC), the two-day forum is being held under the theme ‘Digital Millennium…Where To?’ and will host more than ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE on Tuesday hosted the first ‘Lessons Learned Countering Improvised Explosives Devices (C-IED), conference in Abu Dhabi, to discuss ways and share expertise to defeat the growing threat of these lethal booby-traps. “The main purpose of this conference is to increase cooperation and exchange of information, experiences and lessons learned in order to counter the ...