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DUBAI / WAM The Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA), announced its 2017 results, which overshot the three-million-visitor milestone for the second consecutive year. Welcoming a record 3.3 million delegates and attendees last year, up 9 percent from the previous year, the region’s largest trade venue hosted 353 meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), and business events, a formidable 18 ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Etisalat on Monday announced the launch of ‘Hello Business Pitch’ competition designed to encourage home grown Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) and start-ups as well as to promote the growth and innovation of businesses in the UAE. Etisalat’s ‘Hello Business Pitch’ provides an opportunity for start-ups to pitch their business ideas in front of an expert ...

Sharjah / Emirates Business In continuation of their efforts to equip new and established women entrepreneurs with cutting-edge business skills, The Sharjah Business Women Council (SBWC) is organising ‘Marketing Excellence’, a one-day marketing and strategy workshop on March 24. Conducted by Dana Faisal Mado, Founder of 2211, a Kuwait-based public relations and brand marketing company, the workshop will shed light ...

DUBAI / Emirates Business Noor Bank, a leading Shari’a compliant bank in the UAE, on Monday announced that its Internal Audit function has received the ‘Generally Conforms’ rating, which stands as the highest rating, following a quality assessment review by the UAE Internal Auditors Association (IAA). Abdulqader Obaid Ali, Chairman of UAE IAA, presented John Iossifidis, CEO of Noor Bank, ...

Bloomberg Angela Merkel’s government is seeking to build a liquefied natural gas industry in Germany basically from scratch to reduce the nation’s dependence on supplies arriving by pipeline from Russia and Norway. With gas reservoirs depleting from the UK to the Netherlands, Germany is becoming increasingly reliant on Russia for its energy needs at a time when political tensions are ...

Bloomberg Oil halted gains as US explorers resumed their drilling binge, raising concerns over whether output cuts by OPEC and its allies will be enough to clear a glut despite a pledge from Russia that it’s committed to the curbs. Futures in New York fell 0.2 percent after data showed American producers added oil rigs for the seventh time in ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters The head of Iraq’s state-oil marketer SOMO said that he expected oil prices to remain at current levels for the whole of 2018. “I expect oil prices to stay stable at their current levels at least until the end of 2018,” SOMO chief Alaa al-Yasiri told reporters at a SOMO event in Baghdad. “Oil price stability depends ...

Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo granted Total SA a one-year extension to a license allowing it to explore for oil along the Ugandan border. Total must meet objectives including developing a drilling program before the new permit expires January 26, 2019, Oil Minister Aime Ngoy Mukena said in a written response to questions. The company is also expected to ...

Bloomberg The recovery in India’s rural economy is likely to curb bad loans and boost profit at financial companies that specialise in credit to the country’s villages, according to one of the biggest such lenders. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd., which offers loans for equipment and vehicles in 330,000 of India’s roughly 600,000 villages, is seeing business growing and ...

Bloomberg China’s home prices rose in the fewest cities in five months in February, as the government’s almost two-year campaign to curb property speculation started to bite. New-home prices, excluding government-subsidised housing, gained in 44 of 70 cities tracked, compared with 52 in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Prices fell in 16 cities from the previous month and ...