The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

  Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE’s non-oil foreign trade stood at AED1.172 trillion during the first nine months of 2016 (January-September), compared to AED1.170 trillion in the same period in 2015, showing a 0.1 percent growth. Preliminary data of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) indicated that the share of imports in the UAE’s total non-oil trade amounted to AED721.2 billion, ...

  Dubai / WAM Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) honoured top performing SME exporters. The companies were recognised for demonstrating outstanding export performance during the last nine months of 2016 in the following categories: company with the highest export value, company with the highest number of export markets, company with the highest number of Certificates of Origin issued, and ...

  Dubai / WAM Experts from the governance, risk and compliance, GRC, communities across the MENA region will converge in Dubai next week for a dialogue with neighbouring countries that share the same risks, challenges and regulatory outlook, at the 11th Annual MENA Regulatory Summit. Co-hosted by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and Thomson Reuters on February 5-6, the summit ...

  Dubai / WAM Dubai’s low-cost carrier flydubai reported total profits of AED31.6 million ($8.6 million) in 2016 with total revenue reaching AED5 billion ($1.36 billion), jumping 2.4 percent compared to the same period in 2015. The airline also recorded a 14.4 per cent increase in passenger numbers last year, carrying 10.4 million passengers over a 12-month period compared to 9.04 ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Aviation Group and Lufthansa German Airlines, part of Europe’s largest aviation group, on Wednesday unveiled details of a new commercial partnership. The two airline groups have concluded a US$100 million global catering agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul. Addressing a press conference today in ...

  Bloomberg Hennes & Mauritz AB provided some much-needed good news for Europe’s struggling clothing retail market, reporting profit that topped estimates and setting a new annual growth target. After missing estimates for five of the previous six quarters, H&M said fourth-quarter pretax earnings rose to 7.41 billion kronor ($839 million), exceeding the 7.04 billion-kronor average estimate. A previous target ...

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is scrapping its ShippingPass program, which struggled to compete with Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime, opting instead for a two-day shipping model that doesn’t have annual membership fees. Subscribers of ShippingPass, which had offered two-day delivery for a $49 membership, will receive refunds as the service is eliminated, Wal-Mart said in a statement. The new approach — ...

  Bloomberg A long-awaited framework for allowing drone flights over people — a key step in the growth of the industry — has been put on hold because of security concerns, prompting fears that the standards will get caught up in the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory push. The dreams of companies such as Amazon.com Inc. to deliver packages via drone or ...

  Bloomberg Obamacare looks like it’s going away. Until that happens, big health insurers aren’t sure what to do with it. Republicans and President Donald Trump haven’t given details on how they’ll repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Uncertainty about the law, which covers millions of Americans, has left companies trying to figure out if they’re better off stuck ...

  Bloomberg Workers at BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Escondida copper mine in Chile have voted against the company’s latest wage offer, opening the door for a strike and potentially heralding a wave of stoppages at global suppliers after a rally. Prices rose above $6,000 a metric ton in London. Some 99 percent of members voted in favor of a strike, which ...