Ras Al Khaimah, 29 March 2020:   Taking a step further towards easier and faster company registration, Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) goes digital with its Spring Packages, allowing investors to set up their business online from A to Z at the convenience of their home. Alongside the remote-friendly feature, the packages are ......Read More

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 24, 2020:   Although cancelled or delayed business trips emerged as the most visible initial impact of the virus, declining sales is expected to be the greatest commercial woe in the future  As Coronavirus takes a toll on global and regional economies, YouGov ran a survey among 220 working ......Read More

•         New € 15 billion credit facility •         Withdrawal of 2019 dividend proposal with cash value of € 1.4 billion •         Suspension of top up pension funding  •         2020 guidance withdrawn •         Strong focus on support to customers and delivery   Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 23, 2020:   Airbus SE (stock exchange symbol: AIR) announces measures to bolster its liquidity and balance sheet in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as it continues to assess the ongoing situation ......Read More

Will provide up to 20,000 of its small business customers free access to their existing Zoho applications for up to 3 months   Dubai, UAE - March 21, 2020:  Zoho Corporation, a global company that offers the most comprehensive suite of business software applications in the industry, has launched its Small Business Emergency ......Read More

By Tom De Waele, Middle East Managing Partner, Bain     Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 19, 2020:   As the novel coronavirus outbreak has upended businesses around the world at alarming speed, one thing has become clear to executives grappling with the crisis: doing nothing is not an option. COVID-19 is unlike any ......Read More

By Firas Sleem, CEO, Virtue Consultancy Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 18, 2020:   September 2008 marked the collapse of the Lehman Brothers and a subsequent global financial crisis that shook the world.  The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers did not only affect the United States but 23 other countries around the world according to the International Monetary Fund. These countries endeavored to rescue their failed banks and boost their economies by raising their public debt to more than 30 percent of their GDP. For one thing, the 2008 credit crunch and recession resulted from years of deeply rooted weak spots in the global economy. At that time, economists were not ......Read More

Organizations around the globe are working to ensure service delivery and business continuity amid the COVID-19 crisis. KPMG Lower Gulf has put together the checklist below to guide organizations on providing secure remote access to their staff members, without contributing to security weaknesses.   1 Share the organization’s teleworking/mobile device access policy   2 Share the organization’s Business Continuity policy and Health and Safety policy   3 Remind staff not to use organization-owned devices for personal activities or personal devices for work purposes   4 Reiterate the importance of avoiding public/untrusted internet ......Read More

Collaboration aimed to facilitate establishment of business for entrepreneurs in Fujairah Dubai, UAE - March 17, 2020: Shuraa Management & Consultancy LLC (Shuraa) is proud to announce its partnership with International Free Zone Authority (IFZA), that aims to help entrepreneurs seeking to establish a business in the Northern Emirate of ......Read More

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 15, 2020:  Al Wifaq International Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance, a newly established bank in Iraq, has selected the most holistic Islamic banking software; ICS BANKS ISLAMIC from ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions, to start its Islamic operations in Baghdad, Iraq. Al Wifaq International Islamic Bank joined many newly established banks in choosing ICSFS as its software technology partner in Iraq. ICSFS has been servicing the MENA banking sector for over 3 decades now, and has always positioned its customers ahead of their market ......Read More

• Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, GMR Hyderabad International Airport and SpiceJet Ltd. signed a tri-partite MoU  • To promote export of Agro Products from India to United Arab Emirates via Ras Al Khaimah and neighboring countries from Hyderabad  • To create a dedicated freight corridor  • To leverage the agro and farming sector potential from centrally located Telangana and neighboring regions • The program is in line with the Government of India and its Ministry of Civil Aviation ‘Krishi Udaan Scheme’ for farmers • Operations are likely to start from April 2020 onwards    Hyderabad, 15th March, ......Read More

Through accurate tracking and secure data sharing, shipping times could be cut in half GENEVA – 15 March 2020 – SITA and trade association ULD Care hope to bring new efficiency to the air cargo industry by exploring the use of blockchain to digitally track and record change of custody of airline cargo containers or Unit Load Devices (ULDs) across their journey.  By eliminating inefficiency, embedding always-on tracking of ULDs and abandoning redundant paper systems, the use of blockchain is expected to save the industry $400m a year in improved efficiency, fewer losses and prevention of damage. The proposed platform also offers a wide range of authentication and ......Read More

The Exchange will continue to provide comprehensive access to trading services through its Sahmi digital platform. The preventive measure is effective from Sunday 15th March and aims to ensure and maintain maximum health protection Abu Dhabi, 15th March 2020:  Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) announced to the investor community that ......Read More

Dubai – March 15, 2020:   Sharaf Exchange, one of the leading remittances and financial solutions providers in the UAE and a part of Sharaf Group, opened four new branches, aimed at enhancing its branch network covering all the seven emirates. The newly opened branches are located in Dubai’s Al Qusais and International City ......Read More

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 14, 2020:   The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) online marketing space is set for a major disruption following the entry of India-based data-led digital marketing powerhouse, PivotRoots.   PivotRoots’ entry into the Middle East comes against the backdrop of a ballooning active social media usage, which currently stands at a staggering 9.52 million users. This, according to a report by The Media Lab, represents 99 percent penetration.   According to PivotRoots co-founder Yogesh Khanchandani, the Middle East and especially the UAE presents a good opportunity for the digital marketing experts to contribute towards the ......Read More

March 11, 2020:   Refinitiv today released a report on the latest development in the Oil market. According to Ranjith Raja, Oil Research Manager, Middle East and North Africa, Refinitiv, the Benchmark crude prices went into a tailspin on Monday morning trade following OPEC and its allies including Russia failing to agree on extending and deepening the output cut which expires at the end of this month. Oil prices closed on Friday with Brent down by 10.4% and WTI down by 7.8% w-o-w. As of 07:30 GMT this morning, Brent crude was at $33.93/MT, down by 25%, the largest single day drop since the Gulf War in 1991, while WTI was down by 26.8% at $30.22/MT. On market opening, prices ......Read More

• 2019 results, impacted by slowing economic growth and increased investments in consumer businesses and digitalization across the company:  Sales rise by 1.1% to 20,114 million euros, organic sales stable  Adjusted* EBIT margin at 16.0% (-1.6 pp)  Adjusted* earnings per preferred share (EPS) reach 5.43 euros,  nominal -9.7%, at constant exchange rates -10.1%   Free cash flow: 2,471 million euros (+554 million euros)  Dividend** on prior-year level: 1.85 euro per preferred share   • Outlook for 2020: further step-up in growth investments in an uncertain industrial market environment  Organic ......Read More

Dubai, 8th March 2020: Century Financial is proud to announce that they have been certified as a Great Place to Work® in the United Arab Emirates, after a thorough and independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work®, the global authority for workplace culture in the Middle East. This certification is based on direct feedback from employees, provided as part of an extensive and anonymous survey about the workplace experience. Great Place to Work® helps organizations assess their company culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. The institute uses its unparalleled benchmark data based on 40 years of research ......Read More

Timely Confidence Building Measure will benefit more than 7,500 existing companies as well as newcomers   Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 10th of March 2020:   DP World, UAE Region, the region’s premier logistics and business hub operator, has announced across-the-board reductions in licence registration and administration costs for companies operating in its flagship Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) as well as for new investors. The far-reaching Jafza Customer Support Initiative is designed to slash business-related fees by between 50 per cent and 70 per cent for registration, licensing and related administrative functions. The initiative will immediately assist ......Read More

Refinitiv’s World-Check will help Iraqi financial institutions comply with the FATF recommendations and global sanctions legislation IRAQ  – Refinitiv is partnering with Iraqna IBTS, an anti-financial crime training and technology consultancy in Iraq, to provide Iraqi financial institutions with risk screening and compliance services in order to strengthen their risk programs and combat financial crime. As part of the agreement, Refinitiv’s World-Check will support the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures of Iraqi financial institutions, minimizing their exposure to financial crime risks and increasing the level of compliance in ......Read More

StraitsBridge Advisors designed and developed the high-performance AI-enabled real-time credit application scorecard system   Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 9, 2020:   Deem, the UAE-based digitally-led financial services provider, in partnership with Singapore-headquartered StraitsBridge Advisors, has implemented a high performance artificial intelligence (AI) enabled real-time application scorecard system with the capability to continuously recalibrate and update their scorecard model. The new scorecard system delivers increased accuracy in predicting the probability of default and scoring customer credit risk, in segmenting customers efficiently and reduces ......Read More

United Arab Emirates, 9 March 2020:  Yummy Junction, a fast-growing Dubai-based Food & Beverage company, has recently announced AED 20 million as part of its investment and expansion strategy for its most popular restaurant chain brand Malak Al Tawouk. The company will be looking to expand its operations for Malak Al Tawouk across the ......Read More

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 08, 2020:   Dubai National Insurance & Reinsurance PSC (DNIR) presented a strong financial performance for the year 2019 at its Annual General Meeting held at the Al Habtoor Group (AHG) headquarters on Sunday, 8 March 2020. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, Chairman of the Board of Directors, DNIR, who presided over the AGM, told shareholders that the company was able to achieve robust financial performance in 2019. The year on year momentum in growth continued in the current year with Gross Written Premiums reflecting a growth of 8.5% and Net profit showing a growth of 10.3% over the previous year. The company achieved profits of AED 58.085 ......Read More

•         ADEX provides financial solutions to promote UAE products and services in international markets •         ADEX to focus on supporting UAE export growth to strategic emerging markets in Africa and Asia   Abu Dhabi-UAE: 08 March, 2020 – The Executive Committee of the Abu Dhabi Exports Office(ADEX) approved the allocation of AED 550 million ($150 million) to support the strategic expansion of the nation’s export businesses and continued diversification of the UAE economy. During the meeting, the committee discussed a number of requests to finance exports, as well as reviewed the strategies developed to ......Read More

Kuwait – 7 March 2020:   As part of its continuous support to empowering youth and local athletes, Burgan Bank announced its latest sponsorship of Wheelchair Fencing Titleholder, Tareq Al-Qallaf, for the sixth consecutive year. Established as a role model among the aspiring special needs segement and young Kuwaiti athletes, ......Read More

Saxo Bank reveals behavioural changes as female traders rise 65% year-on-year in MENA over decade  Saxo Bank, the leading fintech and regtech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment, has released new business data to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday March 8, outlining a major upswing in the number of females trading on its platforms in the UAE and wider MENA region over the past decade, with the findings equating to an increase of 65 per cent year-on-year between 2010 and 2020.      The firm’s findings also highlight that the ratio of female to male traders in the region has grown to 11 per cent over the past decade and show ......Read More

• The award was honoured by the Department of Finance, Ras Al Khaimah for Excellence as a supplier of legal services to the Government of Ras Al Khaimah • Banks Legal takes pride in themselves for providing excellent service to all their clients and are particularly pleased with Government of Ras Al Khaimah for recognizing and rewarding their efforts       Dubai, United Arab Emirates - March 05, 2020:    Banks Legal, a leading legal and corporate services firm founded in the UAE, is awarded with the 2019 Julphar Finance Award for Excellence as a supplier of legal services to the Government of Ras Al Khaimah. The third season of the ......Read More

Increasing number of regional companies assigning IT Auditors to cybersecurity risk assessment function   Dubai, UAE; March 04, 2020:  Protiviti in partnership with ISACA, a global association helping individuals and enterprises in the IT audit/assurance, governance, risk and information security space, conducted the 8th Annual IT Audit Benchmarking survey that had participation from 2,252 CAEs, IT audit executives and professionals worldwide, including more than 220 professionals from the Middle East region.    Cybersecurity, privacy, data management and governance emerged as the top challenges facing the IT audit leaders and professionals, as they seek to ......Read More

New research tool charts opportunities and challenges in high-growth markets   Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 04, 2020:    Executives from around the world shared their views on risk versus reward in emerging markets against a challenging economic backdrop in the first Global CEO Survey carried out by Oxford Business Group (OBG).  OBG began producing its CEO Surveys in 2016 as a way of giving licence-holders a handle on business sentiment in the economies it covers, termed the Yellow Slice markets, in reference to its corporate colour. Since then, they have become a highly popular and integral part of the global research and advisory firm’s portfolio ......Read More

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 04, 2020:   Citadines Metro Central Dubai, part of The Ascott Limited chain of hotels, has been awarded the Green Key global standard of environmental excellence within the hospitality sector, for another year running.   Since 2016, the team at the 210-units hotel apartments, located in ......Read More

Record-breaking performance from Newark to Pittsburgh demonstrates the future of network capabilities      Dubai, United Arab Emirates – March 3, 2020:   With the number of 4K content, gaming and augmented and virtual reality applications continuing to increase, Comcast is advancing its network to provide better immersive digital experiences to millions of customers. Employing Ciena’s (NYSE: CIEN) WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) and flexible grid technology, Comcast recently conducted the world’s first long-distance 600Gbps single wavelength pilot deployment, which carried live commercial traffic across more than 800km between core peering ......Read More

• Ericsson Spectrum Sharing (ESS) will expand 5G coverage for global service providers including Swisscom, Telstra, Ooredoo and Play • More than 80 percent of service providers testing Ericsson Spectrum Sharing plan to deploy it in the coming 12 months • Ericsson Spectrum Sharing software can run on any of the five million 5G-ready radios delivered since 2015   Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 03, 2020:   Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) announces that its unique dynamic spectrum sharing solution is commercially available, allowing communications service providers to quickly and cost-effectively launch 5G on a nationwide scale.    Ericsson ......Read More

**Champion Cleaners continue their ecological and sustainable efforts to become the UAE’s cleanest dry-cleaning company **    Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 03, 2020:   Champion Cleaners’ Head Office and Central Operation Plant was purposely designed to execute precision and quality, with minimal ......Read More

 A key enabler of any successful megaproject is having the right institutional setup   Strategy& report recommends project sponsors think of the institutional setup near the beginning of a megaproject   The structure a megaproject begins with is not necessarily permanent. As the mandate grows, and the number of entities increases, the structure can change.   Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 03, 2020:   Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are engaged in almost one trillion U.S. dollars of investment in real estate megaprojects as of early 2020, part of an audacious bid to transform socially and economically, according to a new ......Read More

Logitech G’s Design and Engineering Expertise in the Science of Play, combined with Herman Miller’s 100 Years Perfecting the Science of Sitting Will Bring Advanced Solutions for Gamers      Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 02, 2020:    Logitech G, a brand of Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) and Herman Miller ......Read More

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 02, 2020:   Al Adil Trading Co LLC, U.A.E.’s leading name for Indian food stuff has introduced a wide range of eco friendly products to make this Holi all the more colourful and memorable. Holi, which is India’s most colorful festival provides a beautiful blend of vibrant colors which makes ......Read More

United Arab Emirates, Dubai, 1st March 2020:   Eros Group, distributor of world-renowned brands like Hitachi, Linksys, TCL, Midea, Sonos and many more, announced its CEO, Niranjan Gidwani has joined the board of the Superbrands Council, the independent authority and arbiter of branding. The Superbrands program, identifies the brands ......Read More

Aden, Yemen: National Bank of Yemen (NBY), one of the largest commercial banks and a prominent contributor to the economic and social development in Yemen; has selected ICS BANKS Digital Banking software from ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions, to grow its operations domestically and internationally. The National Bank of Yemen (NBY) has recently gone live with ICSFS’ award-winning ICS BANKS Universal Banking software. Following the bank's development and modernization strategy, NBY opted for ICS BANKS Digital Banking to drive its digital transformation and enrich their customer’s user ......Read More

Ajman Bank has announced the appointment of Mr. Majdi H. Darwish as its new Chief of Audit. Mr. Darwish has over 22 years of outstanding experience in the industry working with some of the most prestigious organizations including multi-national financial corporations. Mr. Mohamed Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, Ajman Bank, stated, “We are delighted to welcome Mr. Darwish to our team. In his capacity he will work closely with senior management, in particular, the audit committee members and regulators, to identify current and emerging risks, ensuring the safety and soundness of the organization. We are confident with his vast experience and strong track record in the banking and ......Read More

Egypt Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Arab League Secretary General and President of the Council of Arab Businesswomen to speak at event March 4, 2020- The Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) has announced the confirmation of new speakers for the coming Brazil & Arab Countries Economic Forum, which will take place on April 14, 2020 at the Hotel Unique in Sao Paulo. ABCC has revealed the addition of Egyptian Minister of Commerce and Industry H.E. Nevine Gamea; Sheikha Hessa Saad al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, President of the Council of Arab Businesswomen (CABW), Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Secretary General ......Read More

GCC’s growing e-commerce sector estimated to reach USD 20 billion by 2020 March 3, 2020: Start-up company ITCAN, a full-service Technology and Digital Marketing company that brings insights, information, and expertise to create exponential growth, has announced that it is close to earning AED 100 million this year since its launch in Dubai. The milestone is about to be reached against the backdrop of growing e-commerce activities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia as noted by a recent report by the World Economic Forum. Across the GCC, a study by A.T. Kearney predicted that the value of the e-commerce market would amount to USD 20 billion by 2020.  The UAE, according to the same ......Read More

Newly formed alliance supports the local exports by providing protection to expand in the external markets Abu Dhabi, 01 March 2020: The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), represented by its Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), has revealed the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the UAE Federal export credit company, which is aimed towards providing trade credit solutions and in-depth market intelligence to increase the competitiveness of Abu Dhabi based export businesses and increased contributions to Abu Dhabi's gross domestic product (GDP). The agreement was signed by H.E. Rashed Abdul Karim Al Balooshi, ......Read More

Organized by Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, in cooperation with Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development February 29, 2020. Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The Dubai Outreach Event for the Great Lakes Investment and Trade Conference (GLITC) is taking place today (Saturday, February 29, 2020) at The Address Boulevard in Dubai, to shed light on key trade and investment opportunities in Africa’s Great Lakes region.  Organized by Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), in cooperation with Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID), the event provides a platform for investors and private sector organizations in ......Read More