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United Arab Emirates

Business news and financial news from the United Arab Emirates, covering the UAE's biggest companies including the Emirates Group, International Holding Group, Etisalat, Adnoc and Emaar Properties

Adnoc Distribution plans to open 15 to 20 new fuel stations this year

Adnoc Distribution targets 200 EV stations this year

Adnoc Distribution, the UAE’s largest fuel and convenience retailer, is planning to more than double the number of fast electric vehicle (EV) charging stations as part of its five-year expansion strategy. The company has 90 fast EV charging points and aims to reach 150-200 by the end of the year, the UAE state-run Wam news […]

fractional property ownership Dubai Video length: 06:12

Dubai fractional ownership is promising, but untested

Fractional ownership of property in Dubai promises to widen access to real estate investment in the emirate’s surging market. But the lack of a proven secondary market raises questions about just how much liquidity this asset class can count on in a potential crisis, experts say. Buying even small portions of one or more units […]

hu jintao china gcc

Diplomacy and trade to fore as China woos GCC leaders

It’s quite a coup. Hu Jintao (still with us) must be feeling vindicated. The heads of four Arab states are in Beijing to attend the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, which Hu founded in 2004 to bring together China and the Arab League.  Xi Jinping, Hu’s successor as leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), will […]

DSI's project include the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Its backlog is reported to be worth AED638 million

DSI claims bumper revenues to come before it resumes trading

Dubai’s Drake & Scull International is forecasting a more than tenfold increase in revenues between this year and the end of 2029 as the troubled contractor prepares to return to trading on Dubai Financial Market. Trading in the utilities and infrastructure engineering company’s shares came to a halt in November 2018 when DSI disclosed losses […]

The UAE subsidiary of India's UltraTech Cement will hold 61 percent in RAK Cement if the offer is successful

India’s UltraTech offers to boost stake in RAK Cement

India’s UltraTech Cement has offered to acquire a 31.6 percent stake in Abu Dhabi-listed RAK Cement Co for White Cement and Construction Materials (RAKWCT). The Indian cement producer’s wholly owned subsidiary in the UAE, UltraTech Cement Middle East Investments, bought a 29.4 percent stake in RAKWCT in April 2022 for $101 million. The UAE subsidiary […]

Alef education schoolchildren

Alef Education valued at $2.5bn as IPO price range set

Alef Education, the first education technology company to list on a UAE stock exchange, has set its initial public offering (IPO) price range between AED1.30 and AED1.35 ($0.35-0.37) a share. Accordingly, the market capitalisation on listing will be between AED9.1 billion ($2.5 billion) and AED9.45 billion on listing.  The IPO subscription period starts on May […]

A welder at work in Ras Al Kaimah. The northern emirates will benefit from lower electricity tariffs under a new scheme for local manufacturers in the UAE

UAE to direct additional $6bn to local manufacturers

The UAE is to direct an additional AED23 billion ($6.3 billion) to local manufacturers as it strives to develop its homegrown sectors and diversify its economy away from a reliance on hydrocarbons. Abu Dhabi state oil company Adnoc will expand its local manufacturing procurement programme for critical industrial products by AED20 billion to AED90 billion […]

Organisations have protested US investment bank BlackRock’s participation in the bid to buy a stake in Malaysia Airports Holdings

Malaysian airport deal faces Gaza war backlash

Plans by a consortium, including the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund, to buy a stake in Malaysian airports have been hit by protests against the deal from local business organisations in the Asian country. As many as 22 organisations have called upon the Malaysian government to block US investment bank BlackRock’s participation in the bid […]

Offices need to offer flexibility, with a variety of spaces to allow for both collaboration and private conversations

Flexibility and amenities key to UAE office sector’s future

As workers globally grow resistant to spending all week at their desks, even the UAE’s strong-performing office sector must rethink its offering to meet shifting demand, industry professionals have told AGBI. “Since the pandemic, people have realised that the workplace has changed for ever. We are not going back to working in the office 80 […]

Adnoc's Ruwais LNG project. The company has approved capital expenditure of $150 billion for 2023-2027

Adnoc to reach its 5m bpd oil target before 2027

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is likely to reach its 5 million barrel per day (bpd) oil production capacity expansion by the end of next year or early 2026, Bloomberg reported, citing people aware of the operations. The oil company announced in November 2022 that the new target was to be achieved by 2027 […]

Dubai's Palm Jebel Ali will eventually be home to 35,000 families

Infrastructure work to start on relaunched Palm Jebel Ali

Work has commenced on Dubai’s Palm Jebel Ali mega project with the award of new infrastructure contracts. Among the contracts is one to build a 6km-long public access road from Sheikh Zayed Road to the palm-shaped master development, Nakheel, the developer of the man-made palm-shaped island, said in a statement. DBB Contracting, a local contractor, […]

Navin Valrani, CEO of The Arcadia School, highlights high capital investment requirements and steep debt costs as challenges for new entrants to the market

Days of high returns numbered for investors in Dubai’s schools

Dubai’s private school market, once a goldmine for investors, is no longer yielding the lucrative double-digit returns it used to, the chief executive of a leading school operator has said. Navin Valrani, CEO of The Arcadia School, told AGBI new investors considering the emirate must tackle significant entry barriers, escalating costs and an increasingly mature […]

Tourism to contribute $64bn to UAE’s economy in 2024

The tourism sector’s contribution to the UAE’s economy is expected to reach AED236 billion ($64 billion) in 2024, accounting for 12 percent of the overall GDP, a senior government official has said.  The sector contributed AED220 billion to the GDP last year, accounting for almost 12 percent of the overall economy, Khaled Al Midfa, chairman of Sharjah […]

The UAE's minister of industry and advanced technology, Sultan Al Jaber, left, met Karl Nehammer, Chancellor of Austria, for talks on trade

Austrian finance unicorn to open in UAE

Austria’s first unicorn has announced plans to set up in Dubai, as officials from the UAE hold top-level talks in Vienna to build on a 22 percent increase in bilateral trade last year A unicorn is a startup company valued at more than $1 billion that is privately owned and not listed on a share […]

Mads Bo Larsen, vice-president of Novo Nordisk UAE, says a local plant 'will not solve anything' in the face of the country's Ozempic shortage Video length: 3:39

UAE diabetics face Ozempic shortage due to weight-loss users

The manufacturer of Ozempic is “troubled” by the fact the drug, which was designed to help people with diabetes, is in short supply in the UAE because of the high number of consumers using it for its weight loss side-effects. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk introduced Wegovy, a drug meant to specifically tackle obesity, to […]

The UAE has bucked the trend of working-from-home that emerged in the pandemic

UAE offices in demand – in contrast to the West

Offices in the UAE are outperforming Western equivalents, with a steady influx of foreign businesses and local developers’ preference for residential projects. “The need for more Grade A office space is becoming increasingly urgent,” Behnam Bargh, managing director at real estate agency CRC, told AGBI. “Addressing this issue will be crucial for maintaining the country’s […]

The number of electric vehicles in Dubai passed 30,000 by the end of April 2024

Parkin to roll out more green EV chargers across Dubai

Dubai is expanding its network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers as part of the emirate’s push to accelerate smart and green mobility. Parkin, the state-backed parking management company, has signed an agreement with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) to increase the number of EV green charger stations at prime locations across the emirate. Parkin […]

Pakistan’s prime minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif meets UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi

UAE commits to invest $10bn in Pakistan’s economy

The UAE intends to invest $10 billion in various economic sectors in Pakistan. “UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan assured the Emirates’ support in all circumstances and made a commitment of investing $10 billion in multiple sectors,” Pakistan’s prime minister’s office said in a statement. The statement was released after the UAE president […]