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Saudi foreign minister signs $400m aid deal with Ukraine

Saudi Arabia and Ukraine signed aid deals worth $400 million during a surprise visit to Kyiv by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Sunday.  The memorandum of understanding includes the financing of oil derivatives worth $300 million as a grant submitted by the government of Saudi Arabia through the Saudi Fund for […]

People, Person, Adult

Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and UAE sign $2bn of industrial deals

Businesses from the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain have signed industrial deals valued at more than $2 billion at a government-backed gathering in Amman. The meeting of the Higher Committee of the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development, held on Sunday, brought together CEOs and the industry ministers of the four countries. Twelve agreements were […]

UAE launches free zone for military and security sector

The UAE has announced the establishment of a new free zone dedicated to the military and security sector, just days after the Gulf state signed deals worth AED23.34 billion ($6.36 billion) at a major defence expo in Abu Dhabi. The free zone will be located within the Tawazun Industrial Park in Abu Dhabi and will […]

Woman, bride, man

New marriage laws set to boost Dubai’s wedding industry

Dubai hotels and wedding planners are preparing for an influx of new work following last week’s announcement that non-Muslim couples can marry in civil ceremonies run by local courts for the first time in the emirate’s history.  Industry representatives told AGBI that, contrary to international reports, the new service is unlikely to open the door […]

Fossil fuels should stop being subsidised, says Dr Nasser Saidi

GCC ‘must impose carbon tax’, says clean energy chief

GCC countries should introduce a carbon tax and reduce subsidies for fossil fuels as part of the fight against climate change, Dr Nasser Saidi, chairman of the Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC), has said. Speaking at the 10th annual CEBC summit, Dr Saidi said: “Subsidies in our part of the world are among the highest […]

Worker at an oil shale power plant. The white paper calls on the UAE and UK to help oil and gas workers transfer their skills to renewable industries

UAE-UK Business Council unveils blueprint for energy transition

The UAE and UK must step up co-operation on clean energy if they are to meet their decarbonisation targets, the UAE-UK Business Council has said. The council’s energy transition white paper, published on January 17, said there was “an untapped commercial opportunity to be exploited from closer collaboration between both countries in terms of developing […]

After criticism of oil producers at Cop27, Egypt's environment minister Yasmine Fouad said all stakeholders need to be part of the conversation

$100bn ‘a drop in the ocean’ for climate action, says Cop27 host

The world still urgently needs to address the “elephant in the room” in the climate crisis, which is financing action for vulnerable developing countries, officials from Cop27 host nation Egypt said. In 2020 combined adaptation and mitigation finance flows fell at least $17 billion short of the $100 billion pledged annually to developing countries, according […]

Oman-UK trade dips but optimism remains

UK trade with Oman saw a drop of 5.5 percent through the first 10 months of 2022, compared to the corresponding period the previous year, despite an overall uptick in the UK’s global trade. Latest figures available from UNComtrade, the UN Statistics Agency, up to October 2022 show total trade between the two countries reached […]

Top UAE university launches tender to house students

Companies have been invited to bid for a new public private partnership tender to deliver the accommodation and associated facilities for 3,250 students in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio), in collaboration with Khalifa University, launched the tender as part of a framework for expanding the role of the private sector in delivering […]

Emirati company sponsors

Emirati partners in demand despite easing of company laws

The UAE’s move to introduce 100 percent company ownership has not dented demand among international companies for local Emirati partners. Before the publication of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2020, foreign companies could only own up to 49 percent of a UAE business, with the majority 51 percent held by a local Emirati partner. […]

Rishi Sunak, the UK's prime minister, held talks with the UAE's president, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, at Cop27 in Egypt

UK-GCC trade talks set to enter third phase in Riyadh

A third round of negotiations for a free trade agreement between the UK and the GCC is set to take place in the Saudi capital Riyadh early next year. The talks will follow a second round of negotiations that took place in London between December 5 and 9, the UK government has revealed in a […]

Abu Dhabi PPP

French consortium given Abu Dhabi road lighting LED project

A French consortium has been selected to deliver a public private partnership project in Abu Dhabi as the region continues to mature as a hub for PPPs. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio), in collaboration with the Department of Municipalities and Transport, has selected EDF (Eléctricité de France) and Engie to deliver phase 2 of […]

A Qatargas offshore complex. The country's oil and gas revenues rose 67% in the first half of 2022

Oil and gas lift Qatar’s budget surplus past $8bn in Q3

Qatar posted a budget surplus of QR30 billion ($8.2 billion) in the third quarter of 2022, according to its Ministry of Finance.  Revenues for the quarter stood at QR81.8 billion and 93 percent of the total – QR76.3 billion – came from oil and gas, the ministry announced on Tuesday, via the state-run Qatar News […]

Sheikh Mohammed launched phase 2 of the Dubai 2040 plan on Monday

Sheikh Mohammed reveals phase 2 of Dubai 2040 plan

Agricultural industry, heritage preservation and the “20-minute city” concept are key planks of the second phase of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, the government said on Monday. The plan – whose first phase was published in March 2021 – sets out a strategy for Dubai’s urban development over the next two decades. It is […]

China signed ‘$50bn of deals’ with Gulf nations in three days

China signed investment deals worth an estimated $50 billion with Gulf nations during President Xi Jinping’s three-day visit to Saudi Arabia last week. The $50 billion figure was reported by Bloomberg, citing the Saudi investment minister Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al Falih, but details of the agreements struck during the first Arab-China summit have not been […]