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A wheel manufacturing workshop in Qingzhou, Shandong province. China is the world's largest importer of crude oil

Upturn for manufacturing tipped to lift oil prices

Rising manufacturing activity worldwide is likely to support higher oil prices in the second half of the year, a supply chain indicator suggests. However, analysts have warned that spare capacity among Opec+ and other oil producers is likely to ease upside pressure on crude prices. The GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index hit 0.21 in […]

A worker at a currency exchange in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The IMF said central bank digital currencies will lower the cost of financial services

IMF endorses Middle East interest in digital currencies

Countries in the Middle East can promote financial inclusion and boost cross-border payments by adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the International Monetary Fund has said. A CBDC is a form of digital money, similar to cryptocurrency except that its value is fixed by a central bank and is equivalent to the country’s fiat currency.  […]

ADIA Hargreaves Lansdown

ADIA group raises offer for UK stock trading platform

A consortium including Abu Dhabi’s biggest sovereign wealth fund is poised to buy stock trading platform Hargreaves Lansdown after making an improved non-binding offer for the British company. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s (ADIA) wholly owned subsidiary Platinum Ivy has teamed up with private equity firms CVC and Nordic Capital to offer £11.40 ($14.51) per share […]

OTB Group has a presence in Dubai with its Maison Margiela store in the Dubai Mall

Chalhoub Group in venture with Italian luxury brand

Luxury distributor Chalhoub Group has entered into a joint venture with Italian fashion conglomerate OTB Group to expand the brand’s footprint in the Gulf. OTB (which stands for Only The Brave) owns the Diesel, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, Marni and Viktor&Rolf brands, the Staff International and Brave Kid companies, and holds a stake in the […]

Turkey foreign property sales

Foreigners turning back on Turkish real estate

Foreign buyers are increasingly shunning the Turkish property market, wary of high prices, the expensive cost of living and a less welcoming environment for overseas real estate investors. There were only 2,064 residential units sold to foreign buyers in May, 35 percent down on the same month last year, data issued by the state statistics […]

People swim in Iceland's Blue Lagoon hot spring in front of a geothermal power plant. Reykjavik Geothermal is working with Taqa in Saudi Arabia

Saudi summons energy to unearth geothermal potential

A Saudi Arabian university has completed drilling a research well as the kingdom steps up efforts to harness its geothermal potential – which industry experts estimate could free up to 1 million barrels of oil a day for export. The 400m deep observation well was drilled by a team from King Abdullah University of Science […]

Opec has kept its oil demand growth forecast at 2.2 million bpd

Opec and IEA poles apart on oil supply predictions

Opec and the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) have this week both issued reports with vastly differing predictions for the outlook for global crude production in the coming years. However, the opposing organisations agree on one thing: that China will be the determining factor in production and prices this year. In its latest annual medium-term […]

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, president of the UAE, in Abu Dhabi last September. Another EU delegation visited last week

EU woos Emirati investors while keeping UAE on ‘grey list’

The European Union is intensifying efforts to attract investment from the UAE despite keeping the Emirates on its “grey list”, a marker of heightened scrutiny and potential obstacles for investors. An EU delegation visited Abu Dhabi last week to promote the bloc’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) plan. A single market for capital, harmonising exchange regulations […]

Matthias Ziegler: looking to claim a 5 percent share of new SUV sales in the Middle East region for VW within three to five years

Qatar-backed Volkswagen targets Middle East SUV market

Volkswagen Middle East aims to nearly double its share of sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales in the Gulf and Jordan, its regional chief, Matthias Ziegler, told AGBI. The German company, the world’s number two automaker by vehicle sales, and 10 percent owned by the government of Qatar, has numerous sub-brands, including Porsche, Audi, Bentley and […]

UAE-Czech telecom deal set to close by year end despite EU probe

UAE telecom company e&, formerly known as Etisalat, expects to close the acquisition of Czech PPF Group’s telecoms business in four countries before year-end, despite confirmation that the European Commission is to investigate the deal. In August 2023, the telecom company signed a binding agreement with PPF Group to acquire a 50 percent plus 1 […]

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, who claimed victory in the elections this week, says the corridor forms the 'basis of world trade for hundreds of years to come'

Dispute forum vital for trade corridor to work, says law officer

A robust forum for resolving disputes will be vital to the success of the planned  India-Middle East-Europe Corridor, a senior official from the Indian Supreme Court told delegates at an event in Abu Dhabi. Seven countries signed an agreement during the 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi to establish an economic corridor connecting the Middle […]

A successful bid for United Group will help Saudi Arabia's STC expand across the European telecoms sector

STC weighs bid for Dutch telecom operator

Saudi telecoms conglomerate STC Group has initiated talks to buy the Dutch telecom and pay-TV operator United Group. British private equity firm BC Partners has enlisted advisors to start the sale of United Group, Reuters reported, quoting unnamed sources. STC has begun early discussions regarding a potential transaction, the report added. NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI […]

Person, Worker, Clothing

Dubai’s Sidara submits ‘final’ $2bn bid for John Wood Group

Dubai engineering and consulting company Dar Al-Handasah – known as Sidara – has made a fourth and “final” bid to buy London-listed contractor John Wood Group. The latest proposal of 230 pence sterling per share gives Wood a valuation of £1.58 billion ($2 billion) and is significantly higher than the first of three bids, which […]

A DB Schenker cargo bike making deliveries in Linkoping, Sweden. The company employs around 70,000 people in 130 countries

Gulf bidders in running for Deutsche Bahn logistics arm

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Saudi Arabia’s national shipping carrier Bahri are in the final round of a bidding process for DB Schenker, the logistics subsidiary of Germany’s national rail operator Deutsche Bahn. Danish companies Maersk and DSV are also in the running, sources told Reuters. ADIA, the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is […]

President Nicos Christodoulides and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the ceremony to welcome the emir to Cyprus this week

Qatar explores gas, port and Gaza aid deals with Cyprus

Qatar is looking at investing in ports, banking and energy in Cyprus, including expanding its ExxonMobil partnership in oil and gas exploration, the Associated Press news agency reported. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, visited the Mediterranean country this week and held talks on investment issues with Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides. […]