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Top stories

Dubai developers can achieve better returns on mid-high-end properties rather than more affordable housing

Mid-range housing leapfrogs affordable competition in Dubai

Sales of affordable housing in Dubai declined over the past six years as a share of total transactions amid changing developers’ preferences and broader cost-of-living increases, industry professionals say. Properties below AED1 million ($272,000) peaked at 46 percent of all residential deals in the emirate in the third quarter of 2018. That figure has steadily […]

An offshore wind farm in China. Zinc is vital for anti-corrosion coating in offshore turbines but China has reached a point of oversupply

Saudi Arabia’s zinc project is set for the long term

In the deserts of Saudi Arabia, 170km southwest of Riyadh, the Khnaiguiyah mining project is the kingdom’s largest mineral exploration site. Geologists and miners are looking to extract 25 million tonnes of zinc and copper ore from this opencast prospect over the next 12 years. That would establish Khnaiguiyah as the Gulf’s first world-level zinc mine […]

Trending

  1. ADQ buys 96% of Bank Audi’s Turkish unit

  2. Islamic Development Bank approves $3bn for projects

  3. Oil steadies despite Middle East uncertainties

  4. Middle East to dominate oil exports by 2050, says Opec

  5. Financing being finalised for Riyadh-Jeddah railway line

OPINION & Analysis

Best of AGBI

Opec secretary general Haitham Al Ghais at the Rio Oil & Gas & Energy 2024 meeting in Brazil last month

Middle East to dominate oil exports by 2050, says Opec

The Middle East is forecast to provide almost 60 percent of the world’s oil exports by 2050, according to Opec’s long-term outlook. Its oil producers are pursuing aggressive marketing strategies aimed at Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, where energy demand is growing. The Middle East accounted for 49 percent of global crude and condensate […]

UAE data centres struggling to meet AI demand

The UAE has the largest concentration of data centres in the Middle East and North Africa, but it is grappling with a capacity crunch. A surge in demand from the artificial intelligence sector is putting a strain on existing infrastructure, driving up costs and posing a challenge to future growth, industry experts have told AGBI. […]

Saudia prepares to launch electric jet service

Saudia Airlines’ electric jet plane is the first step towards zero-carbon commercial flights in medium-sized planes, according to its German manufacturer Lilium.  Daniel Wiegand, co-founder and chief engineer for innovation at Lilium, said both parties were looking beyond the initial sale of 50 Lilium jets, which Saudia bought for at least $7 million each, with […]

Japanese fund fails to deliver for Gulf investors

Eight years ago next week Saudi Arabia became a founding investor in SoftBank’s Vision Fund, pledging $45 billion, and Abu Dhabi soon committed another $15 billion. The creator of the private equity fund, the world’s largest, was Japanese tech guru Masayoshi Son, who, at the time, predicted it would “accelerate the information revolution”. In October […]

Egypt’s Forbes Tower has designs on Burj Khalifa records

Egypt’s 50-storey Forbes Tower is a self-consciously Dubai-esque development. It will have the world’s tallest central atrium, the fastest elevator, and is due to be the first net-zero tower in the Middle East and North Africa.  Magnom Properties, the Egyptian-Saudi-owned developer, plans to spend $1 billion building the 240m tall tower, and has embraced comparisons […]

Josef Kleindienst

real estate

‘World Islands still a decade away from completion’

Josef Kleindienst, CEO of Kleindienst Group

UAE latest

Las Vegas Sphere

Las Vegas’s giant Sphere entertainment centre coming to Abu Dhabi

A twin of the $2.5 billion 111-metre-tall Sphere entertainment centre in Las Vegas is to be built in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) has signed an agreement with US company Sphere Entertainment to build the venue at an as yet unnamed “prime spot” in Abu Dhabi that will echo the […]

People, Person, Adult

ADNH Catering raises $235m from Abu Dhabi listing

ADNH Catering has raised AED864 million ($235 million) by selling 900 million shares, or a 40 percent stake, on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). The final offer price was AED0.96 per share, the top end of the previously announced price range. The market capitalisation on listing will stand at AED2.16 billion. The initial public offering was […]

Dubai developers can achieve better returns on mid-high-end properties rather than more affordable housing

Mid-range housing leapfrogs affordable competition in Dubai

Sales of affordable housing in Dubai declined over the past six years as a share of total transactions amid changing developers’ preferences and broader cost-of-living increases, industry professionals say. Properties below AED1 million ($272,000) peaked at 46 percent of all residential deals in the emirate in the third quarter of 2018. That figure has steadily […]

Ewec says the Al Sila wind project will generate clean electricity to power 36,000 homes

Abu Dhabi seeks developer for new wind power project

Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) for the development of a wind farm in the Al Sila region. On completion, the 140 megawatt (MW) greenfield renewable energy independent power project will more than double the existing wind generation capacity in the UAE. The Al Sila wind project will […]

Founded in 2012, Odeabank is Turkey’s 13th largest private bank by total gross loans and customer deposits

ADQ buys 96% of Bank Audi’s Turkish unit

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ has signed an agreement to acquire 96 percent of Lebanon-based Bank Audi’s Turkish subsidiary, Odeabank. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including from Turkey’s banking regulation and supervision authority and the competition authority. As part of the deal, Bank Audi and other investors such as the International Finance […]

Saudi Arabia latest

Aramco has cancelled a 400,000 bpd refinery and chemicals project at Ras Al Khair, according to a media report

Aramco cancels Saudi project amid Asia focus

Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, has scrapped plans for a refinery and chemicals project in Saudi Arabia to focus on Asia expansion, mainly in China. The 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) facility at Ras Al Khair, which was being planned in collaboration with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, an Aramco subsidiary, has been cancelled, Bloomberg […]

An offshore wind farm in China. Zinc is vital for anti-corrosion coating in offshore turbines but China has reached a point of oversupply

Saudi Arabia’s zinc project is set for the long term

In the deserts of Saudi Arabia, 170km southwest of Riyadh, the Khnaiguiyah mining project is the kingdom’s largest mineral exploration site. Geologists and miners are looking to extract 25 million tonnes of zinc and copper ore from this opencast prospect over the next 12 years. That would establish Khnaiguiyah as the Gulf’s first world-level zinc mine […]

Saudi Arabia already has a railway line between Riyadh and Dammam, and it now hopes to add a line to Jeddah

Financing being finalised for Riyadh-Jeddah railway line

Saudi Arabia Railways hopes to finalise financing for its “Landbridge” project linking the east and west of the country within months, an official said this week.  “It will cost at least $7 billion, it depends on the budget. If the budget’s available then we will start building, it will be finished before 2030,” Mesfer Alyami, […]

A Neom executive says could be the world’s largest customer for construction materials for several decades

Neom ‘uses one fifth of world’s steel’

The Neom giga-project in Saudi Arabia is currently using one fifth of all the steel produced in the world, an official said on Monday.  The futuristic city will be the world’s largest customer for construction materials for several decades, said Manar Al Moneef, Neom’s chief investment officer. She told the Global Logistics Forum in the […]

Saudi air cargo

Red Sea crisis boosts Saudi air cargos by 50%

Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels have resulted in more than a 50 percent rise in air cargo shipments to Saudi Arabia. The country’s airports are expected to process more than a million tons of air cargo in 2024 for the first time ever. A total of 1.2 million tons is […]

Around the Middle East

A natural gas flare in North Dakota, US. Oil prices have fallen about $4 this week, nearly wiping out cumulative gains made in the seven sessions up to last Friday

Oil sinks 4% as potential Iran disruption fears subside

Oil prices slid more than 4 percent on Tuesday after a media report said Israel was willing not to strike Iranian oil targets. The news eased fears of supply disruption, and came after Opec lowered its outlook for global oil demand growth in 2024 and 2025. Brent crude futures fell $3.28, or 4.2 percent, to $74.18 a barrel at 11:18 GMT. West Texas Intermediate futures lost $3.33, or 4.5 percent, hitting $70.50 […]

Tourists in Souq Waqif, Doha, Qatar. The country welcomed 328,000 visitors in August

US and European visitors behind Qatar tourism surge

Qatar has reported a 25 percent year-on-year rise in visitors during August, a figure largely attributed to a significant increase in travellers from the US, Europe and Africa.  The country welcomed 328,000 visitors, with 41 percent of those coming from GCC countries, an 18 percent increase on 2023, according to data from the National Planning […]

A busy Beirut airport in August this year; the airport is currently open but flights are limited

Private jets and yachts take passengers fleeing Lebanon

People trying to flee the escalating conflict in Lebanon are turning to expensive private bus, yacht and jet operators as an increased number of airlines cancel flights. “If Beirut’s airport is closed due to the ongoing conflict, don’t worry,” reads one of the many such adverts that have inundated Lebanese social media. “Our luxury yachts […]

Desert, Nature, Outdoors

Jordan’s 2024 tourism revenue drops

Jordan’s tourism revenues in the first nine months of 2024 fell by 4 percent year on year to $5.5 billion. The decline was attributed to a 7 percent drop in tourist numbers, state-run Petra reported, quoting data from the Central Bank of Jordan. Despite the overall decline, tourism income from Jordanian expatriates and Arab visitors […]

Shoppers in Kuwait's Avenues Mall – the IMF says the country needs to encourage private sector employment

Kuwait needs to push reforms for economic growth, says IMF

Kuwait must accelerate the introduction of fiscal and structural reforms that are needed to increase private sector-led growth and diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday. Kuwait’s economy will contract by 3.2 percent this year because of an Opec+ oil production cut, but will grow by 2.8 percent in 2025 […]

Outdoors, Ground, Nature

IMF gives Jordan access to $131m as reforms continue

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will grant Jordan access to $131 million as the country’s economic reform programme remains strong despite it facing a challenging external environment. The release of the funds remains subject to approval by the IMF’s management and executive board. “Jordan continues to show resilience and maintain macro-economic stability, despite the headwinds […]

Architecture, Building, Factory

Oman public revenue tops $21bn as oil earnings surge

Oman’s public revenue rose to OMR8.1 billion ($21 billion) by the end of August 2024, up 3 percent year on year, thanks to a surge in oil income. Net oil revenue reached OMR4.65 billion ($12 billion), rising 12 percent from OMR4.15 billion ($10.8 billion) a year earlier, the state-run Oman News Agency reported. The average […]

Sainsbury's has the second-largest share of the UK grocery market, at 15 percent, behind Tesco at 28 percent

Qatar to reduce stake in UK supermarket Sainsbury’s

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is selling part of its 15 percent stake in the British supermarket Sainsbury’s as the fund pushes ahead with expansion in the United States and Asia, particularly China and India. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the biggest shareholder in Sainsbury’s, is selling £306 million ($399 million) worth of shares in the retailer, […]

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HYDROGEN
SAUDI VISION 2030
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mergers & acquisitions
crypto
Electric cars
israel-hamas war
FOOD SECURITY
islamic finance
ukraine-russia war
OPEC
SPACE

Turkey Latest

Founded in 2012, Odeabank is Turkey’s 13th largest private bank by total gross loans and customer deposits

ADQ buys 96% of Bank Audi’s Turkish unit

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ has signed an agreement to acquire 96 percent of Lebanon-based Bank Audi’s Turkish subsidiary, Odeabank. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including from Turkey’s banking regulation and supervision authority and the competition authority. As part of the deal, Bank Audi and other investors such as the International Finance […]

Shoppers in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar. Consumers are expected to push back against Turkey's tax plan because large corporations are 'not seen as contributing fairly'

Turkey ramps up taxes to spend on defence tech

Turkey’s government has proposed a raft of taxes on everything from credit cards to watches in order to fund increased spending on defence research and development. The ruling Justice and Development Party tabled draft legislation for the levies with parliament’s finance committee on October 11.  In recent years Turkey has made a priority of developing its […]

Turkey is using AI to study the tax returns of hundreds of thousands of citizens and thousands of businesses

Turkey using AI in crackdown on corporate tax evaders

Turkey is to unleash hundreds of auditors and artificial intelligence technology on the country’s leading companies to identify those that are avoiding paying tax on earnings or that are downplaying their revenue to escape higher payouts. Up to 500 inspectors will be deployed in the first stage of a long term programme to stamp out […]

Yapi Merkezi will construct a railway line that links Uganda's capital Kampala with the border of Kenya

Turkish contractor to build Uganda-Kenya rail link

Turkish construction company Yapi Merkezi has signed a deal with the Ugandan government to build a rail line linking Uganda to Kenya, Ugandan officials announced Monday. Yapi Merkezi will build 272km of a planned 1,700km electric line in a contract worth $3 billion. Construction will start in November, Uganda’s Standard Gauge Railway project coordinator, Perez […]

Steel workers in Karabuk, Turkey. The Turkish Steel Producers’ Association has welcomed the tariffs

Turkey hits major Asian steel exporters with tariffs

Turkey’s decision to introduce tariffs on cheap foreign imports of steel has been welcomed by domestic industry experts. Ankara last week moved to protect its domestic steel industry against cheap imports from Asia by imposing taxes on hot rolled steel (HRS) produced in China, India, Japan and the Russian Federation. The tariffs range from 6 […]

Egypt Latest

Output at Egypt's Zohr field fell to 1.9 Bcf/d by early 2024 due to foreign oil companies’ hesitance to invest

Egypt to ramp up gas output from major concessions

Egypt is planning to increase natural gas output from major concessions, including its largest field Zohr, petroleum minister Karim Badawi has said. The government intends to increase production at Zohr by drilling new wells starting in the first quarter of 2025, the ministry said in a statement. Average production from the field remained at two […]

Upper Egypt Railway Station

Giza mega station opening drives Egypt’s rail investments

The first passenger train arrived on Sunday at the new Upper Egypt Railway Station in Bashteel, Giza, as the country invests in developing its ageing rail network. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi opened the station on Saturday along with 19 other transport infrastructure projects across the country.  The new station is designed to serve […]

Egypt car makers

Global car makers expand Egyptian operations

Car makers in Egypt are expanding their operations after the conclusion of a long-running currency crisis earlier this year. The devaluation of the Egyptian pound in March has made the country a more attractive proposition both as a consumer market and a base from which to export. Among those who have announced expansion plans since […]

The Forbes Tower is designed by architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill with a facade by BMW's Designworks

Egypt’s Forbes Tower has designs on Burj Khalifa records

Egypt’s 50-storey Forbes Tower is a self-consciously Dubai-esque development. It will have the world’s tallest central atrium, the fastest elevator, and is due to be the first net-zero tower in the Middle East and North Africa.  Magnom Properties, the Egyptian-Saudi-owned developer, plans to spend $1 billion building the 240m tall tower, and has embraced comparisons […]

Regional and international hotel operators are keen to expand in Egypt, but it also needs to improve infrastructure such as airports to support its tourism ambitions

Infrastructure needed to support Egypt’s tourism ambitions

Regional and international hotel operators are keen to expand in Egypt, but the country needs to improve infrastructure such as airports to support its tourism ambitions, industry sources have said. Egypt aims to emulate the high-end hospitality and entertainment development that the UAE and other Gulf countries have pioneered, at the same time bringing in […]

Features

Christie’s to open new office in Saudi Arabia

British auction house Christie’s announced last month that it had received a commercial licence to conduct sales and exhibitions in Saudi Arabia. From its new base in Riyadh it is hoping to tap into a secondary market for luxury goods and state institutions’ growing appetite for art.  The company, which has its headquarters in London, […]

Tunisia’s tough decisions: to reform or face debt default

As Tunisia’s president Kais Saied celebrates his re-election, the former lawyer must decide whether to implement unpopular reforms to receive a foreign bailout or risk the North African country making its first ever debt default. Tunisia was close to reneging on some of its borrowings late last year and again earlier this year, but averted […]

Gulf spots opening in China’s polysilicon boom-bust cycle

Solar power capacity across the Middle East region trebled from 3 gigawatts to 9GW between 2020 and 2023, according to the trade association Energy Industries Council.  In the Gulf alone, a further 40GW of photovoltaic (PV) solar power are scheduled for installation by 2030, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), an intergovernmental organisation, says.  For […]

Lack of plots gives Palm Jumeirah added air of exclusivity

Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s world-famous man-made island, is running out of undeveloped land. Developer Nakheel’s announcement earlier this week that it will pay nearly $500 million to Alec Engineering & Contracting to build the new 75-storey Como residential tower on Palm Jumeirah is bound to be one of the last of its kind. Since it will […]

People & Lifestyle

A perfume shop in Sabya, Saudi Arabia. The country's fragrance sector is worth $2.3bn

Investors scent riches in Middle East perfume

The retail offering of Al Majed for Oud Company was more than nine times oversubscribed this week, as investors rushed to buy up the first tranche of 1.5 million shares in the Riyadh-based perfume and oud products manufacturer. The full listing of 7.5 million shares, or a 30 percent stake in the company, will raise […]

Dnata provides ground handling and cargo services, as well as catering, ramping and more

Dnata is 65, but its globetrotting is just getting started

Dnata began life 65 years ago as a small travel agency in Dubai. Today it is the airport services arm of Emirates Group, operating in over 30 countries and planning to expand to even more. This month, it signed ground handling contracts with Royal Jordanian Airlines at John F Kennedy airport in New York and […]

Saudi Arabia tourism projects Dragon Ball theme park

Arab Disneyland and Da Vinci: Saudi Arabia’s two great hopes

Saudi Arabia is spending billions on tourism projects at the heart of its grand plan to transform a once isolated kingdom into a global tourist destination. But a nagging question is haunting policymakers: will the world pay attention?   Tourism numbers are rising, hitting 27.4 million in 2023, but half of those were religious visitors.  The […]

Turkey tech visa digital nomad

Ankara’s twin tech challenge to woo foreign experts and keep its own

Turkey wants to persuade foreign tech entrepreneurs and innovators to move to the country with a scheme providing a fast-tracked business permit and residency visa, as it seeks to position itself as a leading international technology hub.  Ankara has already made a call to tech-savvy travellers through a programme launched in April offering an easy […]

Students in shared accommodation. According to one expert, international investors have put more money into student housing than any other US real estate asset

Investors size up Gulf student housing after US success

Gulf entities have invested billions of dollars in student housing in the United States over the past few years, and are now considering making the same play locally. Accommodation for university students has become a hot asset class amid demographic growth fueled by the millennial generation, which recently passed the baby boomers to become the […]

Rents in the area surrounding Abu Dhabi's Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium are around 20 to 30% higher than in nearby neighbourhoods

GCC stadium projects have multifaceted impact on real estate

Entertainment and sports-focused construction across the Gulf is most likely to push property prices up despite bringing more traffic and noise, according to industry observers. A few of the region’s many projects include the 47,000-spectator Aramco stadium in Saudi Arabia’s Al Khobar, large amusement parks in Qatar and Kuwait, and the region’s inaugural ballpark on […]

Around 3.5 million bottles of Champagne were shipped to the Gulf states in 2023, an increase of about 40 percent

Champagne shipments to the Gulf slow but still flowing

The growth in champagne shipments to the Gulf has slowed in recent years but the market is still one of the strongest in the world, bucking a global trend for declining sales. Around 3.5 million bottles of champagne were shipped to the Gulf states in 2023, an increase of about 40 percent, according to data […]

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

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Around the world

Petronas says it will use advanced technology and AI solutions to boost Abu Dhabi’s energy resources

Abu Dhabi awards oil concession to Malaysia’s Petronas

Abu Dhabi has awarded a new onshore oil and gas exploration concession to Malaysia’s state-run Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). The concession, located in onshore block 2 in the Al Dhafra region, was granted by the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA), the state-run Abu Dhabi Media Office reported. The award gives Petronas 100 […]

A view of Emaar India's Gurgaon Greens project in Haryana. Adani Realty and Emaar executives are holding talks in Dubai

Adani in talks to buy stake in Emaar’s Indian subsidiary

Adani Realty, owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, is holding discussions with Emaar Properties to buy a stake in the Dubai-based developer’s Indian subsidiary, a news report said. Adani Realty and Emaar executives are discussing a possible transaction for a stake sale in Emaar India in Dubai, Business Today magazine reported, citing unnamed sources. The talks […]

Hon Todd McClay, Member for Rotorua, National Party, Minister of Trade at Parliament House in Wellington, New Zealand, Tuesday, December 12, 2023. (AAP Image/Mark Coote) NO ARCHIVINGNo Use Australia. No Use New Zealand. Todd McClay, New Zealand's minister for trade, said the deal will eliminate duties on 98.5 percent of New Zealand’s exports

UAE adds New Zealand to long list of trade partners

The UAE’s plans to increase non-oil foreign trade to AED4 trillion ($1 trillion) by 2031 took another step forward on Thursday as New Zealand became the 12th country to sign a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) with the Gulf state. The deal will reduce or remove tariffs, eliminate barriers to trade, improve market access and […]

Through its Dubai office Investec will target high-net-worth clients, family offices and financial institutions across the Gulf region

South Africa’s Investec joins financial giants in DIFC

South African bank Investec has joined the growing list of global financial institutions operating from the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Through its Dubai office, the lender will target high-net-worth clients, family offices and financial institutions across the Gulf region. The bank will provide advisory and arranging services in private banking, wealth and investment management, as well […]