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Drink Dry

Forget ‘Dry January’ – more Gulf drinkers ditching booze all year

Dry January, the initiative of abstaining from alcohol for the first month of the year, has become a yearly fixture in many people’s lives since it was launched by Alcohol Change UK in 2013, and the Middle East is no exception.  “We definitely see sales increase in the UAE,” Erika Doyle, founder and managing director […]

European and Russian expats opt for freelance jobs in UAE

UAE job visa applications will increase by nearly one third this year, with many expats from Europe and Russia opting for freelance roles, the managing director of recruitment and HR consultancy Connect Group told AGBI.  Aaron Portero forecasts that visa applications will rise at least 25 to 30 percent in 2023. This is on top […]

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. […]

City, Urban, Cityscape

Dubai mid-market homes will rise 15%, says Danube chief

Prices in Dubai’s mid-market property sector could climb as much as 15 percent this year, the founder and chairman of Danube Group has said. The prediction comes as the firm’s property arm, Danube Properties, sold out its latest affordable housing project, Elitz, on the day of its launch. Rizwan Sajan said that the real estate […]

UAE’s unemployment insurance ‘first step’ towards welfare state

The introduction of the UAE unemployment insurance programme is the “first step” towards the country creating a welfare state, experts predict. Over 60,000 people signed up for the social security programme, called the Involuntary Loss of Employment insurance scheme, in the first two days since going live on January 1.  Represented by Dubai Insurance, it […]

Travellers buy coffee at Jeddah airport. Non-oil business activity is rising in Saudi Arabia

Job creation hits five-year high in Saudi non-oil sector

Employment at non-oil companies in Saudi Arabia reached its strongest level for five years in December, as business activity and demand from overseas increased. The latest Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), published on Tuesday, recorded a headline figure of 56.9 for December. Although this was down from 58.5 in November, companies said […]

The “inflationary increase in the cost of living" is thought to have prompted the focus on personal savings

Mena professionals vow to build up their savings in 2023

Saving money is the top new year’s resolution for Mena professionals, a survey has found. In the poll by jobs site Bayt.com, almost two-thirds (63 percent) of the 2,988 respondents said building a nest egg was their No 1 priority for 2023. Keren Bobker, a Dubai-based independent financial adviser and senior partner at Holborn Assets, […]

Less dramatic year ahead for Middle East post-Covid and oil boom era

After the sugar rush of 2022, Gulf states will have to get used to less dramatic rates of growth in 2023, as economies stabilise following the immediate post-Covid period that coincided with the spillover effects from the Ukraine crisis.  GCC growth averaged 6.5 percent in 2022, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates, and the […]

City, Cityscape, Urban

Dubai’s mid-market property sales next to flourish, says Damac

This has been a record year for Damac Properties, with sales up 100 percent, and a senior executive predicts the current Dubai boom will continue for at least another 18-24 months. The company’s most recent launch was Cavalli Couture, described as an ultra-luxury branded project along the Dubai Canal, with interiors designed by the Italian […]

IT talent

Middle East tech boom leads to high price of talent

The most significant barrier to technology adoption in the Gulf is a shortage of talent, according to Miriam Burt, managing vice president at Gartner. The latest forecast from the technological research and consulting firm revealed that IT spending in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region will total $178.1 billion in 2023, an increase […]

European expat UAE

‘Second wave’ of wealthy Europeans moving to UAE

An influx of wealthy Europeans are investing in and moving to the UAE as they face economic and political uncertainty at home, according to leading industry experts. “We’re seeing a new wave of wealthy entrepreneurs moving here,” Dubai-based Arnaud Leclercq, partner holding privé and head of new markets at Lombard Odier, told AGBI. Leclercq said […]

Person, Hat, Clothing

We can work it out: the future for the GCC’s labour markets

“Help wanted” signs are going up all over the Gulf as employers seek to expand their workforces and attract migrant labourers. This hiring spree is not the kind of free-for-all seen in previous oil booms, however. In Saudi Arabia, for example, overseas workers make up more than 70 percent of the labour market, but their […]

Egypt has been suffering a severe shortage of foreign currency despite a 14.5 percent devaluation on October 27

Egyptian expat remittances fall slightly to $20.9bn

Remittances from Egyptian expatriates reached $20.9 billion in the first eight months of 2022, compared to $21.4 billion a year earlier, Egypt Today reported, citing data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Remittances from Egyptian expatriates fell to $2.2 billion in August 2022.  Money inflow from Egyptian expatriates increased by 1.6 percent during the […]

Qatar World Cup

All eyes on Doha as World Cup finally comes to town

Late autumn is typically a busy time in the Doha social calendar, as temperatures fall in Qatar and locals and wealthier expats return from cooler climes.  This year the atmosphere is different. In one respect, the city has never been busier, as an army of labourers puts the finishing touches to the stadiums, hotels, malls, […]

Lusail stadium

Lusail City is ready for Qatar 2022 … and beyond

All over the Gulf, Vision 2030 mega-projects are somewhere on the road from drawing-board dream to functioning reality. One has already got there: Lusail City in Qatar. Work on the development began almost a decade ago, spurred on by preparations for the 2022 World Cup. At the time, the site was a mere village, about […]

City, Coupe, Car

Influx of millionaires stokes UAE demand for private bankers

An influx of affluent migrants is fuelling demand for wealth management services in the UAE, with some private bankers joining their clients in the seven-figure-salary club as competition for their expertise soars. Andrew Amoils, head of research at Johannesburg-based analyst New World Wealth, told AGBI that the number of centi-millionaires – people with fortunes of […]

UAE jobs

Tech and tax jobs fuel UAE’s strongest job growth in 6 years

The UAE has recorded its strongest employment growth since 2016 in a jobs boom fuelled by technology and professional services. But despite a growing number of vacancies and intense domestic and regional competition for the best candidates, analysts have warned that salaries — while rising — are failing to keep up with the red-hot jobs […]

Higher wages in Emirates entice Filipino expats to invest

Four-fifths of Filipino expats in the UAE plan to make investments in the next 12 months as rising wages and a strong dollar give them greater purchasing power back home.  The UAE’s official population statistics do not provide a breakdown by nationality, although by unofficial estimates there are around 560,000 Filipinos living in the UAE, […]

The Entertainer app offers deals in many sectors including attractions, such as the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo

Saudi and Egypt offer ideal stage for UAE’s The Entertainer

The Entertainer, a Dubai-based tech company that offers thousands of lifestyle product discounts, is focusing on Saudi Arabia and Egypt for expansion as demand rises amid the current cost of living crunch. New CEO Ahmed Gaber, who was previously general manager of Visa’s operations in North Africa where he was responsible for developing the digital […]