Saudi holdings of US Treasuries surge to $131.9b in December 2023
ABU DHABI, UAE - Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US Treasuries reached US$131.9 billion in December 2023, up $3.8 billion month-on-month,...Business Economy Markets
Lebanon judge charges Nissan employees for allegedly stealing Ghosn documents
BEIRUT, LEBANON - A Lebanese judge has charged four Nissan employees with the theft of documents and devices from the Beirut...Business Geostrategy
SASO, Chinese SAC renew technical cooperation program
The program aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries and contribute to ensuring the quality and safety...The program aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries and contribute to ensuring the quality and safety of goods
It also aims to establish frameworks for joint cooperation in several areas, most notably the exchange of information and research studies
Dubai records weeklong real estate transactions worth $2.48 billion
Dubai, UAE --Dubai recorded a total of 3,186 real estate transactions worth over AED 9.1 billion ($2.48bn) during the week...The DLD report said that 419 plots were sold for AED 2.24 billion, while 2,233 apartments and villas were purchased for AED 4.64 billion.
The top three transfers for apartments and villas were apartments for AED 54 million, AED 50 million and AED 37 million.
Tourists, cruises, flights to Aqaba on the rise in December
AQABA, JORDAN - The southern city of Aqaba is welcoming an increasing number of local visitors and foreign tourists of...The ports of Aqaba are expected to receive eight giant cruise ships carrying about 2,700 tourists each.
King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba has received 18 flights from abroad in since the beginning of December.
UAE tax decree: Profits above $102,099 to be taxed at 9 percent
Abu Dhabi, UAE---The UAE has issued a decree on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses, the Corporate Tax Law, under...Profits up to and including the $102,099 threshold will not be taxed "to support small businesses and start-ups".
Free zone entities will be eligible to benefit from the zero percent Corporate Tax rate on qualifying income.
IFC, UNHCR to jointly boost private sector engagement for refugees, host communities
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, Friday announced a joint initiative to...The initiative aims to mobilize private sector projects over the next five years to demonstrate the viability of investments in forced displacement contexts.
Forced displacement is a growing crisis that is too large and complex for governments and humanitarian agencies to solve alone.
Equities boosted by China news before rate calls
Global stocks rose on China's slowing inflation and economic reopening, alongside hopes of less aggressive interest rate hikes next week....Traders were setting their sights also on the release of two key US inflation reports ahead of the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of the year.
Investors were meanwhile hopeful that central banks in the United States, eurozone and UK will next week ease the pace of interest rate hikes.
Aramco, Shandong Energy to collaborate on downstream projects in China
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia---Saudi Aramco and China's Shandong Energy Group are exploring collaboration on integrated refining and petrochemical opportunities in China....The companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which includes a potential crude oil supply agreement and chemicals products offtake agreement.
The scope of the MoU extends to cooperation across technologies related to hydrogen, renewables and carbon capture and storage.
AirAsia branch in Cambodia soon
Venture would start with two aircraft and expand to 15.The latest move to reorganize the Malaysia-based firm's network comes after setbacks in recent years.
The firm's future airlines would also be based in Southeast Asia as it was a familiar region.
Britain fines Santander US$132m
Firm fined due to gaps in anti-money laundering controls.The Financial Conduct Authority said that it had concluded Santander UK failed to properly manage its anti-money laundering systems between December 2012 and October 2017.
Santander UK had taken action to address the issues once they were identified.
China makes first delivery of homegrown passenger jet
The state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China said at an airshow last month that it had secured orders for 300...Beijing hopes the C919 commercial jetliner will challenge foreign models like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320
The first model of the narrow-body jet, which seats 164 passengers, was formally handed over to China Eastern Airlines
