Most Asian markets rise ahead of toss-up US election
Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday a day before results from the US presidential election rolled in, with opinion polls showing...Economy
Oil prices tumble after Israeli attacks spare Iran facilities
Tokyo, Japan - Oil prices tumbled in early Asian trading Monday with dealers relieved that Israeli strikes carried out Saturday against...Economy
IPOs in MENA raise US$5.8bn in first nine months of 2023
ABU DHABI, UAE - A recent report revealed that 29 initial public offerings (IPOs) were recorded in the Middle East...The report indicated that the MENA region witnessed six IPOs during the third quarter of this year with proceeds of US$523 million.
The report described plans to list shares for IPO in the fourth quarter of 2023 and early 2024 as still promising.
Record number of patent applications filed globally in 2022, says WIPO
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Global patenting activity soared to new records in 2022, fueled by Indian and Chinese innovators, but an...China, the US, Japan, Republic of Korea and Germany were the countries with the highest numbers of patent filings in 2022.
innovators from around the world submitted 3.46 million patent applications in 2022, marking a third consecutive year of growth.
Marafy: Saudi Arabia unveils another ambitious megacity project
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia has revealed plans for a remarkable megacity project named Marafy, following in the footsteps...Marafy is set to become an urban center located to the north of Jeddah, offering a stunning waterfront reminiscent of London's iconic landscape
The city will follow the ongoing construction of Neom on the Red Sea coast, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
China owed more than $1 trillion in Belt and Road debt: report
Crunching data compiled on Chinese financing of almost 21,000 projects across 165 countries, AidData said Beijing had now committed aid...Beijing says upwards of 150 countries stretching from Uruguay to Sri Lanka have signed up to the BRI, a global infrastructure push unveiled by President Xi Jinping a decade ago
The first decade of the initiative saw China distribute huge loans to fund the construction of bridges, ports and highways in low and middle-income countries
Qatar leads by example in money laundering control
"Nations must take action to establish measures for detecting the physical cross-border movement of currency and negotiable instruments to combat...MENAFATF Executive Secretary Suliman bin Rashid Al Jabrin lauds Qatar's adherence to global anti-money laundering standards.
Highlighting the FATF's goals to block terrorists' cross-border funding, Al Jabrin urges strong measures against currency smuggling.
Dubai approves $67bn budget to stimulate economic recovery
Dubai, UAE - Dubai government's general budget for the fiscal cycle of 2024-2026 includes total expenditures of $67.16 billion (AED...A total of 34% of total government expenditures of the 2024 budget goes to the social development sector in the areas of health, education, and scientific research
Spending on infrastructure, including roads, tunnels, bridges, transportation, sewage stations, parks, and renewable energy sources accounts for 42% of total spending
Stocks extend global rally as US jobs data cements rate hopes
Hong Kong, China - Markets rallied again Monday following another strong performance on Wall Street, as below-forecast US jobs data fanned...All three main indexes on Wall Street jumped Friday after the jobs reading, which also fueled bets on an interest rate cut by June.
Asian markets tracked the rally in New York, with Tokyo more than two percent higher, while Hong Kong, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta were up more than one percent
UAE issue guidelines on unlicensed virtual asset service providers
Abu Dhabi, UAE - The National Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Illegal Organizations Committee (NAMLCFTC)...The guidance aims to educate licensed financial institutions (LFIs) and public sector on the risks associated with unlicensed virtual asset service providers.
It aligns with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) publication on updated guidance for a risk-based approach to virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.
$10 trn of ‘hidden costs’ on food and agriculture system per year, says UN
Paris, France - The food and agriculture system adds at least $10 trillion in "hidden costs" to the global economy every...The Food and Agriculture Organization said it conducted an analysis in 154 countries to determine the "true" cost of the agrifood system.
The global quantified hidden costs totaled around $12.7 trillion in 2020, representing almost 10 percent of the global gross domestic product.
Expat remittances in Saudi Arabia fall to $2.6bn in September
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - Remittances by expatriates in Saudi Arabia dropped 13 percent year-on-year (YoY) to US$2.6 billion (SAR 9.9...On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, expat remittances in the Kingdom declined 8 percent, or US$229 million.
Remittances by Saudi nationals to other countries also fell 11 percent YoY to US$1.2 billion in September.
