Dubai’s DFSA appoints F. Christopher Calabia as new chief

He will succeed Bryan Stirewalt with effect from October 1, 2021

Dubai airport

Dubai’s DXB to handle more than one million passengers between August 12-22

Travellers are urged to stay abreast of the latest travel regulations

UAE reports 1,334 Covid-19 cases, 4 deaths

The nationwide case count has now risen to 695,619

Abu-Dhabi-International-Airport

Passengers from India must quarantine for 12 days on arrival in Abu Dhabi

Incoming passengers must wear a medically approved wristband for the duration of their quarantine

Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit narrows in second quarter on oil, taxes

Spending on health and social development rose 20 per cent

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi to allow 100% foreign ownership of professional companies

The new licences will cover 604 activities across many fields including accounting, training and consultancy

Oil climbs from three-week low as traders assess demand outlook

Delta has raised concerns about the short-term demand outlook

Air-Arabia

Sharjah carrier Air Arabia reports H1 2021 net profit of Dhs44m, up 126% y-on-y

More than 2.3 million passengers flew with Air Arabia between January and June 2021 across the carrier’s five hubs

Public cloud

Four trends shaping the future of public cloud: Gartner

Global end-user spending on public cloud services expected to exceed $480bn next year

Dubai Chamber launches online tool to identify export gaps

Initiative designed to help Dubai traders tap into export opportunities in 30 countries across Europe, MENA, Africa and Asia

UAE reports 1,321 Covid-19 cases, 1,400 recoveries

The nationwide case count has risen to 694,285

digital

Riding the wave of digital transformation 2.0

As we embark upon a new month of working in full-remote or hybrid environments, many organisations are realising that the workplace will likely never look the same again

Burj Khalifa Emirates

Dubai’s Emirates releases behind-the-scenes footage of its Burj Khalifa promo

A single drone was used to capture the footage in a continuous take to film the complete sequence

UAE fintech Sarwa closes $15m Series B financing round

Mubadala Investment Company led the round, joined by other investors

B2B

What the region’s B2B businesses can learn from B2C models

Involving your customer in your product-development cycle is a strong start

Bahrain International Airport

Bahrain adds Georgia, Ukraine and Malawi to travel red list

Starting August 12, there will be 25 countries on the kingdom’s red list

Riyadh tops Saudi Arabia’s residential market boom

Apartment values in Riyadh grew 7.6 per cent year on year in the second quarter

Value Chain

From pit to port: Value chain optimisation is transforming mining

The advantages include reduced downtime, elimination of redundant operations, efficient energy consumption and ample room for innovations throughout the entire value chain

Abu Dhabi International Airport has weclomed flights from Iraqi Airways

Iraqi Airways commences direct service between Abu Dhabi and Baghdad

The airline will operate twice weekly flights between the capitals of UAE and Iraq

Kuwait posts record $36bn deficit on oil price drop, virus

Salaries and subsidies in the 2020-21 fiscal year accounted for 73 per cent of spending

Dubai announces three day super sale with up to 90% discounts

UAE: Rules eased at commercial establishments; vaccinations remain mandatory to enter events

Shopping centres, restaurants and cafés can now operate at 80 per cent of their capacity

Covid-19 PCR tests Abu Dhabi

Price of Covid-19 PCR tests across Abu Dhabi capped at Dhs65

If any healthcare provider is found to be flouting this directive, they will be barred from administering PCR tests and will also be fined

Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco reports $25.5bn net income in Q2 2021

Aramco’s gearing fell to 19.4 per cent from 23 per cent at the end of 2020

Human

Human factor report reveals how 2020 transformed today’s threat landscape

More than 48 million observed messages containing malware capable of downloading ransomware foreshadowed the risk of recent cyber attacks

UAE reports 1,410 Covid-19 cases, 4 deaths

The nationwide case count has risen to 692,964

Google Cloud_SAP

Google Cloud, SAP expand strategic partnership for business transformation

SAP services to be more widely available on Google Cloud

Emirates Burj Khalifa

Watch: Emirates video of flight attendant on top of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa goes viral

The 32-second clip to celebrate the UAE’s removal from UK’s travel red list shows an Emirates flight attendant standing at the top of the world’s tallest building

Bitcoin and Ether hit highest since mid-May as sentiment warms

Other tokens like Binance Coin, Cardano, XRP and Dogecoin are also rallying

Dumat Al Jandal wind farm

Trials successful on Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm; connected to electricity grid

UAE’s Masdar has partnered on the construction of the 400MW Dumat Al Jandal facility

Kuwait names new wealth fund board after three-month delay

The board always includes the finance and oil ministers, as well as the central bank governor and finance ministry undersecretary