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Online Advertising Rockets in MENA Region
Online advertising in MENA is growing at an unprecedented rate of 37% per year to hit $2.8 billion in 2016. As the region plays 'catch up' with other world markets, the potential for meteoric growth in the sector is clear. "We are living in times when the ones who fail to keep up pace will stand to lose business. It's the law of the survival of the fast...
Khaleej Times Partners with eHosting DataFort
eHosting DataFort (eHDF), the region's leading managed IT services provider and a member of TECOM Investments, has been appointed by Khaleej Times, the UAE's first English language newspaper, to host and power their web site www.khaleejtimes.com. (http://www.khaleejtimes.com.) The 35-year old newspaper's digital operation is fully managed by eHDF with compr...
Canon Signs with Two New Partners in Libya
Canon Middle East, leader in imaging solutions, today announces two new partnership agreements in Libya with Al-Mutawasat and Al-Watania Companies. A move which is intended to further reinforce the company's 'closer to customer' strategy in the region and enhance its presence by having on ground support across markets. The introduction of our two new partne...
Emaar Launches The Hills in the UAE
Emaar Properties PJSC, the global developer of iconic projects and the provider of premium lifestyles in Dubai, has unveiled its newest residential development in the city. The Hills, envisaged as part of Emirates Living, the pioneering master-planned communities by Emaar, will stand out for its spectacular golf-course views and a focus on a greener lifestyl...
Accenture to Manage Rollout of BMW
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has been selected by premium German car manufacturer BMW to manage the rollout of a custom-built web platform to BMW's major markets by 2014. In a second agreement, Accenture will manage the roll-out of BMW's global digital marketing campaigns and work with each local market to maintain the content. Under the first agreement, Accenture...
Apple Faces Trial for Raising e-book Prices
Apple Inc goes to trial today over allegations by federal and state authorities for conspiring with publishers to raise the price of e-books. The U.S. Justice Department tested how Internet retailers interact with content providers and filed the case against Apple and five of the six largest U.S. book publishers in April 2012. The lawsuit accused them of c...
Mobile Payments To Reach $1.3 Trillion by 2017
Web threats attacking the mobile platform are here to stay. With mobile payments predicted to reach US$1.3 trillion annually by 2017, we can expect cybercriminals to continue generating even more profit by selling stolen user data. Cybercriminals favor web threats since they only require the Internet to facilitate their schemes. This makes web browsing risk...
LeasePlan Expands Globaly on 50th Anniversary
Netherlands-based LeasePlan Corporation, the world's leading fleet management and vehicle leasing company, is celebrating its 50 years anniversary, underlining its status as a pioneer in innovative, flexible leasing and fleet management solutions. It was in 1963 that LeasePlan was founded in Amsterdam. Today LeasePlan Corporation operates a fleet of more th...
Twin'run Concept Car from Renault
Renault is unveiling the Twin'Run at the 71st Monaco Grand Prix. The new concept car cultivates the sporting spirit of the brand and celebrates automotive passion by paying homage to the legendary R5 Turbo and Clio V6. Twin'Run, a real racing car, features a tubular chassis lifted directly from motorsport competition and a mid-engine 320-hp V6 engine based ...
Ford Launches New Brand Campaign
Ford Middle East today launched a regional integrated advertising and communications campaign highlighting Ford's various smart technologies and the brand's leadership within the industry. The campaign uses a fun and engaging young Arab character, Youssef, and his friends to highlight the latest Ford models and demonstrate unique Ford technologies such as Bl...
Freedom is Key to Sustainable Business
Two celebrated achievers stirred conversation among more than 80 of Dubai's C-suite executives over a breakfast at the city's Capital Club this month, (May 16 2013). Sir Bob Geldof, the Irish rock star, businessman and human rights activist provoked a high-energy debate on the relationship between creativity and humanity, probing the question of their role ...
DAMAC Towers by Paramount Sales Exceed One Billion AED
DAMAC Properties has announced sales exceeding AED one billion in its DAMAC Towers by Paramount development, which is under construction in the Burj Khalifa area of Dubai. The Middle East's largest luxury private developer confirmed it has already sold out all units in both phase one and phase two of the luxury hotel and serviced residences, with an average...
The Yen, Oil and Gold Topple
The yen slid to a 4-1/2-year low against the dollar on Friday, triggering a sell-off in oil and gold as well as safe-haven U.S. and German debt, after recent signs of strength in the U.S. labor market added to bullish sentiment on the dollar. The Japanese were buying more foreign assets, and the yen's collapse reverberated throughout financial markets, post...
Renault Middle East Reports Over 22,700 Sold Unit
Renault Middle East has at the end of March 2013 reported 22,747 sales units across the GCC, Iraq, Levant and Iran, commanding a combined market share of 3.3% in these regions. The consolidated Renault sales for GCC, Iraq and the Levant, posted an 18% growth, exceeding the market performance (+15%). Peyman Kargar, Managing Director, Renault Middle East, sai...
Ford Registers Highest Ever Middle East Sales
Ford and Lincoln products reported 14 per cent growth in sales during the first quarter of 2013, registering the highest ever Q1 sales for the Middle East region. The strong boost comes as a result of the continued demand and growing popularity of the latest Ford and Lincoln models coupled with the marked improvements in quality and innovations across the ra...
Strong sales of McLaren Sports Cars
McLaren Automotive, the luxury high-performance sports car business that has its Middle East regional headquarters in Bahrain, has experienced an exceptionally strong start to 2013 across the Middle East as it strengthens its GCC network. A strong end to 2012 for sales of the McLaren 12C Coupe (the reigning Middle East Car of the Year), and 12C Spider, has ...
MSN Arabia Promises Tantalizing Features
arabia.msn.com, the leading Middle East internet destination for millions of Arabs in the region and around the world, and operated by LinkOnline on behalf of Microsoft, is offering exciting opportunities for brands and marketers across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region to target millions of users through innovative features and unique adverti...
Poland-UAE Mutual Trade Increases 13%
Mutual trade between Poland and the UAE has increased more than 13 per cent, from US$ 400 million in 2011 to US$ 453 million in 2012, the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency (PAlilZ) said ahead of the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) scheduled to be organised in Dubai from 30 April to 2 May, 2013. Last year, Poland imported goods worth US$ 88 mi...
OSN Partners with ABS-CBN for Filipino Entertainment
OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa, has partnered with ABS-CBN, the largest Filipino TV network in the world, to bring viewers in the region the very best Filipino TV entertainment from May 1, 2013. OSN will offer its Filipino viewers four new ABS-CBN channels featuring premium content across a variety of genres so there's s...
Dubai is Debt Free in 2014
Dubai could make repayment towards it $20bn loan borrowed from neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi, according to Bank of America. Dubai's economy has shown signs of recovery over the last year, following the emirate's property crash in 2008-2009, which saw prices plunge by as much as 65 percent. In a report seen by Bloomberg, BoA's Jean-Michel Saliba said that t...
OSN Partners with Visa for Exclusive Benefits
OSN, the leading Pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa, has joined hands with Visa to offer cardholders an array of exclusive benefits when they subscribe to OSN's value-rich packages between April 15 and June 15, 2013. Building on the strong customer response to the first OSN-Visa collaboration last year, the new offer aims to add even more va...
Canon Showcases the Future of Bank Statements
Executives from the Middle East banking & financial service industry got a first-hand glimpse of the future of bank statements at the Canon stand at Gulf Print & Pack. Joining with the company's 17 strong array of solutions partners, GMC Software Technology demonstrated how its latest solution, Inspire Dynamic Statement is set to revolutionise the wa...
Canon Middle East Signs Deals worth AED 7 million
Canon Middle East has announced that it signed seven deals worth AED 7 million on the first day of the biennial Gulf Print & Pack show at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The deals represent sales of its industry-leading range of imagePRESS and imageRUNNER digital and colour printers known for their efficiency and versatility. Some of the major deals inclu...
The 6th Annual Arabia CSR Awards Launched
The 6th Cycle of the Annual Arabia CSR Awards 2013 was officially launched to the media at a Press Conference held at the Amwaj Rotana Hotel – Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai. Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Chairman and CEO - Emirates Group; & Chairman - Dubai Airports, and supported...
Dubai to build 1km plus tower in Asia
Emaar chairman Mohamed Alabbar is looking at plans to build a 1km plus tower in Asia, Arabian Business can reveal.In an interview to be published on Sunday in Arabian Business magazine, Alabbar, the man behind the world's current tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa, said: “Of course I want to. I am looking. I have a wish. I will try.”Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alw...
PayPal Launches in Egypt and Lebanon
PayPal, the global e-commerce business which allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet will finally launch in Lebanon and Egypt in 2013. The general manager of the online payment gateway, Elias Ghanem, announced Thursday at the ArabNet conference. Paypal is fully enabled – meaning buyers and sellers with locally issued bank accoun...
Kia Motors shows 22% Growth in 2012 Sales
Kia - UAE has recently announced it has shown a sales growth of 22% in the UAE in the 2012 Y-o-Y and would be able to boost it further with the launch of its new models due in 2013. According to Mohammed Khader, President of Al Majid Motors-Kia UAE, though the country's automotive sector is facing fierce competition, Kia through the launch of its new exciti...
1st LEXUS Design Award Winners Announced
Lexus announces the selection of 12 winners for the 1st LEXUS DESIGN AWARD, an international design competition that was launched in October 2012. 1,243 submissions were received during the application period, which ended on December 31, 2012. From that group, 12 winners have been selected after careful consideration by six judges. More details can be found...
The Looming Threat of Water Scarcity
Some 1.2 billion people-almost a fifth of the world-live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage. The situation is only expected to worsen as population growth, climate change, investment and management shortfalls, and inefficient use of existing resources restrict the amount of water ava...
IATA Establishes New Office to Serve Gulf Region
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the conclusion of an agreement with the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the establishment of its Gulf Area office in Abu Dhabi, effective 1 June. "We are very pleased to be moving to our new home in Abu Dhabi. Today's agreement reflects the recognition by the government of th...
Saudia and SAP To Combat Youth Unemployment
Saudia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SAP to collaborate on establishing a unique Competency Center at King Abdullah Economic City. The joint initiative will endeavour to prepare Saudi graduates for the job market through teaching essential business, IT and leadership skills. Training will encompass everything from negotiation and communic...
Renault Middle East Announces New Digital Platform
Renault Middle East has announced the launch of MY RENAULT (WWW.MYRENAULT-ME.COM) – a first of its kind digital platform in automotive industry in the region created for exclusive and personalized services towards Renault owners. Renault Middle East has rolled out MY RENAULT as an advanced digital customer service facility that meets the expectations of the...
Emaar Signs with Dubai Police as New KidZania® Partner
Emaar Retail LLC, the premium leisure and entertainment provider, signed an agreement with Dubai Police, establishing a new partnership with KidZania®, the award-winning children's 'edutainment' attraction in The Dubai Mall. As part of the collaboration, Dubai Police will work towards inculcating a sense of civic pride and responsibility by addressing ci...
DAMAC and Paramount in $1 billion Dollar Project
From ''The Godfather'', ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' and ''Titanic'', Paramount Pictures has become synonymous with entertainment and above all creativity, and today the brand stands for more – adventure and escape. Now, in its 101st year, the global launch of 'DAMAC Towers by Paramount' in Dubai marks the company's first venture into the hotel and real estate...
Delivery of Luxury Hyundai Models
Hyundai Motor Company, the fastest-growing automaker by brand, handed over the keys to its top luxury models to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the global governing body for the sport, in the latest stage of the highly successful partnership between the two high profile organizations. The ICC received delivery of three Hyundai vehicles (1 Centennia...
Etihad Airways Implements SabreSonic Service System
Etihad Airways' 'Big Switch' to its new Sabre Airline Solutions 'SabreSonic' Customer Sales and Service (CSS) system has been successfully completed with minimal operational disruption across the airline's global flight network during the cutover period. The Big Switch started at 11pm (UAE time) on Friday 22 February and the main cutover was completed for s...
Largest Australian Dairy company Sees Growth Potential in ME...
The distance between the green pastures of Australian dairy farms and the Middle East is about to get smaller with the opening of a Dubai office by Australia's number one dairy company, Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited (MG), on Monday. MG Managing Director Gary Helou said a presence in Dubai, in addition to existing offices in Tokyo, Ho Chi Min City...
Gulfood Awards 2013 Celebrate Excellence
The winners of the fourth Gulfood Awards, the Middle East's most sought-after food and beverage accolades, were announced last night (Monday) at a spectacular gala dinner held at the Samaya Ballroom, Ritz Carlton, DIFC on the opening day of Gulfood. Organised by The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the awards were judged by an international panel of indepen...
Coca-Cola and Aujan Announce New Beverage Companies
The Coca-Cola Company and Aujan Group Holding today announced the formation of two new world-class beverage companies, the Aujan Coca-Cola Beverages Company and Rani Refreshments, following the successful investment by The Coca-Cola Company into approximately half of Aujan's beverage business. Rani Refreshments will hold the global rights to brands such as ...
A Traffic Record for Air Arabia
Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, today announced that it flew a record number of passengers in January 2013 as the airline carried almost half a million passengers. Latest statistics released by the airline show that it carried a total of 492,847 passengers in the month, an increase of nearly 15 pe...
Sheikh Hamdan Opens DEWA’s Sustainable Building
HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance, and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), officially opened DEWA's new Sustainable Building in Al Quoz yesterday, the first sustainable building in the UAE, in the presence of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Energy...
UAE Signs for the World’s Most High-tech Go-kart
A new United Arab Emirates-based company has joined forces with a leading e-mobility pioneer, moving it a step closer to launching the world's most high-tech and eco-friendly water go-kart. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was recently signed between JetPad and EVC-Group.EU in Warsaw, Poland, at the Poland-United Arab Emirates Business Forum. The deal wa...
InterContinental Hotels Group Invests in India
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced it has signed 13 new hotels in India, boosting its existing pipeline in the country to 47. The announcement was made as Jan Smits, Chief Executive Officer for IHG in Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA), took part in a trade mission to India with British Prime Minister David Cameron to boost trade ties betwee...
Emirates NBD Partners with RTA for Vehicle Mortgage Services
Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, announced today that it had entered into a partnership with Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Dubai, to test the new online Vehicle Mortgage Release service. Vehicle owners with auto loans from Emirates NBD can now apply via the bank's branches and call centre for a vehicle mortgage release from the bank. The ba...
GE Ranks Among World’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies
GE (NYSE: GE) has been ranked as among the world's 100 most sustainable companies for its commendable efforts in driving energy and water use efficiency, as highlighted by the achievements of its ecomagination initiative. In the survey covering 4,000 firms, by Canadian firm Corporate Knights to identify 100 most sustainable publicly traded companies, GE ran...
Panasonic Partners with Dubai Municipality
Panasonic employees collected more than 600 kg of plastic waste from their communities during a month-long sustainability drive. To mark an ecological start to the New Year, the waste was sent for recycling to Imdaad, UAE's leading provider of integrated facilities management solutions. The community clean-up initiative was just one component of the drive, ...
Air Seychelles and Airberlin Sign Codeshare Agreement
Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, and airberlin, Europe's seventh largest airline,signed a historic codeshare agreement allowing customers from each of the two carriers to fly seamlessly between Germany and Seychelles via Abu Dhabi. Initially, the agreement, which comes into effect immediately, will see Air Seychelles' HM c...
Abu Dhabi Finance Launches Tijarati Project
Abu Dhabi Finance, the Emirate's fastest growing home finance provider, today announced the launch of 'Tijarati', its new commercial mortgage product line for individuals and businesses looking to purchase commercial property. 'Tijarati' offers up to 75 per cent mortgage finance for clients wishing to purchase a property for own use or investment, including...
Toyota Regains Global Top Spot
Toyota has reclaimed its position as the world's largest automaker for the first time in two years, selling a record 9.75m vehicles globally in 2012 as Japan's car industry rebounded strongly. Nissan and Honda each also had a record year, with global sales climbing nearly 6 per cent to 4.9m vehicles for Nissan and 19 per cent to 3.8m for Honda, posted ft.co...
Etihad Airways and Sydney Opera House Partnership
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Sydney Opera House today announced a new three-year, multi-million dollar partnership. New South Wales Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris, said: "This exciting partnership between Etihad Airways, and our nation's flagship performing arts centre will raise ...
Atlas for Renewable Energy Goes Online
The world's first open-access Global Atlas of renewable energy resources goes live today. This was announced at the annual general assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The Global Atlas is the largest ever initiative to help countries assess their renewable energy potential, and companies bringing together data and maps from leading...
Winner of International Blogging Contest Announced
Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, today announced the winner of its international blogging contest. Masdar initiated the competition to drive international discussion about the interconnected water and energy challenges facing communities around the world. The contest received more than 70 entries and engaged thousands of readers as it sparked wo...
Wamli.Com Launches Online Shop
Wamli.com, a Dubai based startup, has launched an online social hub for shoppers and collectors to source design oriented items sourced from around the world. It aims to indulge the need of enthusiasts to collect unique and funky products, and is a global portal that ships internationally within three to ten days. The site, which went live on 12.12.2012, of...
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