Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Funds shifting into Private Equity models

2013 Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study 20% of Sovereign Wealth Fund new assets allocated to private equity Property and infrastructure are not the big SWF ‘alternative investment’ story Major sovereign governments and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the Middle East are increasingly considering new private equity models for investment, [...]

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Cannes Film Festival: Bollywood arrives in Cannes

Celebrating a century of Indian cinema under sunny skies at Cannes Film Festival 2013 Sunny days and bright skies mark the landscape of Cannes today. Though the rains originally brought with them the magic of silver screen romance, the stars were visibly fraught trying to prevent wardrobe malfunction and putting [...]

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New laws for UAE money exchange firms

Media reports suggest the UAE Central Bank is designing new legislation to tighten regulations for money exchange houses in the country. This, after the closure of two such companies for violating industry rules. The licenses of two exchanges, namely Al Hilal Exchange and Asia Exchange Centre, were revoked for “major [...]

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UAE favorite Arab tourism spot

Data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that the UAE is most popular tourism destination in the Arab world. The UAE was rated as the most popular destination, ahead of countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Overall, the Emirate secured the 31st position in the world, [...]

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UAE businesses confident about 2013 growth

The quarterly business confidence survey conducted by the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) reveals that businesses in Dubai are confident of achieving continued growth in the second quarter of 2013. The survey highlights that confidence runs particularly high among small and medium enterprises (SME) and export firms. These businesses [...]

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Cannes Film Festival: The Competition Begins!

The rains are relentless at Cannes as the red carpets get soaked, and celebrities sashay around underneath their umbrellas. Sometimes one gets the feeling that the Rain Gods are creating a setting akin to the movies being screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Beautiful, dark & sombre. You get the [...]

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Beautyworld Middle East 2013: Special Report

A special report on Beautyworld Middle East 2013 “A Perfume is a message in a bottle. It’s not a smell. It’s an Impression, an idea.” ~Luca Turin, Perfume critic and Author~ Visiting the enigmatic Souks of the Middle East, always leaves one in a haze of de-ja-vu, the hazy mix of [...]

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UK’s Islamic Bank to expand in GCC

The Bank of London and the Middle East (BLME), Britain’s largest standalone Islamic bank, plans to set up an office in Dubai to expand on it’s offerings in capital markets and wealth management. The bank is experiencing 15 percent growth in assets this year, with the GCC move expected to [...]

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Cannes Film Festival: Special Report!

The 66th Cannes Film Festival has kicked off under thunderous torrential rain, adding to the charm of a French Riviera more famous for it’s warm and sunny days. The cinematic glamour quotient has once again brought the spotlight to the quiet, exotic city of Cannes; where movies, fortune and creative [...]

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Qatar buys 40% stake in Milan Business District

Qatar Holding has bought a 40 percent stake in a new 290,000-square metre skyscraper project near the centre of Milan, it was announced on Friday. Porta Nuova represents one of the most prestigious city center mixed use developments in Europe with a market value in excess of € 2 billion. [...]

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Proper governance structure for family businesses

A survey says that GCC family businesses need to focus on developing a proper governance structure in order to ensure business continuity and sustainable growth. In the absence of a governance structure, these businesses face a heightened risk of fragmentation due to conflicting interests among family shareholders. The PwC survey [...]

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MENA lags in mobile digital advertising

Research shows the disparity between smartphone users and advertising spend on mobile and digital in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains one of the highest in the world, offering huge potential for growth in the future. The report by Deloitte, titled The Telecoms Media and Technology Predictions [...]

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WIFFM conference highlights Islamic Finance

On the 27th and 28th of May 2013, the Kingdom of Bahrain will be hosting the 9th Annual World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference (WIFFMC 2013). This is the most anticipated and largest gathering of influentials from the Islamic investments sector and this year will include participation from more than 400 [...]

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Desert Palm awarded Leading Boutique Hotel in UAE

Imagine yourself lying on the lush green of a secluded polo estate, sipping on a cool beverage as you watch the sun set over the dunes. You look to your right and see the tall palm trees against the stretch of the desert behind, as a herd of horses glide [...]

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Doha real estate market remains dynamic

A real estate report highlighting the Doha real estate market is expected to remain stable and may even witness a surge in unit sales and rentals over the coming months. In the residential real estate sector, the Al Asmakh Real Estate Q1 report points out that demand in Doha will [...]

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Billion dollar hotel for Palm Jumeirah

An announcement by Dubai-based SKAI Holdings, a real estate investment firm, has revealed it’s plans to build a USD 1 billion hotel with more than 200 serviced apartments in Palm Jumeirah. The new project will be operated by the Viceroy Hotel and Resorts, marking its entry into Dubai after undertaking [...]

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Middle East family businesses delivering solid profits

The results of the Family Business Survey 2012, conducted by PwC, were revealed this week by the Dubai Women Business Council (DBWC). According to the study, Middle East family businesses are thriving. An impressive 83 percent of Middle East family businesses have seen sales increase over the past year, compared with [...]

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38% of companies to adopt a BYOD strategy by 2016

According to a global survey of CIO’s by Gartner Inc. Executive Programmes, by 2016, many companies expect to stop providing client devices (38 percent) to workers. The predicted trend is an outcome of bring your own device (BYOD) programmes advancing across many global organizations. The study titled ‘Bring Your Own Device: New [...]

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2013: The year to exploit opportunities in the GCC construction sector

According to the recently released Deloitte GCC Powers of Construction Report, 2013 is a year of optimism and opportunity in the GCC construction sector. The report titled ‘GCC Powers of Construction: Meeting the challenges of delivering mega projects’, proposes that the opportunities presented within the Middle Eastern construction sector this year can be [...]

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Expansion of LTE services dependent on cross-industry applications

One of the key findings of the recently released Deloitte Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions 2013 report says that several LTE Networks are expected to launch in the MENA region this year. Inline with the expected trend, Huawei, a global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, predicts the expansion of [...]

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