Roche Diagnostics to establish headquarters in Jafza

Roche Diagnostics, diagnostic division of global healthcare company Roche announced that it will set up its Middle East headquarters in Jafza and commence operations next month. The announcement was made on the sidelines of healthcare exhibition and medical congress, Arab Health in Dubai. Read more

Adopt early to changes in Payments Industry

All the innovation in technology and business administration naturally prompts rapid changes in consumer behaviors. It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate what will shape the future of payments from what is just a hype nowadays. However, close examination of the “innovation clusters”, known also as incubators for new technology aiming at consumer simplicity, now signals that an innovation in the payments industry is ready for prime time. Read more

Steel, Metal and Building Material trade in Jafza up 14% last year

• Free Zone expects sector-related trade to rise further in 2011, officials announce at Jafza’s 7th Strategic Customer Forum

Steel, Metal and Building Material companies based in Jafza generated trade worth AED 12.26 billion in 2010 registering a growth of 14% last year in comparison to AED 10.75 billion in 2009. The figures reflect trade of construction and building materials including iron, steel, cement, plastering materials, stone and other similar goods. Read more

34% of MENA professionals considering moving to a new industry

A recent survey conducted by Bayt.com, the Middle East’s number on job site, and YouGov, a research and consulting organisation, has unveiled that 34% of MENA professionals are considering an industry shift mostly into the oil, gas and petrochemicals industry (14%). However, 35% of respondents are content in the industries they are currently employed in. Read more

Building Supply Chain Transparency into Tourism Industry

What has a certifier of laminate and insulation products got in common with a certifier of luxury 5-star hotels? A fair amount it seems in the new carbon economy, as Chantal Dunbar discovered.

EC3 Global/EarthCheck and Ecospecifier Global, two heavyweights in the certification industry internationally have formed a unique alliance to help reduce the tourism industries carbon and eco-impacts, product by product, hotel by hotel. Read more

entourage wows 30th Sharjah International Book Fair

• For the first time in UAE, cutting-edge hologram and 360 degree projection technology was displayed together to launch the book of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah

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Remain Open and Alert to Ideas, GPCA Supply Chain Conference

Delegates who attended Day 1 of the Third Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association (GPCA) Supply Chain Conference were encouraged to remain open and alert to the ideas being presented.

The keynote speaker, H. E. Rashed Saud Al Shamsi, Petrochemicals Director, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) and Chairman, Borouge Pte. focused on the key challenges and opportunities within the GCC supply chain both present and in the future and encouraged collaboration between regional industry leaders to ensure a robust supply chain. Read more

Al Fara’a Group bags six Stevie Awards at the Annual International Business Awards

Al Fara’a Group won six Stevie Awards at the 9th Annual International Business Awards, also known as the International Stevies held on October 11th 2011 at the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi. The awards were given away by H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister for Foreign Trade, UAE.

Started in 2002, this prestigious award honors the accomplishments and positive contributions of companies and top business personages all over the globe. Al Fara’a won seven Stevie honors in 2010. The repeat wins in 2011 are an endorsement of the culture of excellence that runs deep through every facet of this highly respected business institution. Read more

Gulf investment corporation expands investments in Iron & Steel industry in GCC

Gulf United Steel Holding Company (“Foulath”), a leading global steel investment vehicle and the world’s first fully integrated steel producer, today announced the acquisition of United Gulf Steel Mill Company Limited (UGS) based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by its subsidiary United Steel Company (“SULB”), a steel manufacturing joint venture between Foulath (51%) and Japan’s Yamato Kogyo Co., Ltd, (49%), a leading global section producer for the production of beams and structural steel sections.

Foulath’s shareholders are among the region’s most reputable and committed investors, each with a long track record of investment in the regional steel and metals industry and other key economic sectors. Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC), Kuwait, which is owned equally by the six governments of the GCC owns 50%, Qatar Steel Company, Qatar owns 25%, Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi & Sons Company, Kuwait owns 10%, National Industries Holding Group, Kuwait owns 10% and Kuwait Foundry Company, Kuwait owns 5%. Read more

Industrial investment in UAE grows by $7.9 bln in 2010

According to an industrial report issued by the Ministry of Economy this week, the United Arab Emirates has recorded a strong growth in the industrial sector in 2010 amid efforts to reduce reliance on oil export earnings. Investments in the industrial sector grew by about 29 billion Dirhams (7.9 billion U.S. Dollars). The country is currently home to  4,960 industrial units that employ 382,000 people.

From around 81 billion Dirhams (22 billion dollars) at the end of 2009, the cumulative industrial investment in the Arab world’s second largest economy climbed to an all time high of 110 billion Dirhams (30 billion dollars) at the end of 2010, with an increase of 35.76 percent, according to the government data. Read more

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