Dubai issues 14,360 business licences in 2011

Robust licensing activity reflects stability and growth across key economic sectors in the emirate

Key economic sectors and economic activity in Dubai remained stable and growing in 2011, with the Department of Economic Development (DED) issuing 14,360 business licenses during the year. The professional services sector, at seven per cent, accounted for the most number of licenses in 2011 followed by the tourism sector at five per cent. Read more

Polo Silver Cup 2012 gaining momentum

Silver Cup 2012 will continue on Thursday with two attractive matches

Zedan Polo and Bin Drai won their respective games in a double match day for the Silver Cup 2012

Zedan Polo beat Ghantoot by 6-5 and Bin Drai, with the same score, won his match against Rhinos in Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club.

In the first polo match of the day, Amr Zedan´s team, with another great game of Nachi Heguy, added his second victory in the tournament.

Zedan Polo had to work hard to beat Ghantoot Polo and it was in the last chukker when they finally broke free.

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Emirates inaugurates new customer contact centre in Dubai

 Emirates airline has officially inaugurated its dedicated customer contact centre in the Outsource Zone Dubai, following a visit to the facility by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive Emirates airline and Group.

Acting as a global information hub for its valued customers’, Emirates’ 770 seat contact centre has been purpose built utilising state-of-the-art technology, in keeping with the airline’s commitment to quality. Read more

Richer competitions await Dubai World Cup spectators

Dubai World Cup general admission ticket sales at Meydan

Spectators at the 2012 Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan Racecourse on March 31st will be able to employ skill or luck to pick winners and earn rewards from an AED 200,000 (US$54,794) Pick Seven prize pool.

The Dubai Racing Club (DRC) has boosted the Pick Seven cash prizes for the popular free-to-enter competition by 100 percent. The Pick Seven competition will operate on the final seven events of the nine race card scheduled for the 17th renewal of the world’s richest race meeting, the Dubai World Cup. The increased Pick Seven pool compliments the record prizemoney on offer for the racing, which with the addition of the ninth race this year, the Dubai Gold Cup, has now reached a record level of US$27.25 million. Read more

4th International Conference on Drug Discovery & Therapy

One of the world’s largest international conferences highlighting the interdisciplinary fields of pre-clinical and clinical drug discovery, drug therapy and translational medicine will be held in Dubai from February 12-15, 2012.

The 4th International Conference on Drug Discovery & Therapy (ICDDT), co-hosted by the Higher Colleges of Technology and Eureka Science, will be held at the HCT Dubai Men’s College and will highlight international breakthrough developments in drug discovery and on new therapeutics. Read more

Wealth Managements appoint aggressively in the Middle East

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management today announces that it has further strengthened its business in the Middle East with the appointment of Sahba Hadipour, Sandip Aggarwal, Zahoor Hussain, Ayad Hachem and Mustapha Sinno as financial advisors.

Mr. Hadipour has 27 years of experience in the banking and advisory business. Prior to taking up his new role, he was a private banker for Barclays Wealth in Dubai, where he worked closely with the Strategic Solutions Group offering private investment banking to high net worth individuals (HNWI) and ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Before that, he was director of Private Equity and Wealth Management for CIC Holding (Invesco Holding), where he developed strategic relationships with UHNWI, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors. Read more

Global Hotel Industry to reach $847.8 billion by 2015

• Property renovation and luxury repositioning increasing as global economy improves

Hospitality  industry forecasted to have a value of $847.8 billion by 2015 according to recent industry reports by Hotels & Motels: Global Industry Almanac. Emerging markets such as the Middle East are being highlighted as the strongest regions driving growth. In addition to new properties currently under construction, increased focus is on renovation of existing hotels to deliver enhanced luxury and eco-luxury hospitality offerings, a trend being witnessed by The Hotel Show, as luxury exhibitors confirm attendance at this year’s event. Read more

Contractors invited for Abu Dhabi-Dubai motorway

The Department of Transport (DoT) has invited bids for the construction of a new 62km-long Abu Dhabi-Dubai dual carriageway, it was announced here on Monday.

The Dh2 billion project (E311), which is expected to be completed by the end of 2014, will start from the end of Emirates Road in Seih Shuoaib and go through Al Maha Forest and Khalifa Port Industrial Zone (B) and connect the Sweihan Road (E20) interchange. The new main road is expected to accommodate up to 7,000 vehicles per hour. Read more

Dubai Real Estate Market Overview, Q4 2011

• Law no 13 of 2011 was announced with the aim of regulating economic activity and connecting government departments under a single portal in order to streamline commercial activity and investment in the Emirate.
• Prime office lease rates remained unchanged for the fourth straight quarter with rates ranging between AED1,080 to 1,940/sqm/pa;
•  Secondary office locations have seen a 11% drop in lease rates year on year.
• The residential market remained stable during the quarter with average lease rates for residential apartments dropping marginally by 2%, while villa rates remained unchanged. Read more

Dubai owners overprice villa properties

The real estate market in Dubai has been growing steadily over the past twelve months resulting in price rises within established villa communities such as Arabian Ranches, Meadows and Springs.

Recent data from the propertyfinder.ae Q4 report shows that despite strong growth, villa owners in these communities run the risk of over pricing their properties, missing out on potential buyers and tenants. Read more

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