Author: Steven Sahiounie

Asia’s third largest economy is seen growing 6.5% in the financial year ending March 31, 2024 MUMBAI – India could be among the three fastest growing markets for JPMorgan in the Asia Pacific region next year, alongside Australia and Japan, said a top official at the Wall Street bank. “People are starting to get excited about the whole China plus one element and while other countries have benefitted, India could be the largest beneficiary,” said Filippo Gori, JPMorgan’s CEO for Asia Pacific told Reuters, referring to a strategy for businesses diversifying supply chains beyond China. This is because India has…

LONDON: The efforts Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are making to transition toward cleaner, greener economies are “world leading,” the lord mayor of the City of London said on Monday. Nicholas Lyons, who visited the Kingdom and the UAE this year and is set to visit Qatar and Bahrain next week, also said there is “fantastic energy” in the Saudi Vision 2030 agenda for reforms and diversification of the nation’s economy. “The scale of the transition is very substantial, of course, and the hydrocarbon economies have to manage very deftly this transition away from what has been a source…

ABU DHABI: The UAE’s Yas and Saadiyat islands have emerged as safe havens for investment thanks to the endeavors of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism in grooming them as luxury destinations, said the CEO of a real estate development firm. Speaking to Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Hospitality Summit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Miral Group CEO Mohamed Abdalla Al-Zaabi said both destinations continue to attract investments and tourists in line with the UAE’s vision of economic diversification. “Abu Dhabi has been listed five times in a row as the safest city in the…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index concluded its trading on Tuesday at 10,918.24 points, rising 0.37 percent. Parallel market Nomu closed at 22,406.83, gaining 169.84 points, or 0.76 percent. MSCI Tadawul 30 Index edged up 2.83 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,402.31. The primary index’s total turnover touched SR6.2 billion ($1.6 billion), as 93 stocks rose and 126 retreated. Conversely, Nomu recorded a trading turnover of SR86 million. Al Sagr Cooperative Insurance Co. was the topmost performer in TASI, soaring 7.86 percent to SR23.60. Additionally, Saudi Automotive Services Co. soared 7.77 percent to SR62.40. Another notable performer, Saudi Arabian…

RIYADH: The UAE is expected to achieve 3 percent economic growth in 2023 driven primarily by the non-oil sector, as outlined in a report by Standard and Poor’s. The analysis from the ratings agency forecasts a further expansion rate of 4 percent next year. S&P is bullish regarding the prospects of the UAE’s tourism industry, attributing its growth to the successful hosting of major events and activities. Trevor Cullinan, a sovereign ratings analyst at the agency, pointed to the impressive expansion of the UAE’s non-oil sector, citing significant strides in services and industrial domains, reported the Emirates News Agency, also…

On September 20, the Russian leader said that he gladly accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation to come to China in October for the One Belt, One Road forum The dates of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China have been determined but have not been announced yet, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “To China – yes,” Peskov said when asked whether the date of the Russian leader’s trip to China had been agreed upon. “We will inform you about it in due time,” Peskov promised. On September 20, Putin said during a meeting with Wang Yi, a member…

The country will become official member of the organization effective January 1, 2024 Tehran’s full-scale involvement in BRICS’ activities was the focus of a telephone call between Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday. “Ebrahim Raisi gave thanks for supporting Iran’s application for BRICS membership. The sides discussed steps to ensure Iran’s smooth integration into the association’s full-format activities taking into account Russia’s presidency in 2024,” it said. The phone call was initiated by the Iranian side. The decision on admitting Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will sign up its nuclear power program to a comprehensive international safeguards framework in keeping with the Kingdom’s principles of transparency, reliability, and safety.  Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman made the announcement at the 67th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria, as he outlined his belief in the positive contributions of the power source to energy security, as well as its social and economic benefits.  He stressed the Kingdom is actively working to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy in various fields in close cooperation with the IAEA, adhering to…

Hungary will oppose restrictions on Moscow’s nuclear sector, the Hungarian foreign minister has said Budapest will veto any European Union sanctions targeting Russian nuclear energy, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced on Monday. Szijjarto said he had expressed his view on the EU plans during a meeting with the head of Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, Aleksey Likhachev. “The opportunity to use nuclear energy in cooperation with Rosatom corresponds to Hungary’s national interests. The construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant remains a large international project and aside from Rosatom it includes American, German and French companies,” he said in a Facebook…

Less polluting synthetic kerosene is too energy intensive, according to the airline Germany’s flagship airline Lufthansa has warned that it would need to consume half of the country’s entire electricity output if it were to shift to green fuels such as e-kerosene, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr reportedly stated that synthetic fuels manufactured using renewable energy represented the best approach to decarbonize aviation. However, it is unlikely that there is sufficient green electricity in Germany to generate them, the executive warned. “We would need around half of Germany’s electricity to create enough of the fuels,” Spohr was quoted…