Environmentally-minded residents who separate their rubbish and shop with reusable bags in their home countries may be disappointed when they move to the UAE. A co-ordinated, Emirates-wide program to collect and recycle separated domestic waste appears a distant ideal, while a lack of awareness may be thwarting many existing, well-intentioned recycling schemes. However, there are many schemes in place if you know where to look. Recycling bins are dotted across Dubai, and a municipal program allows residents to recycle their computers. An organisation called EnviroFone collected nearly 65,000 mobile phones last year and the Emirates Environment Group runs annual can collection drives. There are also office paper recycling schemes in several of the more populous emirates. Supermarkets are starting to provide separate bins for plastic bottles, paper, and cans, and service station operator Emarat recently installed ‘reverse vending machines’ which reward recyclers with raffle coupons at some of its outlets. But is enough effort put into recycling in the UAE or are existing programs fragmented and poorly-promoted? Do enough residents care anyway? business24-7.ae
Qatar downplayed the impact of the global credit crisis on its investment plans, saying in media reports that it would continue to boost investments at home and would not pull out of depressed global holdings. Qatar, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has been investing windfall oil revenues in infrastructure and industry and snapping up stakes in international companies. Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, is among investors from which Credit Suisse Group was raising 10 billion Swiss francs (Dh31.7bn) – or about 12 per cent of its outstanding equity. Qatar is also set to boost its investment in British bank Barclays as part of a £2bn (Dh11.3bn) rescue package. Qatar’s prime minister downplayed the extent of damage from declining overseas stock markets on its economy and QIA, the Al Sharq newspaper reported. « We are looking at a long-term strategy in investment and not a limited or temporary strategy, » Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said. The global market turmoil has also battered Gulf Arab bourses, until recently largely seen as shielded from global declines, denting confidence and prompting Gulf governments to intervene. With the recent slide in oil prices, worries mounted that the financial crisis could cause a slowdown in the region’s economic growth. Oil has slumped more than 50 per cent since hitting an all-time high of $147 per barrel. Earlier this month, Qatar launched a $5.3bn plan to buy 10 per cent to 20 per cent of banks’ listed capital on the Doha bourse to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis and boost investor morale. Sheikh Hamad said the Gulf state would push ahead with investment plans despite global economic turmoil and urged stock market investors to remain calm. « Qatar will not stop or slow down its various projects due to the global crisis, » Sheikh Hamad said, according to The Peninsula. Sheikh Hamad’s comments came as the country’s largest company by market value, Industries Qatar, halted steel exports due to a 45 per cent increase in local demand fuelled by an « unprecedented » construction boom. « The increased demand on the local market reflects the strength of the national economy and the dynamism of the construction sector, » Qatar Steel said yesterday. Qatar’s economy expanded at a great pace in the second quarter spurred by high energy prices, while the construction sector grew 19.8 per cent. The economy is set to grow 11.6 per cent in real terms this year, the fastest pace in the oil-exporting region, according to a Reuters poll in July. Sheikh Hamad said the stock market drop was « unjustified ». « All the listed companies have achieved huge profits which even exceeded those of last year… The downturn is due to psychological factors only, » he said. Reuters
Two Gulf Co-operation Council member states – Kuwait and Bahrain – yesterday said annual inflation eased as food and beverage prices dropped from the year earlier. Annual inflation in Kuwait eased slightly to 11.1 per cent in July from 11.35 per cent in June, official data showed yesterday. All Items Consumer Price Index advanced to 131.1 points on July 31 compared with 118 points a year earlier, government data obtained by Reuters showed. Kuwait is the only Gulf state that does not peg its dinar currency to the dollar. Bahrain’s annual inflation slowed in September to 3.2 per cent from 3.3 per cent, as food and beverage prices dropped from a year earlier. Prices gained one per cent in the month, the government-run Central Informatics Organisation said in a monthly statistical report on its website. Food, beverage and tobacco prices declined seven per cent compared with a year earlier, the agency said. Bahraini inflation averaged about one per cent for the past decade, central bank Governor Rasheed Al Maraj said. Inflation has exceeded 10 per cent in five of the six GCC states, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE, Kuwait and Oman as oil-fuelled economic growth created shortages of housing and services. Agencies
General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received at his Al Bateen palace yesterday Colombian Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Luis Guigermo Plata Paez. Sheikh Mohammed stres-sed the importance of exchange visits by officials of the two friendly countries for first-hand information about economic development and to boost co-operation for mutual interest. Paez briefed on economic development regarding the open economy and reform policies adopted by Colombia. He conveyed his government’s desire to attract UAE investment. Agencies
A high-level Bush administration official says the battered US economy is open to more investment by Middle Eastern government-owned funds and other wealthy investors. Speaking to officials and reporters at the Dubai International Financial Centre during a five-country Gulf tour, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt says he is meeting with sovereign wealth funds, companies and other financial institutions in the region. The aim, he said Tuesday, is to emphasise “we’re open to investment”. Kimmitt said many potential investors he has met in the region have been looking at possible deals in the US over the past month. AP
Emirates Money Consumer Finance, the company launched yesterday by EmiratesNBD, will lend up to Dh1 billion to individuals and small businesses until the end of 2009, a senior executive said yesterday. « Our customer research has told us that we have a winning proposition and the new company is planning to lend up to Dh1bn until the end of 2009, » Chairman Jamal bin Ghalaita told Emirates Business. Emirates Money will initially offer three products – a non-salary transfer personal loan, business loans for small and medium business owners and loans for commercial vehicles and construction equipment. The company will also tailor products for trading community and other business owners, Bin Ghalaita said. « Emirates Money has been launched to cater to the financial needs of the fast-growing resident population of the Middle East. For years, many deserving customers have fallen outside the remit of regular banking channels and have often been forced to opt for long and tedious application processes and inappropriate loan products, » he said. « We are going to change that. » After setting up operations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah this year, Emirates Money will expand into other parts of the UAE and the Gulf next year. « It is easier for companies to expand than it is for banks, » Bin Ghalaita said. The company also plans to tie up with distributors of commercial vehicles and construction equipment, offering customers seamless financing on these products. Bin Ghalaita said the region’s financial system has adequate support from the Government after the recent financial steps taken by central banks. « Emirates Money aims to make the process of obtaining loans hassle-free and more customer-friendly than ever before, » said General Manager Vikas Thapar. « Our direct sales team, in tandem with our branch network, will ensure that an Emirates Money representative is within easy reach of anyone who wishes to apply for a loan. « Our staff have been through extensive training programmes using the robust infrastructure of the EmiratesNBD group to ensure that wherever they are located, they are ready to explain the offering, answer any questions capably and quickly handle the loan application process. » Hamed Al Sewerky business24-7.ae
The continuing slide of oil prices will not erode UAE’s energy sector revenues, Dubai’s leading investment bank affirmed yesterday. In its earnings preview, Al Mal Capital said the UAE energy sector will post « strong year-on-year (YoY) results » in the third quarter of 2008. Two prominent energy sector companies in the UAE will, in fact, register growth figures deep into two and three digits YoY, Al Mal said. Abu Dhabi National Energy Company’s (Taqa) revenue is, however, expected to dip marginally when compared on a quarter on quarter basis, the same report said. « We expect Taqa to report Dh4.4bn in revenues (up 78 per cent YoY) and Dh420m in net income (up 218 per cent YoY) in Q3, » the preview said. Taking a bullish position on Dana Gas, the report said the company performance will not only ameliorate in third quarter,but there are indications to suggest the company will fare much better in the fourth quarter. « For Q3, Dana could post Dh321m in gross revenues (up 16 per cent YoY) and Dh34m in net income (up 57 per cent YoY), » Al Mal said. « We expect Dana’s Egyptian volumes to grow slightly QoQ. We continue to expect Dana’s Kurdistan operations to start impacting numbers from Q4 onwards, » it said. The report calms down speculations that falling oil prices will dent revenues of UAE’s energy majors. Oil prices have continued to traverse a downward incline even after Opec’s recent emergency measure of cutting down production by 1.5 billion barrels a day. Spot Brent prices stood at $59.32 a barrel yesterday. The prices scrape a third of the $147 a barrel price tag oil had assumed three months ago. Al Mal’s forecasts are based on oil prices averaging at $70 a barrel and gas selling at $6 per million British thermal units. « We were never in the oil prices will reach $200 a barrel camp. With signs of recession in the West and a weakness in demand, we feel our new lower mid-cycle price estimates are more realistic, » the report said. Shashank Shekhar business24-7.ae
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said there was a need to achieve balance and stability on the oil markets to guarantee continuous investment in the sector, the state news agency SPA reported. Saudi Arabia « emphasised the need to achieve balance in the oil market » and is keen on « the stability of the oil market, avoiding sharp fluctuations, the cabinet said in a statement after a weekly meeting chaired by King Abdullah. The kingdom is continuously « committed to cooperation with all Opec and non-Opec producers and to boosting dialogue with consumers », it added, noting that balanced markets were in the interests of both consumers and producers. It was the first comment made by the Saudi cabinet after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) decided on Friday to cut 1.5 million barrels per day of output. The cut failed to prop up prices which have dropped by nearly 60 per cent from a record high $147.27 a barrel in July as global economic turmoil dents world fuel consumption. Demand has fallen in the United States, the world’s top energy consumer, and in other industrial countries as the credit crisis infects the wider economy and begins to spread to emerging markets. In China, a key market for Saudi oil, apparent oil demand rose by just over 2 per cent in September, the slowest growth in 10 months. Reuters
Saudi Arabia plans to extend 10 billion riyals ($2.7 billion) in credit to low-income citizens as Gulf Arab oil-producers step up efforts to contain the fallout from the global financial crisis. Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz ordered that the additional funds be deposited in the Saudi Credit Bank, which was established to extend interest-free loans to under-privileged Saudi citizens to help them overcome financial difficulties. The move comes on the heels of an emergency meeting of Gulf finance ministers and central bankers held in Riyadh on Saturday which was aimed at better co-ordinating the response to a global downturn that threatens to brake their region’s six-year economic boom. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), preparing for a single currency by an unlikely 2010 deadline, said they were confident that economic growth would continue but were ready to take any steps necessary to shore up their economies and restore confidence. The GCC members “are satisfied with the measures taken by the countries of the council so far to deal with any possible fallout from the global financial crisis and ready to take any additional measures”. Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf said after Saturday’s meeting that he was confident that the GCC countries would see their economies grow an average of 4-6 per cent in 2008 despite the global economic downturn. “The danger in this crisis is that indicators are pointing to a recession… in developed countries which suggests that the fallout from this crisis is moving into the real economy, which could carry direct and indirect effects on the economies of the Council,” Assaf said. “This requires all of us to work together to reduce their impact on our economies.” He said any slowdown in growth rates in the Gulf Arab region would be the result of a slowdown in the oil sector, as oil prices fall. Reuters
The Bahraini real estate market will extend growth on healthy local demand but at more moderate rates than those seen in the past two years, according to an executive at a major developer. The country has seen a higher proportion of local and regional investors – rather than expatriate buyers – in its property market in comparison to neighbouring markets. « That [local] demand will always be there, » said Mohammed Khalil Alsayed, Chief Executive of Ithmaar Bank and Ithmaar Development. « The prices here never heated up as in Dubai or other neighbouring countries, » he added, speaking at the Bipex 2008 property fair in Manama. Ithmaar Development predicts that it is still possible to attain between 15 per cent and 20 per cent returns on investment in high-end developments but it will not be at the red-hot pace seen in recent years. By Reuters
