Category: Trading

BEIJING: China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, edged up 0.3 percent month on month in January 2024, official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

According to China Central Television, January witnessed the second consecutive month of growth, with an expansion of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous month. Notably, urban prices increased by 0.3 percent, while rural prices experienced a 0.2 percent increase. Food prices rose by 0.4 percent, whereas non-food prices saw a 0.2 percent increase.

Additionally, consumer goods prices grew by 0.2 percent, and service prices increased by 0.4 percent.The CPI in January went down 0.8 percent year on year. The drop was affected by the high base effect caused by the timing discrepancy of the Spring Festival compared to the same period last year, according to the NBS.

Yearly, both urban and rural prices decreased by 0.8 percent; food prices dropped by 5.9 percent, while non-food prices increased by 0.4 perc
ent; consumer goods prices decreased by 1.7 percent, and service prices grew by 0.5 percent.

Source: Emirates News Agency

Mellitah Oil and Gas Company announced that it won a case before the Paris Court of Appeal against Sicon Oil and Gas Company, demanding compensation exceeding millions of dollars.

The company said in a statement on its official page on Facebook that the Paris Court of Appeal issued its ruling rejecting the appeal submitted by Sicon Oil and Gas Company in the ruling issued by the Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC – Paris) in the lawsuit filed by the aforementioned company to demand compensation with a total amount of (60,000,000.00) dollars (sixty million US dollars)

The statement confirmed that the court ruled to oblige the company ‘Sicon’ to pay Mellitah Company (30,000.00) thirty thousand euros for its costs, in addition to charging it with the expenses.

Source: Libyan News Agency

DUBAI: Dubai Chamber of Commerce, one of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, has hosted a meeting with the Fruit and Vegetable Traders Business Group to discuss opportunities to enhance the sector’s performance and support its sustainable growth.

Participants in the meeting included Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers; Maha Al Gergawi, Vice President of Business Advocacy at Dubai Chambers; Mohamed Al Sharif, Chairman of the board of the Fruit and Vegetable Traders Business Group, and several members of the group’s board.

During the meeting, participants discussed the growth prospects for the fruit and vegetable trade in Dubai and highlighted promising opportunities within the sector, including ways to accelerate the expansion of business and trade in global markets. The session also provided a valuable platform to identify and explore solutions to any challenges facing traders as part of their business activities.

Following the meeting, a Dubai Cha
mbers delegation led by Lootah was invited to participate in a site visit to the Fruit and Vegetables Market in the city’s Deira district to learn more about the facilities and the topics discussed during the session.

The meeting was arranged to consolidate the steady growth achieved by the sector as part of the chambers’ ongoing drive to enhance Dubai’s favourable business environment and ensure the competitiveness of the local business community, which contributes to the growth of international trade and boosts the volume of imports, exports, and re-exports to key global markets.

Dubai Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to advancing the interests of the business community by activating the private sector’s role in developing regulatory frameworks across all economic activities, which enhances the competitiveness of the economy and further strengthens Dubai’s position as a leading global hub for trade. The chamber’s regular meetings with business groups offer open and transparent platforms for discussion on
how to overcome any challenges and leverage opportunities to drive business growth.

The creation of sector-specific Business Groups comes as part of the chamber’s commitment to serving the needs of the business community and promoting the development of diverse sectors in line with the ambitions of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33). Dubai Chamber of Commerce plays a crucial role in supporting Business Groups by facilitating two-way dialogue between government entities and the private sector, addressing key policy matters to enhance the competitiveness of companies within each sector and boost their contribution to the emirate’s economy.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI: Dragon Oil Company, wholly owned by the Government of Dubai, will begin next December the process of exploring the first well within Block 19 in Turkmenistan, as a culmination of the memorandum of understanding signed with the ‘Turkmennebit’ State Concern of Turkmenistan, which included the expansion of Dragon Oil’s investments in the oil sector aimed at production of oil and gas from three new oil fields within Block 19 at the Turkmenistan Sector of the Caspian Sea.

On the other hand, the two parties agreed, during the recent visit that led the company’s delegation to Turkmenistan, to exchange technical information between the two parties, including information related to two wells that the company requested and will obtain within the next week, which will help to design the exploratory well, reduce costs, and other positive matters of this agreement.

In line with the efforts led by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors, through the World Green Economy Summit, Dragon
Oil is working to implement many sustainable development projects, such as stopping gas burning, reducing emissions, and a project to plant more than 10,000 trees at the operating site in the city of Hazar and other areas. Sustainability projects that never stop, by the Sustainable Development Goals and COP28 outcomes.

As a culmination of the strong relations that bring together the two countries with the support of the wise leadership of the two countries, and as an extension of the recent meeting in Dubai, the company’s technical delegation visited Turkmenistan to implement the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed in Dubai in January, and this step is an embodiment of a series of meetings between the governments of the two countries, the most recent of which is the visit of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan and National Leader of the Turkmen People, and before that the meetings held with Serdar Berdimuhamedow, President of Turkmenistan, on the sidelines
of the COP 28 Conference of the Parties in Dubai.

Ali Rashid Al Jarwan, CEO of Dragon Oil Company, said, ‘The first phase includes exploring carbonaceous materials in the oil and gas well, in Block 19, which has an area of 3,800 square kilometres, as preliminary data indicate that it contains a lot of carbonaceous materials due to their occurrence in a rich geological area. ‘

Al Jarwan added, ‘After exploration, we will enter the field-testing phase and aim to extract 20,000 barrels per day of oil, and if the initial explorations are positive regarding the abundance of hydrocarbon materials, we will develop an integrated plan to develop the field,’ adding, ‘The exploration process will begin next December and continue for three months.’ With the examination, it will increase to four months, after which Dragon Oil will begin developing the field for the benefit of both parties.’

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI: The UAE’s Comprehensive Economic Agreement with Cambodia has officially entered into force, promising to enhance trade flows, create opportunities for strategic investment, and accelerate economic diversification for both countries.

The agreement will do so through the removal or reduction of tariffs on more than 92% of product lines, eliminating unnecessary barriers to trade, and improving market access for service exports.

The UAE-Cambodia Comprehensive Economic Agreement is the fifth CEPA to come into force; the deal has the potential to more than double the total value of non-oil trade between the UAE and Cambodia to US$1 billion by 2030. It builds on growing bilateral relations that resulted in non-oil trade exceeding US$407 million in 2022, a growth of 33% compared to 2021.

In the first nine months of 2023, the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade with Cambodia exceeded US$300 million, comparable to the same period in 2022 and 30.5% more than 2021 figures.

One of the most promising economies in So
uth-East Asia, Cambodia experienced 5.2% growth in 2022, building on an annual growth rate of 7.7% between 1998 and 2019. Through the deal, the UAE will benefit from new export opportunities in machinery, oils and lubricants, and cars and automotive parts, while key exports expected to benefit in Cambodia include grains, fruits, meats, processed foods, apparel, footwear and leather goods.

The deal is also expected to accelerate investment flows between the two countries in priority sectors, including logistics and infrastructure, travel and tourism projects and renewable energy. Bilateral FDI stood at US$3.8 million by the end of 2020, while at the end of H1 2022, total UAE investment flows into Cambodia reached almost US$3 million.

Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said, “The implementation of our Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Cambodia marks another important step forward in our foreign trade agenda, fortifying bilateral relations with a robust and
agile partner in the increasingly important ASEAN region.

“This deal lays the foundations for a future-facing partnership that creates new opportunities, drives investment in priority sectors and accelerates the global economic security. By strengthening East-West trade routes, we look forward to the deal unearthing the wealth of benefits borne from open, rules-based trade, a system in which our two nations share a common belief.”

Cham Nimul, Minister of Commerce of Cambodia, said, “The Cambodia-UAE CEPA is unique for both of us. It will enhance the relations and cooperation between the two countries and will reinforce the growing links between Arab world and ASEAN. The two regions are today amongst the most economically dynamic regions in the world. Therefore, there are potential growth to be explored. The UAE can be Cambodia’s base for the Arab market. Likewise, Cambodia can be the UAE’s base for the ASEAN region.”

She stressed that the CEPA between Cambodia and the UAE will serve as a great impetus for
shared growth by fostering supply chains, enhancing trade flow, promoting bilateral investment, and giving rise to the economic synergy for inclusive, resilient and sustainable growth for both countries and beyond.

The Minister highlighted its alignment with Cambodia’s Pentagonal Strategy Phase I, specifically Pentagonal 2: economic diversification and enhancement of the competition.

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is a vital component of the UAE’s foreign trade agenda, which seeks to establish stronger, more integrated trading relationships with the most dynamic markets worldwide.

In addition to Cambodia, the UAE has signed and implemented CEPAs with several other countries.

Full details of the new trade agreement with Cambodia, can be found on the Ministry of Economy website here: https://www.moec.gov.ae/en/cepa_cambodia.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI: The Oversight Committee of Dubai Future District Fund (DFDF) met to assess the Fund’s significant achievements to date and outline future strategies aimed at enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Dubai and the broader UAE.

The Oversight Committee reviewed DFDF’s completion of over 25 investments since its inception in 2022 and discussed the AED1 billion fund’s mission to enhance Dubai’s venture capital ecosystem by driving sustainable finance and innovation on a global scale.

Launched by H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and President of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), DFDF is a collaborative effort between the DIFC and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF).

The meeting saw the participation of Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC; Khalfan Belhoul, Chairman of the Dubai Future District Fund’s Board of Directors and CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation; Arif Amiri, CEO of the Dubai International Financi
al Center Authority and board member of the Dubai Future District Fund; Jacques Visser, Chief Legal Officer at the DIFC Authority; and Sharif El-Badawi, CEO of the Dubai Future District Fund.

DFDF further reinforced its commitment to sustainability and climate technology by earmarking up to 20 percent of its AED1 billion fund for supporting climate technology and innovation in December 2023, a move that was welcomed by the Oversight Committee and aligned with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the UAE Net Zero 2050 strategy.

As DFDF embarks on its third year of operations, the Oversight Committee acknowledged the fund’s key achievements of the past year, including 14 new investments in five startups and three follow-on investments as well as six fund investments that are innovating in the Future of Finance and Future Economies sectors in Dubai.

The Oversight Committee also hailed the fund’s capacity building efforts of the inaugural DFDF Venture Fellows programme, where 12 aspiring Emirati profession
als and entrepreneurs participated in the Venture Capital Fund Simulation programme which drew 40 participants from the UAE venture capital ecosystem.

The Committee emphasised the importance of supporting startups in their growth journey to become successful, internationally active scale-ups and underscored the role of venture capital investment in supporting startups, not only through funding but also by creating value in the portfolio companies, scaling operations, and strengthening corporate governance.

The meeting also highlighted the collaborative efforts of government and private sector leaders to drive innovation, support startups, contributing to the UAE’s transition to a sustainable future. DFDF remains a key player in this journey, actively shaping the landscape of innovation and investment in the region.

Essa Kazim, Governor of DIFC, commented, ‘DFDF’s growth journey is encouraging and epitomises the vision for Dubai’s venture capital landscape by pioneering sustainable finance, catalysing globa
l innovation, and aligning with strategic missions such as the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and UAE Net Zero 2050. The Oversight Committee’s recognition of DFDF’s role in fostering scale-ups and the collaborative drive toward a sustainable future underscores the pivotal partnership between public and private sectors in shaping Dubai’s innovation trajectory.”

Khalfan Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation and Chairman of DFDF, confirmed that DFDF contributed significantly during the previous period to strengthening the entrepreneurship scene in the city of Dubai in fulfillment of the leadership’s vision that Dubai is the best destination for emerging companies and entrepreneurs and the ideal incubator for business expansion in the region and the world starting from Dubai.

He added, ‘During the coming period, the Fund will focus on continuing its efforts to provide an integrated system to support emerging companies and provide financing, expertise, guidance, and other support programmes such as busin
ess accelerators and capacity building initiatives, in a way that contributes to enhancing their ability to grow and benefit from the business-friendly environment that stimulates innovation.’

Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, DIFC Authority and Board Member of DFDF, said, “DFDF stands as a beacon in Dubai’s venture capital landscape, co-anchored by Dubai International Finance Centre. The fund’s commitment to climate technology, coupled with a strong investment strategy, has propelled over 25 ventures and continues to nurture international and Emirati talent through its bespoke venture-building programmes. This steadfast dedication marks DFDF as a driving force in shaping the future of sustainable innovation, talent and growth.”

Sharif El-Badawi, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Future District Fund, said, “In 2023, DFDF championed the fusion of sustainable finance with global innovation, proudly contributing to Dubai’s emergence as a venture capital powerhouse. Our collaborations with DIFC and Dubai Futur
e Foundation have been pivotal, aligning with the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and UAE Net Zero 2050 to propel over 25 ventures and cultivate a diverse talent pool. As we advance, our commitment deepens to nurturing startups and driving sustainable growth, ensuring DFDF’s role in shaping a vibrant, innovation-driven future for Dubai. With steadfast dedication, we look forward to a year of transformative impact, reinforcing our promise to foster a sustainable and prosperous tomorrow.”

UAE startups account for an impressive 52 percent of all venture deals in the MENA region, with 44 percent of all venture capital having a presence in the UAE.

Source: Emirates News Agency