Tag Archives: dubai investment news
Why Dubai is an important international trading centre
Dubai has quickly established itself as an important trading hub, with businesses from all over the world increasing their presence in the city.Figures recently released by the Dubai Customs showed that foreign trade jumped by a record 22 per cent in 2011, driven primarily by strong links with Asia, Reuters reports.The UAE as a whole completed overseas dealings worth $300 billion (AED 1.1 trillion) during the year and economists expect this momentum to continue in the near future.Dubai Customs executive chairman Ahmed Butti Ahmed told the news provider that Dubai has benefited from market openness and the city's excellent infrastructure has also made it more attractive to foreign investors.”Demand from different countries is increasing, population is increasing, needs are increasing, it's natural,” he was quoted as saying.Mr Ahmed added that the economic downturn in China – one of the world's most powerful countries – will not hinder the UAE's progress unduly.Dubai is aiming for a 4.5 per cent rise in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, which would be higher than the three per cent upturn reported in 2011.To put this into context, the UK recently reported modest GDP growth of just 0.3 per cent for the first quarter of 2013 and this followed on from a negative reading in the final three months of 2012. Although the UK is not as influential as China and the US, it is still a major global player and the fact the UAE's economy is performing so much better is testament to the Arab country's strength.Dubai is proving to be an important market for Japanese traders at the moment, particularly those involved in the automobile sector.Speaking to the National, Hiroki Matsumoto – managing director of the Japan External Trade Organisation in Dubai – explained why companies in the Far East see the UAE as a good place to boost their presence.”From here they can reach the entire Middle East and Africa region. Perhaps before they might have been based in Johannesburg in South Africa, but now they have moved or are moving to Dubai,” he was quoted as saying. Continue reading
Dubai International Airport sets another new record
Dubai International Airport accommodated a record 5.8 million passengers in March, new figures have confirmed.The international aviation hub continues to grow at an incredible rate, with traffic rising by an impressive 20.6 per cent during the month when compared to the corresponding period in 2012.This was the biggest percentage increase since August 2012 and was also the fourth consecutive month where the five million passengers threshold was surpassed.Dubai has quickly become one of the most popular holiday destinations on the planet and it attracts more than its fair share of businesspeople too.The strong performance in March meant that year-to-date traffic soared to 16.48 million – up by 15.6 per cent on the first quarter of 2012.Western Europe proved to be an important market for the UAE city in March, with an extra 227,830 people taking advantage of new routes put on by Emirates and flydubai. Visitor numbers from eastern Europe also increased considerably, as Emirates launched new services to Poland and flydubai introduced a regular flight to Macedonia. The airport recorded a total of 31,713 aircraft movements in March – which was up by 8.3 per cent on the same month in 2012 – and highlights why Dubai International has quickly become the second-busiest aviation facility on the planet.Chief executive officer of Dubai Airports Paul Griffiths said the first quarter was “very successful”.”I am particularly pleased that we are now not only the world's second busiest international hub but also one of the most efficient with 208 passengers per aircraft movement thanks to our growing number of A380 operations which led the world in 2012 with 7,259 A380 flights to 28 destinations,” he remarked.The airport has already been extended this year and is currently capable of handling 75 million people a year, which is crucial as experts predict that up to 66 million visitors will land in this part of the Gulf by the end of 2013. Continue reading
UAE tops M&As in Mena
The UAE topped the region in terms of total value of disclosed domestic merger and acquisition deals, comprising approximately 54 per cent worth $2.2bn; followed by Qatar also at 21 per cent worth $880.4m. In the domestic space, the UAE also led the number of announced acquisitions with 11 deals. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait followed with seven acquisitions each, according to Ernst & Young’s MENA Mergers & Acquisitions update. The total value of disclosed mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region rose from $7.3bn in Q1 2012 to $14.6bn in Q1 2013, increasing by 100 per cent. In Q1 2013, 98 deals were announced against 101 deals in the last year, a decline of 3 per cent. Phil Gandier, Mena Head of Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young Mena, said: “This increase can be attributed to growing investor confidence, improvement in the access to credit, relatively better convergence in pricing between investors and sellers and a hint of improved macro economic conditions. This is especially true of the markets and the sectors that saw the most deal activity – a trend that we expect to continue.” The top 10 deals in Q1 2013 were valued at $12.1bn which represented 83 per cent of the total disclosed Mena M&A deal value. Of these, five are outbound (regional business buying international assets), three are domestic (regional business buying regional assets) and two are inbound (international business buying regional assets). The top deal by value was worth $6.4bn, involving the acquisition of Orascom Telecom Holding in Egypt by Baskindale Limited in Cyprus followed by the merger of UAE based Sorouh Real Estate and Aldar Properties for $2bn. These two deals comprised 69 per cent of the top ten disclosed Mena M&A deals by value. In Mena, attractive sectors were banking & capital markets, and professional firms & services which led deal activity with eight deals each, followed by oil & gas with seven deals, consumer products with six deals and real estate and telecom with four deals each. The sector with the largest disclosed deal value was telecom, representing $7bn. For outbound announced deal activity, attractive sectors were telecommunications with five deals followed by real estate with four deals. Continue reading
