Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) 2008 Tuesday, Jan 22 2008

The thirteenth edition of the Dubai Shopping Festival - DSF 2008 is in the pipeline. Retail outlets and shopping malls are fast gearing up for the annual shopping bonanza that draws thousands of visitors from all over the world to Dubai.

Retailers who wish to participate in the festival have to get themselves registered for the same by filling the form available on the DSF web site – www.mydsf.ae. Alternatively, they can get in touch with the DSF desk at the Department of Economic Development by January 31, 2008 wherein registration will be done from 4 pm to 8 pm (Sunday to Thursday) and from 10 am to 2 pm (Saturday).

Last year, visitors to the DSF spent over 10 billion AED in the shopping festival. The figure is expected to go up by 10 to 15 percent in this year’s edition. A number of exciting events are in store for visitors to the Dubai Shopping Festival 2008.

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UAE Real Estate Speculations Saturday, Nov 24 2007

The real estate of the United Arab Emirates has been growing rapidly over the years. With an ever-increasing supply, the UAE real estate sector is quite speculative. Amid the emirates, real estate in Dubai and Abu Dhabi offers buzzing market because these emirates are emerging as cosmopolitan mega cities today.

There are speculations by real estate experts on the introduction of things like home price index. A rise in real estate prices cannot be contained once it sets rolling since a lot depends on the value of the dollar. With the coming up of the new escrow law in Dubai by the recently founded Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), UAE is indeed on the road to attracting more international investors.

The UAE property market is all set for expansion with 2.5 million property units coming up in the next decade in Abu Dhabi alone. UAE government’s constant endeavours to regulate and streamline the real estate sector are a phenomenal factor in this regard.

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Abu Dhabi on its way to be a regional cinema hub in UAE Thursday, Oct 18 2007

This week, Abu Dhabi has hosted its first ever film festival. The Middle East International Film Festival featuring 80 films from 38 countries began on Sunday, October 14, 2007 and will end on Friday, October 19, 2007.

Abu Dhabi will soon come up with proper infrastructural backup required for shooting films. Some scenes of Hollywood movie “The Kingdom” were shot in Abu Dhabi lately. Moreover, Abu Dhabi will soon plunge into the movie production sector in order to finance films through a special fund. Warner Brothers have signed a deal to develop a theme park in Abu Dhabi. As part of the deal concluded between Warner Brothers, Abu Dhabi Media Company and real estate developers ALDAR, a hotel, a number of multiplex cinemas, and a joint film and computer game development fund will be set up in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest emirate in the UAE and also the capital of the emirates. Naturally, a cinema festival held here has a great potential for the regional film industry. Close neighbour Dubai, with claims to be a commercial and holiday hub, has already been hosting its own international film festival since the last three years. With plans in the offing for opening a branch of New York Film Academy, Abu Dhabi is on its way to become a regional cinema hub.

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RAK Businesses to Allow Full Foreign Ownership Thursday, Aug 23 2007

The UAE government has allowed foreigners to have full ownership of their businesses in many industries across Ras Al Khaimah. Foreigners will now be able to own businesses without having to obtain sponsorship from a UAE citizen. This means that expatriates will register the business licenses in their own name instead of those of the sponsors. However, the expatriate business investor will need a service agent who has to be a UAE national. The name of the service agent will be given at the bottom of the commercial license but s/he will not be responsible for any legality involved. While most of the sectors will execute this regulation, eighteen of them still require the sponsorship of an Emirate citizen.

The new system will boost the economy of Ras Al Khaimah and also give a spur to the number of business projects in the region. Since 2000, the emirate has been having a free trade zone and around 1,430 companies are functional in the region.

The move, which will be implemented from 1st September, is aimed at drawing more foreign investors to the Ras Al Khaimah business sector. It is seen as part of an economic liberalization drive in the emirate.

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Abu Dhabi – Car Wash Prices Soar Thursday, Aug 23 2007

Now getting your car washed in Abu Dhabi will weigh more on your pocket. Since the beginning of August, Adnoc stations have increased car wash prices by 50 percent.  An overview: 

Type	Previous Price (in AED)	New Price(in AED)
Automatic cars	20	30
Manual wash (small car)	30	40
Manual wash (big car)	35	45

 

Many believe this to be an added burden on already soaring inflation rates in the region. This will also make people exploit the services of illegal car cleaners available at most parking lots. 

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Mcdonald’s to revamp UAE Outlets Thursday, Aug 9 2007

The UAE is the latest country to go for revamping of McDonald menus and sites in line with the company’s response to criticism regarding the same. In the coming years, McDonald restaurants in the Emirates will be remodelled with particular stress on healthy options. McDonald’s British restaurants recently switched over to using non-hydrogenated cooking oil and in turn also announced its plans to transform the used oil into bio-diesel fuel for its vans. 

The fast food giant will analyse the effectiveness of its ‘zoning’ strategy recently implemented at Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Road outlet. This restaurant has separate zones for parties, dining, play, flat TV screens showing cartoons and McCafe. With modern and spacious designs and colour schemes, this outlet will serve as a blueprint for the revamping of old style McDonald restaurants.

McDonalds has plans to offer only water and juices with its popular Happy Meal combo and serve more chicken based and salad items. In addition, there will be more healthy options for kids. There will also be items derived from the indigenous cuisine of UAE. At present, the company has 48 outlets spread across the UAE out of which 30 percent have drive-through format. This format gives about 40 percent higher turnovers as compared to other formats.

Plans are in the offing for starting four new restaurants in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. This comes as an apt move in catering to majority of the working crowd who don’t get time to cook meals for themselves.

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McDonald’s UAE awarded Wednesday, Aug 8 2007

The owner of McDonald’s UAE, the Emirates Fast Food Company has been awarded in the Gulf Coop function held at Amman, Jordan. The award marks the company’s endeavours in expanding business in the region. The efforts of local McDonald owners and operators across the GCC were also recognized in the celebration.

Gulf Coop is a joint body of local McDonald franchisees in the GCC. It takes care of the planning and implementation of regional initiatives keeping in mind McDonald’s strategic framework. From a humble beginning in 1994, McDonald’s UAE has 48 restaurants under its belt today. The company strives to be socially proactive and provides for safe and friendly services.

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Ban on UK Livestock to Continue Monday, Aug 6 2007

Since 1990, there has been a ban on the import of meat and livestock products from UK to the United Arab Emirates. It may continue due to a fresh outbreak of foot and mouth disease* among cattle in Surrey. 

Back in 2001, about 4 million cattle were slaughtered in what is seen as the worst outbreak of the disease on British soil. Moreover, there is already a ban on UK meat imports to the UAE because of mad cow disease.

UAE authorities are leaving no stone unturned to ensure food safety in the region. Among other countries, meat and beef comes to the country from Australia, Brazil and Argentina.

*Foot and mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease in hoofed animals. The most common symptoms are blisters on the gums, tongue and feet of the infected animal.

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An Eggy Affair Wednesday, Aug 1 2007

UAE will witness a shortage of eggs as a consequence of the government’s ban on the import of poultry products from India. Moreover, it is likely that the retail prices of eggs in the Emirates will soar by 10 to 30 percent in the coming weeks. Indian eggs make about 50 to 60 percent of the total sale of eggs in UAE. Hotels, bakeries and cafeterias in the Emirates purchase about 70 percent of eggs imported from India. However, when it comes to chicken, the ban will not affect the costs as the retail share of Indian chicken is negligible in UAE markets.
 
UAE has implemented a temporary ban on the import of all kinds of birds and poultry products from India after cases of bird flu were reported from the country. An H5N1 outbreak has been confirmed in poultry farms from the North-eastern state of Manipur in India. Inspite of an assurance from the Indian poultry industry that an outbreak in that remote a region would not have any effect on domestic sale and export, the UAE government has gone ahead with the ban. The step has been taken as a precautionary measure against a spread of the deadly epidemic to birds and humans in the county.

In the last two years, this is the third time that the UAE government has imposed a ban on the import of Indian birds and poultry products as a safety measure against bird flu. A ban was enforced in February 2006 which was lifted in January this year. Subsequently, it was imposed again from March to June.

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High Population of Networth Individuals in UAE Tuesday, Jul 31 2007

Dubai stands among the wealthiest nations of the world. Back in 2003, there was a 4.5 percent rise in the number of high networth citizens according to the World Wealth Report prepared by Merrill Lynch. It was also found that the investable assets owned by these individuals witnessed a 4.25 percent rise. After Saudi Arabia, the UAE has the biggest population of high networth individuals in the GCC countries according to the survey.

High networth people have at least 1 million US dollar worth of financial resources, besides real estate assets.

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