Microsoft and Telecom Egypt, an Egyptian telecom company has entered into a partnership, where the tech behemoth will extend its cloud network in the North African country. The announcement was made on Wednesday at the World Mobile Congress 2019.

As a part of the partnership, the telecom will improve the performance and boost reliability for the customers of Microsoft services by delivering low-latency connectivity around Egypt.  The partnership will help Microsoft to cater to the local market in Egypt and will help to boost connectivity in the Middle East too.

With the new development, the country will get a direct connection to Microsoft’s global infrastructure. It will improve the delivery process for many services for customers.

For delivering its services inside Egypt, Microsoft will use its latent network optimization while its network investment will boost capacity.

The newly upgraded network connectivity in the country will integrate the tech behemoth’s global network to transatlantic and trans-Arabian paths.

Apart from that, the new development will speed up connectivity in the North African region and also help to enhance connectivity to the new Microsoft cloud regions in the UAE and South Africa.

The global network of Telecom Egypt was created with the help of investments that were carried out in private international submarine cable systems and consortiums.  The company has become a choice for content partners because of its reach and capacity in the international platform.

The country’s ideal geographic location across the sea has helped the company to connect over 11 cable systems from the east and 13 from the west.

source: Thesiliconreview

Emirate attracts over $21 billion in foreign capital in just three years

Dubai: Dubai is officially the world’s most popular destination for foreign companies looking to invest in smart technologies.

From 2015 to 2018, the emirate attracted a total of $21.6 billion in foreign direct investments for artificial intelligence and robotics, said to be the highest in the world.

Most of the investments came from the European Union and the United States (US), accounting for $5.7 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively.

The figures were released in connection with the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2019, which will be held in Dubai from April 8 to 10. The event is the world’s leading platform for FDI, aimed at facilitating strategic networking and promoting investments.

The UAE is looking to increase capital inflows from foreign companies, to sustain the economy. In late 2018, a UAE decrees was issued to promote and develop the country’s investment environment and attract FDIs in line with national development policies.

According to the law published in the Official Gazette, a foreign direct investment unit is to be established in the Ministry of Economy. This will be “responsible for proposing foreign direct investment policies in the country and determining its priorities, and setting up associated plans and programmes, and work on their implementation following their approval by the UAE cabinet.”

Organisers of the upcoming annual investment meet said the latest data indicate that Dubai is fast emerging as the global destination for investment in smart technologies.

The AI industry’s economic contribution by 2030 is forecast to reach 33.5 per cent locally and 45 per cent globally.

“Digital growth is significant to the growth of the economy. In the UAE, it is in line with UAE Vision 2021, which aims to position the country as a top spot for tech investments,” said Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO of annual investment organizing committee.

“Disruptive technologies like AI, blockchain, internet of things (IoT) boost the productive capacity of countries and also the global GDP. To maximize its benefits, countries need to integrate new avenues that will drive more investments in these solutions,” added Al Shezawi.

Global players in the investment community, as well as high-ranking policy makers, leading academics and celebrated financial experts, are expected to attend at the upcoming annual investment meet.

Source: gulfnews

Source: gulfnews ublish LLC 2019. All rights reserved.

10 Reasons to Invest in Jordan

1. Unique and Strategic Location

• Situated at the convergence of Europe, Asia and Africa.
• Transportation hub of the Middle East.
• Access to the Red Sea through the Port of Aqaba, and other ports via neighboring countries.

2. Stable Political Environment

• Dedicated and stable leadership in the Hashemite monarchy, supported by a democratically elected Parliament.
• Guaranteed freedom of belief, speech, press, association and private property.
• Firm commitment to private enterprise system.

3. Free Market Oriented Economy

• Economic policies based on outward-oriented, private sector led approach.
• Ongoing privatization of major state-owned enterprises.
• Significant advances in structural and legal reform.

4. A Package of Incentives and Exemptions to Encourage Investment

• Projects are exempted from income and social services taxes by 25%, 50%, or 75% for a ten year period, depending on the location of the project.
• Imported fixed assets are 100% exempted from customs duties and taxes.
• Imported spare parts for fixed assets can be exempted from fees and taxes.
• Additional exemption from customs duties and income tax is granted for the expansion, modernization, or development of existing projects.
• Hotels and hospitals may purchase furniture and supplies without customs duties once every seven years for renewal purposes.

5. Access to Major International Markets

• Duty and quota free access to the US market through the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ).
• Duty free access to EU markets.
• Access to more than 10 Arab countries through the AFTA.
• Bilateral agreements and favorable protocols with over 20 countries.
• Member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

6. Free Zones and Industrial Estates

• The Free Zone Corporation manages two fully operational industrial parks in Aqaba and Zarqa, and two more under construction in Amman at the Sahab Industrial Estate and the Queen Alia International Airport.
• Five private free zones in Jordan employ over 2,500 people in industries such parks in Amman, Irbid and Al-Karak.
• Newly opened private industrial parks, including Al Tajamouat, Ad-Dulay1 and Gateway.

7. Qualified and Competitive Human Resources

• Abundant workforce. Young and highly educated population.
• 87% of the population is literate.
• 17% of Jordanians receive higher education.
• Highly competitive wage rates.

8. World Class Infrastructure and Communications

• State telephone company operates on a commercial basis, and is expected to privatize 40% of company in the near future.
• Choice of privately-owned Internet service providers.
• Direct Royal Jordanian flights to 47 Major Cities in Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, North Africa and North America. Served by 26 international airlines.
• Modern highway network Major trucking lines ensuring the movement of raw materials to and from the port of Aqaba as well as into and from ports of neigh boring countries.
• Jordan's port of Aqaba acts as a strategically located gateway to Jordan, the developing Red Sea region, and the Middle East as a whole.

9. Attractive Investment Climate

• Income and social services tax exemptions for up to 10 years.
• Total customs exemptions on imported fixed assets.
• Ease of licensing and registration procedures.
• Revenues on exports are exempted from income taxes.
• Export industries are not subject to customs duties on imported raw material.
• Free repatriation of capital, profits and salaries.

10. High Quality of Life

• Amenities of modern life are readily available and affordable.
• High quality public and private education provided in Arabic, English, and French.
• Health services in Jordan are of international standards at reasonable rates.
• Developed network in community, active local and international business associations and cultural centers.
• Traditional festivals, cultural entertainment events, and a wealth of archeological sites.
• Excellent clubs and restaurants.

Source: exchange jordan

Given how uncertain and volatile the global economic and political landscape currently is, with market uncertainty pervasive and investor confidence deteriorating, global private equity firms are on the lookout for stable, new markets where they can be certain not just of promising returns on investment but also an investor-friendly regime.

As a result, the UAE, with its pro-business environment, excellent infrastructure, relatively diversified economy and political stability, is quickly emerging as a preferred investment destination, renowned international investors Laurence Fink and Henry Kravis said at a panel discussion hosted at the Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed.

The discussion, entitled Adnoc as a catalyst for foreign direct investment: a global investment perspective, was held at Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Palace on Sunday and was attended by Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, as well as other dignitaries.

Fink and Kravis' remarks were extremely topical considering that just hours earlier, their respective firms, BlackRock and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company (KKR), had signed a landmark pipeline infrastructure investment agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).

The agreement is set to unlock $4 billion in value from Abu Dhabi's crude oil pipelines and marks the first infrastructure partnership between leading global institutional investors and a national oil company in the Middle East. It is certain to pave the way for further significant foreign direct investment (FDI) into Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

Kravis, co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO of KKR, kicked off the panel discussion by saying he was delighted to take part in this discussion of Adnoc's "capital modernisation" agenda and the "vision for economic transformation" of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Kravis, who co-founded KKR in 1976 and is known as one of the pioneers of the private equity industry, said Sunday's landmark deal "sets an important precedent in the market that can demonstrate the potential for value-add foreign investment across UAE".

With approximately $200 billion in assets under its management, KKR invests capital across the world with the aim of being a partner in supporting economic development, growing companies and meeting the needs of its clients.

Fink, the founder, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, said it was "a privilege to be asked to be part of the Majlis", adding that "information exchanges such as this bring investors and countries together and create a closer community."

Fink is one of the most respected investors and business leaders in the world. He founded BlackRock in 1988 with seven partners, and under his leadership, the firm has grown into a global powerhouse in investment management. Today, BlackRock manages more money than any other investment firm in the world, with around $6 trillion in assets under management.

Kravis and Fink, whose firms are at the forefront of global infrastructure investing, went on to discuss global investment trends and opportunities for partnership in Abu Dhabi and the UAE and the importance of FDI in the country. FDI in the UAE has increased by 21 per cent between 2015 and 2017 to reach $10.4 billion. The United Kingdom, India and Saudi Arabia are the main investors in the country, with the bulk of the funds concentrated in the trade, real estate, energy, finance and insurance, manufacturing and construction sectors, the Majlis heard.

During the course of the discussion, Kravis and Fink covered key trends that affect the global and Middle East investment landscape. Drawing on their experience in investing across American, European, and Asian markets, the international investors discussed the potential for FDI and how their firms approach emerging foreign investment destinations like the UAE. The Majlis also heard why BlackRock and KKR decided to invest in UAE infrastructure assets, and why they feel it is becoming an increasingly attractive global investment destination.

Earlier in the day, Kravis and Fink joined Dr Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO, to sign a pioneering, multi-billion dollar investment partnership agreement between Adnoc, KKR and BlackRock. Under the terms of the innovative agreement, the investors will pay around $4 billion for a 23-year lease in the 18 pipelines that carry crude and condensate. Sovereignty of the infrastructure and the management of the pipeline operations will remain with Adnoc.

The partnership "paves the way for further significant foreign direct investment in the UAE", Dr Al Jaber said. "Adnoc has been undergoing a significant business transformation, underpinned by innovative partnerships and investments that are key to unlocking and maximising value across our full portfolio."

Following the wise guidance of the UAE leadership, Adnoc has been transforming into a more commercially-focused and performance-driven organisation and has hit significant milestones regularly over the last three years. Today's deal with BlackRock and KKR represents the next major step in the delivery of this smart growth strategy, demonstrating its expanded partnership model and more proactive management of its assets and capital. The Abu Dhabi government-owned oil giant received an AA long-term credit rating, the region's highest, from Fitch Ratings last week.

Source: khaleejtimes

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• Even if you've invested 10 or 20 years in your current profession, you can still successfully pivot to become an entrepreneur.
• Starting a business is like having a baby—there never really is a “right” time.

You haven’t missed the boat

Many people think that entrepreneurship is a young person’s game. This assumption is probably because when people think of successful entrepreneurs, the ones that immediately come to mind are college dropouts like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg and Michael Dell. However, college dropout entrepreneurs are the exception, and there is data to back it up. A study by the Kauffman Foundation led by Syracuse University professor Carl Schramm revealed that the average entrepreneur was 39 when he or she started a company. Not only that, Schramm said that “Americans who are 35 or older are 50% more likely to start a business than are their younger counterparts”. Also, recent research led by Javier Miranda of the U.S. Census Bureau and Pierre Azoulay of MIT indicated that for the top 0.1% of fastest growing new businesses in the U.S., the average age of the founder in the business’ first year was 45. So, in a nutshell, it’s never too late to become an entrepreneur. In fact, it could be an advantage to start a business mid-career.

Mid-career entrepreneurs are more successful

Starting a business mid-career could be an advantage for many reasons. The Kauffman Foundation study found that entrepreneurs starting businesses mid-career were five times more likely to enjoy success five years later than entrepreneurs starting businesses right out of college. This is because management experience is great training to become an entrepreneur. Once you’re in your 30s or beyond, you’ve acquired strong skills, contacts and industry-specific knowledge that you can apply to a new business. You are more likely to be financially stable so that you can potentially self-fund your new company, allowing you to incur minimal debt and have greater stability. Mid-career entrepreneurs are also more successful than younger founders because it takes time to get to know yourself. Throughout your career, you learn what you like and don’t like with each position. By the time you launch your business, you have a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses as well as what you need to feel fulfilled as a human being.

Noteworthy mid-career entrepreneurs

Even if you've invested 10 or 20 years in your current profession, you can still successfully pivot to become an entrepreneur. Here are some examples of people who famously shifted careers later in life:

• Vera Wang was an editor at Vogue for 17 years before she became a famous fashion designer at the age of 40.
• Jeff Bezos had a successful career in computer science on Wall Street and took on top roles at numerous financial firms before launching Amazon at the age of 31.
• Ray Kroc spent his career as a milkshake-device salesman before buying McDonald's at the age of 52.
• Bernard Marcus was fired from hardware store Handy Dan at the age of 48 along with his coworker Arthur Blank. The duo later started a rival retailer, Home Depot.

There is never a right time

Starting a business is like having a baby—there never really is a “right” time. It has nothing to do with how old you are, and most likely you will never feel completely ready. The biggest key to get started is to confront the initial fear associated with transitioning from a corporate career to entrepreneurship. Most people today can expect to change careers three to seven times during their working lives. Being in your 30s, 40s or beyond can be a great time to start a business, especially if you’ve planned ahead financially and have a solid support system around you. So, if you are considering becoming a mid-career entrepreneur, it’s never too late. As C.S. Lewis once said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” Dream big, plan well and great things will happen.

Caroline is a business & life coach who enjoys helping people escape their 9-5 jobs so.

Source: Forbes

Being a business owner doesn’t necessarily mean being an entrepreneur. If that was the case we wouldn’t need a new and such a complicated word. If you Google “entrepreneur” it will tell you that an entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. However, economists and some of the most successful entrepreneurs would disagree. According to economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950), entrepreneurs are not necessarily motivated by profit but regard it as a standard for measuring achievement or success. Peter Drucker who is well known as the father of modern management enriches the definition by emphasizing “change” and “opportunity”. He defines the entrepreneur as “someone who always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”

The word entrepreneur itself originates from the French word “entreprendre” meaning “to undertake”.

Having met thousands of entrepreneurs from many different countries and cultures and being one myself I came up with the Entrepreneurship Mix 8P’s. And if the word itself seemed complicated back then when I was studying the course “Entrepreneurship” for my exams, today I can say that being an entrepreneur is way more complicated than that.

So here are the eight P’s that I believe set successful entrepreneurs apart. The magic is formed by the intersection of most or even better all of the traits so the order is irrelevant.

1. Passion

Passion is the key source of energy, motivation and hard work. It is the driving force for every entrepreneur. It is what fuels the moving-mountains attitude and belief that anything can be done. It is what defines the famous “WHY” of the Golden Circle of Simon Sinek. If you are passionate about something you thrive to succeed, you love what you do so much that you want to do more of it. And the more of it you do the greater the chances for succeeding, thus getting better than the rest in your area.  In his book Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo states that passion is the key to mastering a skill. After analyzing hundreds of great speakers and presenters he claims that passion is the one thing in common for all. To use his phrase, which I love, I believe that successful entrepreneurs know “what makes their heart sing”

2. Perception

The story of Bata is the ideal example of this key trait. Bata shops can be found all over Africa, even in its most remote parts. The story behind is that by the end of the 19th century, Africa was opening up its market. Many shoe manufacturers sent their representatives to Africa to see if there was any business opportunity in this emerging market. The majority of them returned home, saying, “Nobody in Africa wears shoes. So, there isn’t any market for our shoes there.” All except for the Bata sales team who reported enthusiastically, “Nobody in Africa wears shoes! So, there’s an enormous market for our shoes in Africa!” The market conditions were the same for everyone and yet it was a matter of perception of the opportunity.

It was the same for me when I was launching the first deal platform in Macedonia at a time when less than 1% of the population was shopping online and e-commerce barely existed (no legal framework, lack of trust, a small share of people with payment cards etc.) Most of my friends with whom I shared the idea though that the market is not ready and the timing is not right and yet my company (Grouper.mk) became a success shortly after launching and today is known as the game-changer of e-commerce in Macedonia.

3. Potential

Research shows that the brain capacity of an average person is far greater than its usage. The most successful entrepreneurs are willing to sacrifice hours of sleep and skip social activities with friends in order to invest in their potential. They don’t waste countless hours scrolling on social media or gossip, they feed their brain with quality content, they surround themselves with successful people. They are always curious about new things. And while there are differences in the potential that each of us possesses the good news is that our brains can be trained.

But before this kind of “on purpose” training happens, it is worth mentioning that it all begins with our parents. First with their DNA (which is not in their control) and second with their home growing and teaching (for which they are fully responsible). According to one study by Rauch Foundation 85% of the brain develops until the age of 5. Therefore the environment of a child’s earliest years can have effects that last a lifetime. Therefore governments and entrepreneurship development programs that seek to create more and more entrepreneurs in this world should start by teaching parents how to raise entrepreneurs or people with an entrepreneurial mindset who will use their potential and thrive, instead of pushing accelerators and incubators to find or create entrepreneurs during later stages when brain elasticity is lower.

4. People

When talking about people in companies I always like to quote Zig Ziglar – ‘You don’t build a business. You build people, and people build the business’. People make good or bad decisions. Every single business depends on people (regardless of industry). That marketing manager that made that lousy decision to approve those ugly billboard designs, that salesman that negotiated the best deal that broke the sales records, that customer care person that impacted your perception about a particular brand. Every single thing in life depends on people. The success of a company, of a business unit, of a whole country, depends on the people. Even when we travel and explore new cities our opinion about that city is not solely affected by the beautiful nature or the architecture but people living there play maybe the most significant role – their energy, culture, attitude, hospitality influence our impressions.

Every entrepreneur, leader or manager with a vision needs a team that supports its vision to make it a reality. It is up to the ability of entrepreneurs to find the right people, to communicate the vision, to attract talent, to invest in building and sustaining their skills set, their energy, attitude and positivity.

5. Persistent Learning

Since I was a little girl, my mother taught me to strive for knowledge and be the best at whatever I do. She would say “You can have houses, cars, and wealth but one day it can all be gone. The world is not always righteous. The only thing that no one can take away from you is your knowledge. If you have the ability to acquire knowledge, to be a fast learner you will always be able to generate new income and build new things.”

And today, to add to my mother’s lesson I would say that another thing that no one can take away from us is our passion.

Persistent learning means learning anytime, anywhere from everyone. Outstanding entrepreneurs are able to absorb valuable information and knowledge for everyone like sponges. Being a fast learner is a must for entrepreneurs in today’s faster than ever changing world.

6. Permanent Change

Everybody wants change but nobody wants to change. The resistance to change is in our human nature but the faster we train ourselves to accept and adapt to change the faster we will become better. Successful entrepreneurs are flexible, they can adapt and change quickly. The ability to perceive change as a positive thing, to react and adapt to it is one of the most powerful skills. As Charles Darwin said “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Or as Michael Jackson says “I am starting with the man in the mirror and I am asking him to change his way… If you wanna make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make the change.”

7. Perseverance

Imagine you have departed towards your very desired travel destination. You have planned and fantasized about that magnificent place for so long. You start your journey and suddenly there is a big rock standing on your way. So what do you do? If you have some strong friends you might call them to help you push the rock away. If you don’t have any strong friends your solution might be to climb it. But you don’t know how to climb. So you take climbing lessons and come back with your new skill and climb that rock and continue the journey. It is the same in business. The “rock” symbolizes any kind of obstacle you might face (it be a financial issue, can be a marketing issue, you name it). The “strong friends” are the contacts, networks and people you have in life that can help you out. The “climbing lessons” is any new skill that you don’t know at the time or are not interested in but you go and learn it because that is your only way to continue towards your goal.

During the past eight years of extensive hard-work, overcoming barriers, removing rocks, dealing with all sorts of situations, making decisions, working with different characters and meeting people from all over the globe I learned a lot. In fact today I am grateful for all the struggles, for all those ‘rocks’ on my way, for every problem solved (that seemed unsolvable at the moment) because it made me more flexible, adaptable, resourceful and more knowledgeable. It simply helped me gain a competitive advantage and be a better and stronger person.

Nothing in life comes easy (at least success and good things). If you have a mission, if you have a passion it will not be easy. The road will be bumpy, the will be rocks on the way, some of them will be light, some will be super heavy but if there aren’t any rocks one thing is sure – you are not on the right road. It won’t be easy and we should ask for easy because that way no one will be able to copy what we create.

8. Proactiveness

Most people only do what they are asked, meeting the very minimal requirements and expectations (or even worse some under deliver). They need to be delegated and even micro-managed. Successful entrepreneurs initiate – they see the bigger picture and foresee the circumstances. They are proactive instead of reactive, they play offense, instead of defense. And this is what makes them hard to replace in any given environment.

Source: Forbes

Saudi Aramco’s trading arm plans to open an office in London soon as it expands its international business, sources familiar with the move said.

Aramco Trading Co (ATC) also opened an office in the bunkering hub of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates in December to trade oil products and hired two traders from Trafigura and PetroChina to run operations there, the sources said.

“Last June, a trading office was inaugurated in Singapore, and last December (another) in Fujairah and very soon in London, just like any trading house,” one of the sources said.

Another source said: “They have moved a few trading desks to Singapore and Fujairah. London is surely next.”

A third source said the London office might be inaugurated as early as next week during International Petroleum (IP) Week, an industry event held annually in the British capital.

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Saudi Aramco, the parent company, already has an office in Marylebone, London. The ATC London operations may be located in the same place as the parent company and are likely to start with a handful of crude oil traders, one of the sources said.

ATC did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

The trading sector faces increased rivalry between national oil companies (NOCs), international oil firms and Swiss merchants. NOCs have cheap feedstock and strength in refining, allowing them to compete aggressively with oil majors and especially traders that lack their own production.

ATC aims to boost its trading volumes in crude and refined products to 6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 and the company’s headquarters will remain in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, ATC’s chief executive told Reuters last year.

The CEO, Ibrahim al-Buainain, also said the plan to open an ATC regional office in Europe - either London or Geneva - was set for the first quarter of 2019.

Middle East oil producers are venturing into buying and selling oil to boost their incomes as a sharp drop in crude prices since mid-2014 has forced the industry to become more efficient and commercially focused.

State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is establishing a new trading operation along with Italy’s Eni and Austria’s OMV.

ATC was set up in 2012 initially to market refined products, base oils and bulk petrochemicals, but has since expanded into crude trading mainly to feed international Aramco joint ventures such as the U.S. Motiva refinery and S-Oil in South Korea.

Aramco, the world’s top oil producer and exporter, aims to become the largest integrated energy firm, with plans to expand refining operations and petrochemical output. It pumps around 10 million bpd of crude, of which it exports about 7 million bpd.

The company plans to raise its refining capacity - inside Saudi Arabia and abroad - to 8-10 million bpd, from around 5.4 million bpd now. Aramco is expanding its refining business at home as well as in new markets particularly in Asia. (Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Dale Hudson)

Source: reuters

DP World has bought back British ferry and shipping freight operator P&O Ferries for 322 million pounds ($421 million), more than a decade after it sold it.

DP World acquired the British shipping and logistics company in 2006 but soon sold off some assets, including P&O Ferries to its major shareholder, state holding company Dubai World.

DP World announced on Wednesday it was buying the company, and a spokeswoman later told Reuters it had bought it back from Dubai World.

Dubai World was at the heart of the emirate’s financial crisis at the turn of the decade and was forced to restructure around $25 billion of debt in 2011.

DP World said the P&O Ferries deal was expected to be earnings accretive from the first full year of consolidation and meet its return targets.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of the year, it said.

DP World’s acquisition of P&O Ferries, which includes P&O Ferrymasters, is part of its efforts to expand beyond its core ports business.

One of the world’s largest port operators, DP World bought Danish logistics company Unifeeder Group last year.

P&O Ferries operates more than 30,000 voyages a year in Europe, according to its website.

The ferries operate between Britain, France, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Last month, the company said it was shifting the registration of its UK vessels to Cyprus ahead of Britain’s departure from the European Union, in part to keep its tax arrangements in the bloc.

Last week, DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said the indecisiveness of British politicians on the UK’s exit from the European Union was hampering the company’s ability to plan for its UK operations.

DP World operates London Gateway and a container terminal at Southampton port.

Source: reutersreuters

Dubai Tourism remains focused on ensuring that the emirate becomes the most visited city in the world in line with Dubai's Tourism Strategy 2022-25.

Dubai continued to see steady growth in tourist arrivals last year on the back of its traditional markets, led by India, Saudi Arabia and the UK.

Latest data released by Dubai Tourism disclosed that overnight visitors reached 15.92 million in 2018, an increase of 0.8 per cent over the previous year. India topped with over two million visitors followed by 1.6 million from Saudi Arabia and 1.2 million from the United Kingdom.

While the number of visitors from China and Russia increased 12 per cent and 28 per cent to 857,000 and 678,000, respectively. Both the countries were fourth- and fifth-largest markets in terms of visitor arrivals in Dubai last year.

Helal Saeed Almarri, director-general of Dubai Tourism, said they remain focused on ensuring that the emirate becomes the most visited city in the world in line with Dubai's Tourism Strategy 2022-25. "Throughout 2018, we developed and deployed a custom-market specific approach to deeper penetrate our target markets," he said.

"Our strategic investments, innovative destination promotion programmes, responsive federal policy reforms, and long-term global partnerships - all backed by the tremendous support of our stakeholders across the government and private sector - continue to yield strong results as we ramp up efforts to increase Dubai's accessibility, visibility and overall appeal, minimise barriers to travel, deliver new standards in global travel experiences, and ultimately drive both first-time and repeat visitation," he added.

Germany, the United States, the Philippines, France and Italy rounded off the top 10 markets.

The number of visitors from the US grew four per cent to 656,000 while the Philippines entered into the top 10 for the first time with 387,000 guests.

Tourists from France jumped 17 per cent to 348,000. Nigeria witnessed the highest growth of 36 per cent, bringing it back into the top 29 with 185,000 Nigerians visiting the emirate last year.

According to Dubai Tourism, tourist arrivals from stronghold markets of Oman and Pakistan declined last year.

Manu Midha, regional head for the Middle East at OYO Hotels and Homes, said the tourism industry in Dubai in 2019 will be largely driven by leisure and trade tourists with India, Saudi Arabia and China driving the numbers again.

"Last year, there were over half-a-million trade visitors alone in addition to millions of leisure visitors. The third promising category would be that of medical tourism as Dubai is home to some world class hospitals. There is a lot of traction from Africa within this category," he said.

"Dubai has so much to offer every kind of traveller, whether it is theme parks or shopping the city has covered it all. Then there are investors who are looking for their second homes in the UAE. This industry will also drive the numbers as investors would like to get a feel of the destination before parking their real estate dollars. The fourth category that will drive the tourism sector would be the world of sports which will go on an overdrive in 2019."

Ammar Kanaan, group general manager of Central Hotels, sees tourist arrival growth trend to continue due to multiple attractions and demand drivers. "At the moment, there is a lot more supply coming into the market in preparation for Expo 2020 Dubai and hence, temporarily, supply is expected to exceed demand. This may put pressure on ADR and RevPAR. While some hotels might compromise on the average room rates to boost occupancy levels, others with stronger room rates will see an impact on the occupancies."

He said this year the summer season will be longer due to the advent of the holy month of Ramadan in May, which could prove challenging for business. "From September onwards, we expect the market to pick up better."

Chris Nader, vice-president at Shaza Hotels, said, Dubai is faring better by creating new demand generators in existing and new destinations.

"There is definitely room for hotels that can offer unique experiences in these new locations. Unfortunately, hotels that have no USPs will continue to suffer and reduce rates in order to maintain some market share, and this will be reflected in their negative RevPAR growth index," said Nader.

According to Dubai Tourism, there were 716 establishments across the emirate with 115,967 rooms, an increase of 8 per cent in terms of new rooms supply last year. Currently, 33 per cent of inventory is controlled by five-star hotels, 26 per cent by four-star properties and one-to-three stars command a 20 per cent share. Hotel apartments constitute 21 per cent of the total inventory.

With average occupancy reaching 76 per cent, occupied room nights were up to 30.13 million, while guests' average length of stay remained unchanged at 3.5 nights.

From a regional perspective, 21 per cent of the visitors came from Western Europe, followed by 18 per cent and 17 per cent from GCC and South Asia, respectively. North Asia and Southeast Asia, meanwhile, accounted for 11 per cent of the total.

Mena arrivals grew 10 per cent and 9 per cent from the CIS and Eastern Europe, respectively.

Source: khaleejtimes