Have heard of BlaBlaCar?

It’s a French ridesharing app startup, born in 2006 that turned into a million euro company.

Though it was not an overnight success. BlaBlaCar founders had to go through many critical crossroads to find success.

Today, the company has basically created a community where it pairs people travelling between cities and drivers with empty seats in their cars. According to the latest news from TechCrunch, the French startup, BlaBlaCar, is announcing its plans to acquire Ouibus, the bus division of France’s national railway company SNCF. For the very first time, the company is moving to carpool and plans to provide both long-distance carpooling rides and bus rides.

BlaBlaCar’s Success Story

BlaBlaCar was born from a personal need.

During the Christmas time in 2003, Frederic Mazzella, co-founder and CEO of BlaBlaCar, committed to going home for Christmas. But, since he was super busy with his work at Kabira Technologies, he had left his travel plan to last minute.

With the French trains fully booked in the holiday seasons, and only a couple of days to go until the holiday season arrives, he started to worry.

He didn’t have a car, so the options for getting from Paris to his family home, which was 420 kilometres away, were limited. However, her sister Lucie agreed to take a detour to pick him up.

But during the ride, something happened. An idea clicked!

While they were heading down the A10, he looked around and observed that most of the cars had no passengers. He thought, “If I put all those cars with empty seats in a search engine so that people can search the available seats in cars, just like they do when booking the train.”

After reaching, he just couldn’t get the idea out of his head for the first few nights. “I remember waking up and saying, this is not possible, it must exist. But then, he was like, ‘If this has existed, there is no way I couldn’t know of it because I travel a lot.” he says.

Frederic knew that if there were such a thing as online ride sharing service, it would be massive. So, as soon as he returned, he did his research. He found couple of sites such as Craigslist, but it was not what he had imagined. So, he finally contacted a friend, shared his idea, and they got to coding.

Today, 12 years later, Frederic has successfully established his successful ride hailing app startup – BlaBlaCar.

His best ride sharing app startup now counts more than 10 million users in 14 countries. In fact, BlaBlaCar, in June 2014, raised $100 million fundings from blue-chip venture-capital firms including Index, ISAI, and Accel to fuel its growth, and the company now employs 230+ employees all around the globe.

Recently, the company has acquired a Russian Internet giant Mail.Ru’s relatively recent rival offering, BeepCar, in order to develop carpooling services in Russia and address growing Russian demand for a convenient and reliable long-distance mobility solution.

Nicolas Brusson, COO and co-founder of BlaBlaCar, who joined in 2011 after working behind-the-scenes for years says, “What we’re doing is tapping into empty seats in cars, and there maybe 10x times more empty seats in cars travelling between Paris and Brussels than the seats in buses or trains.”

But, there is still an important question that needed to be answered.

How many people are going to adapt this new way of travel?

A lot.

There are already a lot of people who’ve adapted their service.

In fact, BlaBlaCar membership has increased from 6 million in April 2014 to more than 10 million.

Today, traveling in a BlaBlaCar from Paris to Brussels would cost €20, where the train costs €80. Or, if you’re planning a long drive somewhere, you can post your trip details and cost per seat. Though, you won’t make any profit (as it’s against the rules), but taking passengers can offset costs for drivers.

In the 10+ years of journey, BlaBlaCar changed their business model few times to survive.

In the beginning, they deployed a Premium Model, where the overall service remained free yet users had to sign up for additional services. By paying a monthly or annual subscription fees, users can get the benefit of having their posts ranked first in search engine.

However, they soon realized that it was unfair for someone to be at top because they had paid, nor it was financially viable for long run.

After that, they also implemented a Monthly Plan with a flat fee, but it was also discarded quickly. So, like many internet players, BlaBlaCar also tested the advertising model.

But, with trust being fundamental to BlaBlaCar, few concerns were raised that users’ personal data may be passed on to affiliates for advertising purpose so that decision was also taken out.

Then, the Phone Bridge Model came in.

In this model, users could choose to hide their contact numbers while remaining reachable via a pay telephone bridge. But again, with users paying for phone-bridge connection, revenue would also split between the operator and the platform. In addition, it wasn’t scalable globally due to various telephone payment methods being in place across different countries.

Despite all these, BlaBlaCar didn’t gave up.

Frederic once asked his MBA professor at INSEAD business school whether it was possible to have a business model where it’s possible to provide a carpooling app service for free.

“You need a business model or you’ll die!”

This was the response he got.

However, it was the motivation that was needed to explore other options and to begin taking risks.

Creating a business model which would allow a sustainable economic path along with creating value for its customers of the community ended up taking 5 years.

In this five years, the team opened up to failures, tested six different business models, and gained invaluable learnings from each.

Back in 2007, after one year when the company was born, there were many requests from external companies around France interested in integrating a ride sharing application platform in their corporate intranet.

These companies wanted to provide their employees a platform to facilitate travel back home and from home to work.

Despite being this off-track from the main idea of long-distance ride hailing service, BlaBlaCar realized that companies were willing to adopt this kind of business-to-business ride sharing service and pay for it too.

Carrefour, IKEA, and many hospitals were among the first buyers of BlaBlaCar, and additional 200 more companies signed up for it over the years.

Though, a source of revenue of BlaBlaCar until 2011 were being spent on delivering these multiple customized platforms to various companies, and there was no scalable solution as every customer had different requirements.

So, soon enough, they realized that this business-to-business model would not work out in long run and phased it out in 2012.

Now, with today’s business model, they successfully established a mutual commitment between passenger and driver. And, as a result, the inefficiencies faced in all previous models are erased, and number of cancellations were reduced from 35% to less than 3%.

Not only this new business model is transparent and fair, but it’s also scalable that brought growth, reliability and rolled out internationally.

Fail. Learn. Succeed.

Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

While it’s true, but its opposite is encouraged at BlaBlaCar.

According to them, “Fail. Learn. Succeed.” is what drives innovation.

Everyday the BlaBlaCar team continuously evolves the product through iterative processes.

Everyday, everyone at BlaBlaCar are not shy about their failures, but they rather embrace another core values of BlaBlaCar.

By analyzing honestly why something failed, and taking time to investigate what actually went wrong, everyone gets to the root of the problem, learns from it and shares it with others so that they don’t repeat the same mistake.

Similarly, if you ever plan to build ride sharing app, this mindset is what you should have to have.

Why?

Well, first of all, it’s not necessary that the idea you’ve will succeed.

BlaBlaCar succeeded because they iterated until they got it right.

Moreover, even if you don’t have a business model in mind and just want to create a ride sharing app like Uber or BlaBlaCar, it’s still possible to make a business out of it.

Research about your top competitors, from their ideas to where they provide their services, you need to get all information. Then, find out whether they’ve any negative points or suggestions given by their users.

If so, understand the suggestions, and think about how you can solve it and provide it smoothly. However, remember that when it comes to developing your ride sharing app, compromising on its quality can lead to failure for sure.

If you don’t have a technical background, leave it to the experts. Find a top mobile app development company and consult with them. Share them your idea and ask the necessary questions.

What would be the cost for building a ride sharing app like BlaBlaCar?

How much time it takes to build the MVP?

And so on.

Have a clear ride sharing app development plan, talk to your hired team and make sure they as well you test your app completely before the launch.

Imagine you’ve downloaded a taxi app that provides cheaper service than Uber or any other similar platform and booked a taxi from it to get to a place. You waited 30 minutes but no car arrived. The driver didn’t get your request due to technical problems.

How would you feel here as a customer?

Will you ever use the app again?

Guess not, right?

Similarly, ensure that you hire app development company that has tested your app multiple times. A good mobile app development company always takes care of it.

Moreover, you should have an experience of your app prior of how the users will see your app. It needs to be efficient, easy to use, and should deliver high performance. In fact, testing it before the launch will allow you to iron out minor bugs before it reaches to the mass market.

Lastly, remember that there is no sure shot success pill to anything, but giving your idea a go and learning from failures could lead you to establishing a successful product-based ride sharing app business.

source: spaceotechnologies

Search engine algorithms are ever changing, which means that anyone with a website needs to stay up to date on today’s SEO marketing trends. Not only is new technology changing the way humans search, but search engines crawlers are using different criteria to rank your website.

Implementing these SEO marketing trends will help any business stay competitive in 2019.

1. Consider search engines other than Google.

While Google is inarguably still king of search, don’t forget about optimizing your content for Apple and Amazon’s search engines.

Amazon is the most valuable public company on the planet. This means that anyone with a product to sell should conduct Amazon keyword research.

Similarly, Apple’s App Store is increasingly important for driving traffic. Today, over 60 percent of online traffic comes from mobile. But 90 percent of the time people spend browsing on their phones occurs on apps. The future of mobile search could be the App store, not Google.

From a business’ perspective, the increasing importance of the App store means understanding its unique organic search algorithms. These value factors like app click-through rate, engagement and whether keywords match search queries.

2. Quality content is worth more than quantity.

One of the most important Google search algorithm updates in 2018 shifted the search engine’s attention towards content quality. This trend will persist in 2019.

Though backlinks remain important, Google is getting more sophisticated when it comes to determining how good your website content is. Of course, the amount of content you produce is still important. But one of the most significant SEO marketing trends of 2019 is prioritizing quality more than ever before.

Specifically, this means writing long-form content and not misleading search engines or the consumer. In 2019, entrepreneurs should place special attention to on-page SEO. Increasingly sophisticated crawlers are paying special attention to user-friendly URLs, optimizing images, and internal structure and linking.

3. Website speed affects UX and rankings.

Increasing website speed is one of the most important SEO marketing trends in 2019. Luckily, with all the SEO tools available on the market, it’s easy to check just how fast your website is.

Speed is more important than ever thanks to Google’s mobile-first index policy. Of course, website speed has always been an important aspect of user experience. Today, it’s important for Google crawlers, too. Ideally, a website should take less than a second to load, which can be hard to accomplish without the assistance of a qualified SEO firm.

And the faster your website is, the higher Google will rank it.

4. Voice search is no longer a novelty.

With the rise of technology like Siri, Google Home and Alexa, voice search already represents 20 percent of total mobile search. It’s predicted to reach 50 percent by 2020.

In other words, integrating voice-search optimized keywords is among the leading SEO marketing trends of this year. Voice search keywords are often shorter, more colloquial, and in the form of commands or questions.

5. Don’t dismiss linkless mentions.

As its name would suggest, a linkless mention is when your brand is referenced without a link being attached.

While backlinks are still an important factor used by search engines to determine content quality, linkless mentions are given more weight than ever before. This is partially due to the perception is that linkless mentions are more genuine, unlike black hat SEO techniques like paid links. Social media mentions are also playing an increasingly important role in evaluating website quality.

In a Google patent, the company even classifies “implied links” as a subset of a type of links.

6. Structured data is more important than ever.

Structured data is an overarching term for organizing website data. For example, information that you see included along with a website's meta description is structured data. The knowledge graph that appears on the right-hand side of Google is another type.

Its purpose is to make it easier and faster for search engines to crawl your website.

So whether you’re including online reviews or more detail about your content, structured data is one of the top SEO marketing trends to help Google classify your information in 2019.

7. SEO marketing trends for Google and beyond.

Virtually every business in the world is competing for Google rankings. On top of that, Google regularly changes its algorithms and the technology we favor for search will continue to evolve.

The biggest takeaway for 2019 is that mobile is more important than ever. This has a ripple effect: Entrepreneurs must optimize their content for Apple’s algorithms too, as well as follow Google’s mobile updates that prioritize speed and structured data.

Not only that, but other tech giants like Amazon and devices that include voice search are changing what ‘optimization’ means. But above all, a website’s overarching goal should always be to appeal to its audience. The better your content is, the higher Google will rank it.

source: Entrepreneur

E-commerce innovator partners up with Saudi government sector to boost economic diversification in the Kingdom

Jollychic, the global online shopping platform and E-commerce ecosystem innovator, attended the Saudi Arabian Investment and Cooperation Forum on February 22, 2019, at the invitation of H.E. Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment. Jollychic founder and CEO, Arron Li, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Governor of the Saudi Arabia General Investment Authority (SAGIA), Ibrahim Al-Omar, agreeing to form a comprehensive partnership to support the acceleration of digital transformation and enhancing economic diversification in Saudi Arabia.

As the Kingdom steadily advances toward the realization of Vision 2030, the Saudi government has launched a series of ambitious industrial initiatives that aim to contribute to the development of a robust and diversified economic infrastructure. The initiatives include the National Industrial Development Program (NIDLP), the Riyadh provincial development plan and free zone construction plan, as well as the the adoption of a "Cloud First Policy", which aims to accelerate the pace at which cloud computing is adopted within the public sector. Meanwhile, emerging industries such as information technology, modern logistics and e-commerce platforms have received more strategic direction and guidance policies.

Taking place at a transformative time for the Saudi economy, the MoU lays the foundation for Jollychic to establish a strategic relationship with SAGIA as well as relevant government sectors and stakeholders, thereby allowing for Jollychic to deepen its roots in the kingdom.

"It's an honor to partner with SAGIA and we hope to drive the overall competitiveness of KSA business community in the context of the Internet age while bringing unique value to the Kingdom while on its way to Vision 2030", Li said.

As the only e-commerce enterprise to sign an MoU during the forum, Jollychic will take full advantage of its position as an industry leader to lead and contribute to the development of an E-commerce ecosystem in Saudi Arabia, thereby contributing to the establishment of a diversified digital economy in the Kingdom and the achievement of Vision 2030.

As outlined in the MoU, SAGIA will provide comprehensive support for Jollychic to contribute in promoting the local e-commerce industry and ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. "Jollychic is a successful example of a company that is effectively stimulating employment and promoting social progress in the digital economy sector of Saudi Arabia." said Dr. Mazin M. Al Zaidi, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at SAGIA. "We look forward to more tech companies gaining success in Saudi Arabia through a long-term development plan," he continued.

Relying on the solid foundation and business vision of Jollychic in Saudi Arabia, the MoU also captures key content about the e-commerce ecosystem and digital economy in Vision 2030.

Data from market researcher BMI shows that e-commerce sales in Saudi Arabiaare expected to reach $13.9 billion in 2021, up from $8.7 billion in 2017. According to the Kingdom's plans for Vision 2030, the Saudi government aims to increase the contribution of modern trade and E-commerce to 80% of the retail sector by 2020. As a country where about 60 percent of the population is under 30 years old and mobile Internet penetration exceeds 75%, the emerging Internet sector still has massive potential for growth.

With the comprehensive partnership framework called TIES, which stands for Technology, Investment, Employment and Social Awareness, Jollychic will work to enhance communication and cooperation with the Saudi government and other stakeholders to strengthen localization and investment in the areas of technology sharing, investment commitment, promoting employment and raising social awareness, comprehensively cementing the strategic bond for Jollychic with the Saudi market.

"As a non-oil company that had invested and rooted itself in Saudi Arabia at a very early stage, the Kingdom has always been an important strategic market for Jollychic. At present, the company owns one of the largest e-commerce fulfillment centers of the Middle East in Saudi Arabia," said Li. "Jollychic will promote infrastructural improvements such as a logistics network, Internet professional training and so on in Saudi, and actively utilize our expertise in artificial intelligence, big data, and Internet model innovation practice, etc. to build a healthy and sustainable e-commerce ecosystem, and drive economic diversification in Saudi Arabia," he concluded.

Source: prnewswire

The European Commission and the State of Qatar initialed today an aviation agreement, the first such agreement between the EU and a partner from the Gulf region.

The agreement will upgrade the rules and standards for flights between Qatar and the EU, and will set a new global benchmark by committing to strong, fair competition mechanisms, and including provisions not normally covered by bilateral air transport agreements, such as social or environmental matters.

Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “We delivered! Qatar was the first partner with whom we launched negotiations following our adoption of the Aviation Strategy for Europe – now it is also the first one to cross the finish line! More than that – the agreement sets out ambitious standards for fair competition, transparency or social issues. It will provide a level playing field and raise the bar globally for air transport agreements. This is a major upgrade compared to the existing framework, and our joint contribution to making aviation more sustainable!”

Going far beyond traffic rights, the EU-Qatar agreement will provide a single set of rules, high standards and a platform for future cooperation on a wide range of aviation issues, such as safety, security or air traffic management. The agreement also commits both parties to improve social and labour policies – an achievement which existing agreements between Qatar and individual EU Member States have not provided so far.

In particular, the agreement includes the following elements:

• A gradual market opening over a period of five years to those EU Member States which have not yet fully liberalized direct connections for passengers: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
• Provisions on fair competition with strong enforcement mechanisms to avoid distortions of competition and abuses negatively affecting the operations of EU airlines in the EU or in third countries.
• Transparency provisions in line with international reporting and accounting standards to ensure obligations are fully respected.
• Provisions on social matters committing the Parties to improve social and labour policies.
• A forum for meetings addressing all issues, and any potential differences at an early stage, plus mechanisms to quickly resolve any disputes.
• Provisions facilitating business transactions, including the removal of existing obligations for EU airlines to work through a local sponsor.

The agreement will benefit all stakeholders by improving connectivity through a fair and transparent competitive environment, and create strong foundations for a long-term aviation relationship.

According to an independent economic study undertaken on behalf of the Commission, the agreement, with its robust fair competition provisions, could generate economic benefits of nearly €3 billion over the period 2019-2025 and create around 2000 new jobs by 2025.

The European Commission negotiated the agreement on behalf of the European Member States as part of its Aviation Strategy for Europe – a milestone initiative to give a new boost to European aviation and provide business opportunities. The negotiations were successfully concluded on 5 February 2019.

Next steps

Following today’s initialling, both parties will prepare the signature of the agreement following their respective internal procedures. The agreement will enter into force once both internal procedures will be finalised.

Background

Qatar is a close aviation partner for the European Union, with more than 7 million passengers travelling between the EU and Qatar per year under the existing 27 bilateral air transport agreements with EU Member States. While direct flights between most EU Member States and Qatar have already been liberalised by those bilateral agreements, none of them include provisions on fair competition and other elements, such as social issues, that the Commission considers essential elements of a modern aviation agreement.

In 2016, the European Commission therefore obtained authorisation from the Council to negotiate an EU-level aviation agreement with Qatar. Since September 2016, the negotiators have met for five formal rounds of negotiations, in the presence of observers from EU Member States and stakeholders.

This agreement is part of the EU’s concerted efforts to ensure open, fair competition and high standards for global aviation, in line with the ambitious external agenda put forward with the Aviation Strategy for Europe. Parallel negotiations with ASEAN are at an advanced stage, and negotiations are also ongoing with Turkey. The Commission also has a negotiating mandate for aviation agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Oman. EU negotiations with Ukraine, Armenia and Tunisia have been finalised and the agreements are pending signature.

source: Eturbonewsturbonews

Fitch Ratings upgraded Egypt's rating to B+ with a "stable outlook" against the previous rating B, and announced that the continued healthy performance of Egypt's external financing would depend on the flexibility of the local currency. Indicating that the Egyptian pound has not experienced a strong instability since the strong reduction in 2016.

The Egyptian central bank allowed earlier, a flexible exchange rate for the pound in November 2016, which contributed to the loss of the local currency more than half of its value against the dollar.

Fitch considered that the local currency was weak, but moderate, during the period when the foreign investment in securities took place between mid-April and the end of December, with the pound falling 1.7 percent against the dollar.

The agency showed a stronger return of the foreign investment in 2019, which helped the Egyptian pound to rise by 3 percent by mid-March. It also predicted that Egypt's external debt service would average about $10 billion in 2019-2020, representing about 12 percent of the country's current external receipts, which is in line with the average of similar obligations in the country under the B classification.

source: Union of Arab Chambers

An affiliated associate of Emirates NBD Group, on Thursday has confirmed its plan to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Further announcements will be made in due course in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations, the company said in a statement.

The UAE-based payments provider intends to apply for admission of its ordinary shares to the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority (Official List) and to trading on the LSE's main market for listed securities (Admission).

The company added that the offer will solely be comprised of existing shares to be sold by existing shareholders.

“Immediately following Admission, the Company intends to have a free float of at least 25% of the Company’s issued share capital,” the company highlighted.

The admission is expected to take place in April, Network International added. 

Later on, it is expected that the company will be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices.

The statement added that the price range of the offer and the maximum number of shares to be sold in the offer will be set in due course and contained in the prospectus expected to be published by the company in the coming weeks.

Source: Mubasher

With the high smartphone penetration rates and large young population, the GCC region continued to experience strong growth in mobile transactions in 2018, according to the 2018 Travel Insights Report jointly released today by Cleartrip and Flyin. The market recorded a 110% increase in mobile bookings as they represented one-third of all transactions.

The 2018 Travel Insights Report provides a comprehensive overview of the online travel sector in the GCC, as well as highlights significant shifts in the market dynamics and consumer behavior.

The market saw variations in average airfares as well as travelers' preferences in destinations, trip duration, and payment methods. Key findings of the report covering the January-December period include the sustained expansion of the industry, the rising trend of mobile traffic in major cities, and the growing popularity of travel coupons among travelers.

Sameer Bagul, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Cleartrip Middle East, said: “We are excited to launch the fourth edition of the Travel Insights Report on the region’s online travel sector. Offering an exclusive and deeper understanding of the underlying trends in the market and consumer behavior, our report has established itself as one of the most respected and trusted sources for insights into the industry. The actionable data we provide will help travellers to plan and book their trips efficiently and enable businesses to develop solutions that cater to the evolving needs and expectations of customers. We will continue to explore new ways to further enhance our comprehensive survey and look forward to releasing our H1 2019 Travel Insights Report.”

“With advancements in mobile technology making travel more accessible to the region’s growing population, the online travel industry is headed for a new phase of growth. As reflected in our study, travelers' preferences are constantly changing, and therefore, it has become imperative for online travel agents to make investments into newer technologies such as machine learning and utilizing block chain capabilities to drive bespoke personalization and superior user experience. When we launched our mobile Progressive Web App (PWA) in 2018 our conversion rates increased by 67% as we continue to help consumers seamlessly make their travel bookings,” Mr. Bagul added.

Changing payment method preferences

Even though credit card still remains the dominant payment method in the online travel market, debit card transactions are on the rise. In the Kingdom, which has seen a spike in the adoption and usage of debit card after its central bank, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), enabled the country’s made cardholders for online shopping last year, travel bookings using debit cards surged 280% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to account for 45% of all bookings. In the UAE credit card transactions dipped to 72% from 81% in the previous year and debit cards usage increased from 19% to 28%.

Growing mobile penetration

Owing to the rising popularity of digital wallets and mobile apps, mobile transactions are quickly gaining traction among travelers. In Saudi Arabia, which had the highest rate of Mobile Booking Penetration (MBP) in the region, mobile bookings accounted for 38% with a massive rise of 233% from the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of transactions made on mobile devices increased by 56% in the UAE, whereas Oman recorded the second highest MBP in the region at 34%. Among mobile bookings in the Kingdom iOS share was higher at 71% compared to Android devices share of 29%. The company expects this number to grow in 2019 as ApplePay™ was launched in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

Mobile has become a popular channel for travel planning and booking in major cities in the region. Kuwait City and Riyadh had the highest rates of mobile traffic and bookings at 81% and 40% respectively. Bahrain, Muscat and Dubai were also among the leading markets for mobile visitors in the 2018 Travel Insights Report.

Trending destinations

Reflecting their growing appetite for novel experiences, the region’s discerning travellers made trips to a wide variety of destinations within the GCC and overseas. Islamabad, Lahore and Brussels topped the list of trending international destinations for travellers in the UAE, while domestic travellers in Saudi Arabia favoured Gizan, Abha and Ha’il. Meanwhile, Istanbul remained among the leading family travel destinations during both summer and winter seasons.

Airfares in a flux

As crude oil prices continued to fluctuate in 2018, the region’s leading markets saw significant changes in airfare pricing. Average ticket prices were 10% and 6% higher in Bahrain and Kuwait respectively, while Saudi Arabia experienced an overall price decline of 7% due to growth of low-cost carriers such as flyadeal. As some of the large airlines reduced capacity from Kuwait, it recorded the highest average fare per person at USD 281, while Oman had the lowest in the region at USD 192.

Some routes originating from the region have seen fluctuations in airfares last year. While Jeddah-Dubai recorded the highest increase at 25%, the Jeddah-Cairo route witnessed the greatest decline in airfares at 19%. In addition, micro-trips have taken off as a new trend in the region’s travel industry. Ha’il and Kuwait appeared to be the cheapest getaways from Riyadh and Dubai respectively last year.

The report also indicates that Sunday is the cheapest day for travel, whereas prices increase on Thursday. Furthermore, February is the ideal month for budget travellers with average fares falling 16%.

Sustained market growth

With lower airfares, increased connectivity and fewer travel barriers, the GCC continues to witness an increase in the number of travellers. In 2018, the industry posted a robust Y-o-Y growth of 7%, while Saudi Arabia emerged as the fastest growing market with a solid 10% expansion.

Source: menaherald

Abu Dhabi will commit up to 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) to support technology start-ups, it said on Sunday, in a dedicated hub as part of efforts to diversify its economy.

U.S. tech giant Microsoft will be a strategic partner, providing technology and cloud services to the businesses that join the hub as the capital of the United Arab Emirates continues its push to reduce reliance on oil revenue.

Abu Dhabi derives about 50 percent of its real gross domestic product and about 90 percent of central government revenue from the hydrocarbon sector, according to ratings agency S&P.

The emirate launched a 50 billion dirham ($13.6 billion) stimulus fund, Ghadan 21, in September last year to accelerate economic growth. Ghadan means tomorrow in Arabic.

The new initiative, named Hub 71, is linked to Ghadan will also involve the launch of a 500 million dirham fund to invest in start-ups, said Ibrahim Ajami, head of Mubadala Ventures, the technology arm of Mubadala Investment Co.

The goal is to have 100 companies over the next three to five years, Ajami said. “The market opportunities in this region are immense,” he added.

Mubadala, with assets of $225 billion and a big investor in tech companies, will act as the driver of the hub, located in the emirate’s financial district.

Softbank will be active in the hub and support the expansion of companies in which it has invested, Ajami said, adding that Mubadala is also aiming to attract Chinese and Indian companies, among others.

Mubadala which has committed $15 billion to the Softbank Vision Fund, plans to launch a $400 million fund to invest in leading European technology companies.

Incentives mapped out by the government include housing, office space and health insurance as part of the 1 billion dirham commitment, Ajami said.

Abu Dhabi will also announce a new research and development initiative on Monday linked to the Ghadan 21 plan, according to an invitation sent to journalists.

source: Reuters

Managing Director and Head of Brokerage at CI Capital, Karim Khedr, anticipated Egypt to gain a substantial amount of foreign direct investments (FDI) by the end of 2019 which is the last year of Egypt’s economic programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Egypt’s investment climate is improving remarkably. The authorities are implementing the subsidy reform which is very important not only for foreign investors but also for the state budget,” Khedr informed Daily News Egypt.

Subsidy was a very considerable burden on the Egyptian budget, so the reform will allow the country to increase its spending on other key areas such as education and health, added Khedr.

Egypt aims to attract as much as $11bn in FDIs in fiscal year 2018/19, up from $7.9bn in the previous year, said Planning Minister, Hala El Saeed in August 2018, adding that FDIs are expected to reach $20bn by the end of the government’s development plan in 2022, driven by ongoing economic reforms.

Foreign investors want to ensure that reform plans are going well, in cooperation with the IMF which approves the confidence of the Egyptian economy’s outlook, mentioned Khedr, echoing the importance of the FDIs to bring the capital into the market, knowhow, in order to create job opportunities and increase the consumption that positively affects GDP growth.

“We saw a significant improvement in the external sector including the tourism sector’s revenues throughout 2018 which is very important for the availability of hard currency,” mentioned Khedr, noting that Egypt’s economy is still facing some challenging.

The high interest rates’ environment, inflation, and subsidy for some products are all challenges for the authorities in 2019, said Khedr, noting that finding solutions for these challenges are key elements to guarantee that these economic programmes are successful.

Additionally, Khedr said that his corporation aims to expand regionally in 2019, yet it depends on available opportunities, affirming that Egypt is a key major market for CI Capital.

“Investment banks expect Egypt to take over large interest of the foreign investors’ interest over the next couple of years as a result of Egypt’s economic improvements and future potential. Foreign investors’ positive outlook for Egypt was clear over our latest third annual MENA investor conference where many investors were there,” mentioned Khedr.

However, Khedr said that Egypt’s implemented reform measures don’t have the full positive impact on the investor’s views to invest in Egypt yet, as there are other challenges that still face the economy such as high inflation rates, adding, “we hope that the interest rates will decline sometime in 2019, which will encourage investors conduct increased business in Egypt.”

The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (announced earlier in December 2018 that the annual inflation rate hit 15.6% in November 2018, compared to 26.7% in November 2017.

CI Capital is an investment bank in Egypt with market-leading investment banking, securities brokerage, asset management, and research franchises.

source: Dailynewssegyptailynewssegypt