Two recent Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry workshops held at the chamber’s main offices helped to identify and capitalize on the trend away from conventional commerce to that of a cloud-based economy. Sessions led by chamber specialists encouraged participants to prepare for the already apparent shift toward e-commerce in the emirate as well as across many GCC nations. Read More »

Covalon Technologies Ltd. is expanding into several Middle Eastern countries with Qatar positioned to benefit from the firm’s newly established presence. Covalon develops and markets wound care applications for infection management. The firm recently expanded its distribution in the Middle East, with Iran and the United Arab Emirates also on the list of potential clients. Read More »

UAE-based Network International, a leading payment solutions provider in the Middle East and Africa region, has partnered with Oberthur Technologies (OT) to offer banks in the region OT’s dynamic cryptogram payment card option to secure online transactions. The OT MOTION CODE solution provides an extra layer of security for card-not-present (CNP) transactions. Read More »

Criteo’s recent report on online retail and travel industries across the Middle East and Africa region shed light on the increasing importance of mobile commerce for retailers during last year's Ramadan. The study revealed that mobile was the preferred device throughout the Ramadan period, with spending increasing from 44 percent two weeks before Ramadan to 49 percent by the last week. Read More »

Zenlayer, a global network and service provider of SDN (software-defined networking) technology, recently expanded its colocation and hosting capabilities with Equinix into Dubai and Melbourne, Australia.These two markets joins ZenLayer’s existing network of 50 data centers worldwide. As a service provider, ZenLayer connects companies and other parties in many different ways. Read More »

In the past few months, Qatar Investment Authority officials announced fund managers are making moves toward investing $35 billion in U.S. interests while opening an office in New York. The fund has hired top finance professionals. But none of that has, as yet, been enough to move the QIA from the bottom of the barrel in the eyes of organizations charged with monitoring sovereign wealth funds. Read More »

The JustProperty.com platform, a real estate tool for managing markets across the Middle East, recently announced it is expanding its operations to Bahrain and Jordan. This news is part of the quick emergence of JustProperty.com, a product of the JRD Group, over the past six months. Prior to that, the company had been operating in the Middle East for several years. Read More »

The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Asian traders committee (BATC) paid a visit recently to Sri Lanka’s newly appointed ambassador to the Kingdom, A. Saj U. Mendis, at the Sri Lankan embassy in Manama. The contingent, led by vice-treasurer Mohamed Sajid, initiated discussions about elevating the level of trade between Sri Lanka and Bahrain to increase the alliance between the two nations with investment and economic partnerships. Read More »

A top ranking delegation, headed by Mohammed Ali Al-Mannai, President of the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA), represented Qatar at the 27th Meeting of GCC Committee for Under-Secretaries of Post and Telecommunications held in May. Numerous topics connected to the development of postal and telecommunications industries within the GCC states were discussed at the meeting, as well as ways for the member states to increase cooperation amongst themselves. Read More »

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) recently joined forces with a regional organization called Riyada to assist independent business owners with refining important skills needed to grow their enterprises such as sales, marketing strategies and customer relations. Five dozen participants attended a three-day workshop offered at Riyada’s Ghala-based headquarters. Read More »

Zenlayer, a global network and service provider of SDN technology, is expanding its co-location and hosting capabilities with Equinix into Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Melbourne, Australia. Zenlayer's data center portfolio includes more than 50 data centers across six continents. Zenlayer is also leveraging Equinix's global interconnection and data center platform — Platform Equinix — for global scale to reach additional markets around the world. Read More »

The first Thai Product Exhibition was announced during a press conference at Oman International Exhibition Centre. It was explained during the April 18 conference that the exhibition will be prepared by the Oman International Exhibition Centre in collaboration with Vega Intergrade & Exhibitions, Thai Embassy and Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion. Read More »

The Italian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Luca Ferrari, met with the Chairperson of the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) Dr. Abdulrahman Al Zamil at Zamil’s office to discuss different ways the two countries can work together to strengthen their economic and trade partnerships. Acting Secretary General of CSC Eng. Omar Bahlaiwa also attended the meeting. Read More »

EnerTech has chosen Waterfund Insight Service to strategize for and prioritize its calculated water technology investments, IBM and Waterfund LLC announced recently. EnerTech is an entirely owned subsidiary of the National Technology Enterprises Company, which is a secondary company of Kuwait Investment Authority. Read More »

Boubyan Bank in Kuwait recently rang the market-opening bell in celebration of being included on the Nasdaq Dubai with a Sukuk issuance amounting to $250 million U.S. This is the first time that the bank has been granted a Sukuk issuance. This award highlights the Emirate’s position as the growing worldwide capital of Islamic economy in Dubai. Read More »

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry put together an interactive workshop to introduce and explain the new Commercial Companies Law. The chamber aims to aid companies in interpreting the new law and worked with Hadef & Partners LLC law firm to produce the workshop. Read More »

The Sultanate of Oman recently began hosting wedding planners as well as event organizers from India in order to help visitors better plan their tourist activities in the Sultanate. The wedding planners are visiting the area to collaborate with Sultanate leaders and suppliers who work in the wedding industry. The goal is to strengthen the cooperation between the two nations in this industry. They hope to support the Sultanate as an events and wedding destination. Read More »

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Smart Dubai Office, announced the winners of its Dubai Smartpreneur Competition. The top winning entry was LoadMe, an online platform that uses GPS tracking and smartphone apps to provide the Middle Eastern transporters market with real-time information regarding available freight and trucks in a specific area. Read More »

Ibdar Bank recently named a new board of directors that will serve the Islamic investment and financial institution for the next three years. The board will be lead by Chairman Tareq Sadeq, who is the managing director of Keystone Consulting and is also a board member of Ahli United Bank Kuwait. Former Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait CEO, and current Nassej Co. Vice Chairman Abdulkarim Ahmed Bucheery has been named Ibdar Bank's vice chairman. Read More »

A new agreement between the Booking.com hotel reservation portal and a Middle East telecom provider is changing the way customers make hotel reservations in the Emirates, and throughout the Middle East. Read More »