The British Royal Navy broke ground for a new base at Mina Salman Port in Bahrain Saturday in a ceremony attended by the U.K.’s foreign secretary and senior Royal Navy officials. The Mina Salman Port will be the Royal Navy’s first permanent base in Bahrain since the U.K. withdrew British forces from Manama in 1971. The U.S. Navy took over that base for its U.S. Fifth Fleet. Read More »

RetailNext Inc. partnered with Sun & Sand Sports Oct. 27 to provide  in-store analytics for Sun & Sand.  RetailNext will launch its platform at Sun & Sand's new flagship concept stores, the first two of which are located in the Dubai Mall and City Centre Me'aise. Sun & Sand Sports is the Gulf Cooperation Council's largest retailer and wholesaler of sports products. Read More »

Zain Group named Eaman Al Roudhan as CEO of Zain Kuwait, the company’s flagship operation, Sunday. Al Roudhan, a Kuwaiti national herself, will succeed Omar Al Omar as of December 1. Al Omar will stay on at Zain Group as a senior advisor to the company’s CEO. Al Roudhan will bring with her more than 18 years of management and leadership experience as she fills the role. Read More »

Oman Air made five new appointments Sunday, putting citizens to work in Qatar, the Philippines, Africa, and Pakistan with another management position being taken in Oman itself. Oman Air is in the midst of making major personnel moves that will see Omani citizens take up senior management positions in foreign markets to advance the airline’s policy of “Omanization” of their workforce. Read More »

Coldwell Banker UAE has opened its fourth office in the Gulf nation. The new location at Jumeirah Village Circle in Dubai comes as the company makes moves to expand business operations in the region. Hesham Elfar said the company aims to grow its presence in the UAE as the Dubai property market continues to explode with new real estate opportunities despite a recent slowdown. Read More »

An event for Indian businessmen, organized by Abu Dhabi Ports and the Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC), took place Oct. 20 in Abu Dhabi. The theme for the event was “Opportunities in Abu Dhabi: A Global Trade, Manufacturing and Logistics Hub." During the event, Abu Dhabi Ports gave a presentation about the company's Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi and Khalifa Port. Read More »

The Kingdom’s strong purchasing power coupled with a growing population and market for fashion makes Saudi Arabia’s off-the-rack clothes sector the largest in the GCC region; Saudi Arabia’s stable economic condition gives it the ability to boost the industry with government stimulus in the form of support for buying commodities and tax exemptions for merchants.  Read More »

Third quarter numbers for Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) show a 30 percent jump in net profit over the first nine months of 2014, posting $22.8 million in gains even after a $19.3 million deduction for net provisions. During the same period last year, the financial institution posted $17.5 million in net profits after reserving $16.2 million for net provisions. Read More »

Virgin Mobile signed an agreement with Panda Retail Company Tuesday that will see phone credit recharge cards available across retail outlets in Saudi Arabia. Panda is one of Saudi Arabia’s largest grocery chains with at least one version of the shop present in every major retail center in the country, including 63 hypermarkets, 143 supermarkets and 273 Pandati shops. Read More »

Oman’s Ministry of Tourism is making a splash at the biggest tourism expo on the planet with the World Travel Market from Nov. 2 to Nov. 5 in London. The annual event is the premier global travel industry event, where industry stakeholders gather to promote the latest in travel destinations, amenities and services. Oman’s delegation is headed up this year by Maitha Al Mahrouqi. Read More »

Next year will see the opening of a new luxury Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Mecca, which will be the largest hotel operated by the brand in the world. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which operates the Four Points by Sheraton chain of four-star hotels, is working with the Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al Rajhi Real Estate Investments Company to develop the hotel in Mecca. Read More »

The Middle East Telecommunications Company and Teleopti are moving forward with initiatives to ramp up the already close cooperation between the two companies. METCO is one of the region’s most well-established information communication technology integration firms, helping large enterprises and government entities run more efficiently by incorporating ICT solutions. Read More »

A recent roundtable discussion hosted by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) was attended by officers and managers from a variety of local and international financial institutions. The purpose of the gathering was to take a closer look at gender-related policies that affect women's roles and their advancement in the banking and finance industries. Rasheed Al Maraj was the moderator. Read More »

Hilal Computers and American technology firm Oracle hosted seminar Bahrain Technology Day Monday. At the event, more than 50 IT professionals learned about Oracle's newest products and advances, including Oracle Database 12c. This new, cloud-based technology allows customers to more efficiently use their IT resources. It also includes in-memory data-processing capabilities. Read More »

Oman Air recently upgraded its Frankfurt service for its winter 2015-16 as well as adding service to Dhaka. Oman Air will offer service between Muscat and Frankfurt on its brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The first Frankfurt flight occurred on Oct. 25. Demand for Frankfurt service has steadily increased since it was first offered by the airline in 2009. Read More »

Emirates opened up a fourth route to Italy Tuesday with daily flights available from the airline’s hub in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Bologna. The new route was celebrated with a traditional firehose shower as the first Emirates flight landed in Bologna, whose standing as a provincial capital is one of the world’s best-preserved medieval centers makes it a popular destination. Read More »

Service provider GBI has joined DE-CIX in Frankfurt, Germany, and UAE-IX in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which are both global Internet exchanges of DE-CIX. GBI is a multi-layer carrier neutral network that provides connectivity to the Middle East. GBI has also joined the DE-CIX Partner Program, making the company an official DE-CIX reseller. Amr Eid also agreed with Summa's remarks. Read More »

Hilton Worldwide opened its first DoubleTree hotel Thursday in Old Town Doha, Qatar, amid the capital city’s booming business district. The DoubleTree by Hilton - Old Town is one of Hilton’s mid-market full-service hotel brands. The DoubleTree is designed to offer stylish accommodation without breaking the bank. The new Doha DoubleTree by Hilton has 187 suites and rooms. Read More »

MasterCard is shaking up its management team in the Middle East and Africa, starting with the appointment of Raghu Malhotra as MENA regional president. From January, Malhotra will be stepping into the shoes of Michael Miebach, who will take up the position of chief product officer. Malhotra will take charge of delivering high-quality customer service and evolving financial technology. Read More »

The Saudi Basic Industries Corporation highlighted the company’s CO2 purification plant at the recent Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum from Nov. 1 to Nov. 5 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The forum brought together major players, including Saudi Aramco and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, to discuss the latest methods to shave off carbon emissions. Read More »