United Arab Emirates

World’s Fair in Dubai Warns of Possible Closures over Virus

The multibillion-dollar world’s fair in Dubai has warned that some venues on site may shut down as coronavirus cases rapidly rise in the United Arab Emirates, the Associated Press reported. Dubai’s Expo 2020 said that virus outbreaks among staff may force some parts of the fair to “close temporarily for deep cleaning and sanitization,” without elaborating on the scope or the location of the infections. The UAE’s daily virus caseload has skyrocketed by a multiple of 37 in just the last three weeks after the arrival of the omicron variant.

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KPMG Sued for $600M Over Role in Insolvency of Dubai Private Equity Firm Abraaj

KPMG LLP was sued for at least $600 million over its role in the insolvency of Dubai private-equity firm Abraaj Group, the latest in a string of complaints of sloppy auditing made against the Big Four firm, Bloomberg News reported. The claimants, two units of Abraaj now in liquidation, allege that KPMG accountants “failed to maintain independence and an appropriate attitude of professional skepticism,” and breached their duty of care when auditing the private-equity firm, according to court documents filed in Dubai on Nov. 3.
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Dubai Developer Union Properties’ Chairman Held Amid Probe

A United Arab Emirates prosecutor has ordered the detention of the chairman of Dubai-based Union Properties PJSC pending an investigation into alleged financial violations at one of the country’s biggest developers, Bloomberg News reported. Khalifa Al Hammadi’s detention was requested by the Federal Public Funds Prosecution and “the case is still under investigation,” the company said in a stock market disclosure, citing a letter from the authorities. A spokesman for Union Properties declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
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Dubai’s Tourism Sector Won’t Rebound Until Late 2022, S&P Says

Dubai’s key tourism sector is unlikely to rebound for at least a year, according to S&P Global Ratings, Bloomberg News reported. While the city will witness a modest recovery this year helped by one of the world’s highest vaccination rates, “weak international tourism is likely to drag on the economy until late 2022 at the earliest,” Ratings Credit Analyst Trevor Cullinan said on Tuesday.
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UAE Approves Four-Year Federal Budget Focused on Social Spending

The United Arab Emirates approved its federal budget to 2026 and focused most of next year’s spending on social benefits and development, Bloomberg News reported. The Gulf country approved a total of 58.9 billion dirhams ($16 billion) of spending in 2022, nearly the same as last year. Most of the spending is going to development and social benefits, according to the state-run WAM news agency. Nearly 16% will go to higher education, 6% to social affairs, 8.4% to the health sector and 3.8% to infrastructure and economic resources.
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Dubai Tycoon Bets $545 Million on Tower to Show Cavalli Is Back

The billionaire owner of Italian fashion house Cavalli is planning a lavish new tower in Dubai to showcase the brand’s return after a brush with bankruptcy and nearly two years of sluggish sales during the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. Hussain Sajwani, founder and chairman of Dubai-based Damac Properties, told Bloomberg that he may even double down on the planned $545 million structure by building a similar one in Miami. “I am committed to rebuilding the Cavalli brand, to relaunching it on key markets,” Sajwani said in the interview.

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UAE Seeks $1 Trillion in Economic Activity with Israel by 2031

The United Arab Emirates aims to raise the value of economic activity with Israel to more than $1 trillion in the next 10 years, hoping to work together on everything from healthcare to climate change and energy, the UAE economy minister said, Reuters reported. The Gulf Arab state has signed dozens of memorandums of understanding with its new ally in the year since it became the first Arab state to normalise ties with Israel this century. It was not immediately clear how the two countries expect to reach $1 trillion in economic activity in the next decade.
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NMC Creditors Back Restructuring, With Administration Exit Near

NMC Healthcare Ltd. said it won approval from creditors for the restructuring process that allows the bulk of the hospital operator’s business to exit administration, Bloomberg News reported. NMC secured 95% of the eligible creditor vote for the deeds of company arrangement proposals, according to a statement from the largest private medical services provider in the United Arab Emirates. A local Abu Dhabi court still needs to confirm the vote, NMC said.
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NMC Founder Sues EY, Banks and Execs for $8 Billion over Alleged Fraud

B.R. Shetty, the founder of stricken UAE hospital operator NMC Health, has sued auditor EY, two former top executives of his companies and two banks in a U.S. court, seeking $8 billion in damages for an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud at his group, Reuters reported. EY said in a statement: "We believe this case is without merit and we intend to defend it vigorously." Several companies linked to the Indian entrepreneur ran into trouble last year after short-seller Muddy Waters questioned NMC's financial statements.
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OPEC+ Abandons Oil Policy Meeting After Saudi-UAE Clash

OPEC+ ministers called off oil output talks on Monday after clashing last week when the United Arab Emirates rejected a proposed eight-month extension to output curbs, meaning no deal to boost production has been agreed, Reuters reported. Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had called for "compromise and rationality" to secure a deal after two days of failed discussions last week. But four OPEC+ sources said there had been no progress.
Saudi Arabia
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