Day: September 2, 2021

ABU DHABI, Abu Dhabi Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has updated travel procedures for citizens, residents and visitors entering Abu Dhabi from abroad, effective from Sunday, 5th September 2021.

The committee has approved removing the need to quarantine for all vaccinated travellers arriving into Abu Dhabi from all international destinations.

Before boarding to Abu Dhabi, all travellers, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, must present a negative PCR test result from within 48 hours of departure.

Vaccinated citizens, residents and visitors arriving from green destinations must take a PCR test on arrival without the need to quarantine, and another test on day 6, if staying in the emirate. When arriving from other destinations they must take a PCR test on arrival without the need to quarantine, and further tests on days 4 and 8, if staying in the emirate.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, today announced the launch of a bold new series of national strategic projects that will lay the foundations for a new era of growth for the UAE – both domestically and internationally.

The programme of economic and developmental projects are designed to establish the UAE’s regional and international status as a major economic hub and a champion of excellence, with a competitive business environment that will attract investors, innovators, entrepreneurs and talents from across the world. The comprehensive projects will build on the UAE’s successes of the past 50 years and chart an ambitious path for the next 50.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted: “The UAE is starting a new season in a different way this year. We will announce a series of 50 significant economic projects starting from September 5 to lead the next phase of growth.”

He added, “the UAE does not wait for the future, it shapes its own future.”

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tweeted, “50 new national projects will be announced this month, extending our development journey for generations to come. The people of the UAE are encouraged to take part, harnessing their knowledge, creativity and resourcefulness so our nation can seize the opportunities of the future.”

Bringing together all sectors of the society to lead the next era of growth, the projects will cover economic and social development, focusing on entrepreneurship, the digital and circular economies, and applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With these multiple specialisations, the initiative reinforces the goals of economic diversification to broaden the base of the national economy and expand the sources of total income.

The new projects aim to advance the UAE’s economy, a top national priority, to ensure a decent life for citizens and residents, double the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and boost the UAE’s status as an incubator for talents and investors from all over the world. They aim to transform the UAE into a comprehensive hub in all sectors and areas of creativity and innovation, positioning the UAE as a land of opportunities and a destination for those seeking a global testbed of bold and successful ideas.

All efforts are focused on the goal of fostering a knowledge economy and turning the UAE into a laboratory for bold ideas and groundbreaking projects to boost the UAE as a successful global nation.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Dubai Municipality (DM) has announced the completion of several landscaping projects across all the roads and main intersections leading to the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

Completed at a cost of AED205 million, the projects cover an area of over two million square metres and include the extension of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road, the Expo Street and Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Street in the direction of the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

More than 20,000 trees were used to form a green belt along the roadsides of the area, and over four million seedlings were planted around the roads leading to the venue. Approximately two million seedlings were also planted at the site of the mega event.

Dawoud Al Hajri, DM Director-General, said, “Dubai Municipality uses cutting-edge technologies and the vertical farming method to implement its landscaping projects across the city. Our plan is to expand our greenery drive to cover all the areas in Dubai including open spaces, roads and public parks. By expanding the green areas, we will be able to achieve the sustainability of the horticultural sector, improve air quality and boost the community’s mental and physical health.”

Al Hajri highlighted Dubai Municipality’s efforts to enhance the aesthetic appearance and beauty of the area leading to the Expo 2020 Dubai site, through implementing best practices in a way that lives up to the status of the mega international event.

“As part of the project, the Municipality extended 58 km of the main irrigation lines and 234 km of the sub-lines. Three main pumping stations and three concrete tanks were also established to store irrigation water. Planting around the exhibition site was carried out at a length of about 21 km,” he noted.

The landscaping project by Dubai Municipality also covered key landmarks near the Expo 2020 Dubai site, including the entrance to Dubai Parks, at a total area of 177,123 square meters. Steel landscaping works extended over an area of around 109,000 square meters. Additionally, the main irrigation lines were extended by 10.3km and sub-lines by 60.1km. A pumping station with a concrete tank for irrigation water was also constructed at a value of around AED40 million.

The landscaping work included planting 24,474 trees, 65,000 shrubs, 1,541,710 square meters of soil covers, and 50,107 square meters of cactus plants, another 2,707,912 square meters of soil covers, 5,049 meters of fences, 76,671 square meters of green spaces, around 847,000 square meters of gravel, and 3,118 square meters of climbers.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) registered a high monthly Average Open Interest (AOI) of 161,259 contracts during August.

The DGCX Group saw its West Texas Intermediary (WTI) Futures Contract gain traction last month, registering year-on-year (Y-O-Y) Average Daily Volume (ADV) growth of 62% compared to the same period last year.

The rise was noticeable from July 2021 and followed global trends, with oil prices recently posting its biggest weekly gain in over a year, as energy firms began shutting U.S. production.

Additionally, the DGCX’s Weekly INR-US Dollar (USD) Futures Contract continued to generate interest from market participants, recording a year-to-date (Y-T-D) volume growth of 9% in August, compared to the same period last year. The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) Futures Contract again maintained its growth during the month. Once again, this growth illustrates increased demand for the product since its launch in April. Additionally, the DGCX recorded a spike in trading in its precious metal’s portfolio this month, with the Shari’ah Compliant Spot Gold Contract trading six times more compared to the same period in 2020.

During August, the DGCX Group also issued a tender for members interested in applying as Market Makers on the DGCX platform, as part of its Designated Market Making scheme. The program will run for a period of 12 months – from January 03, 2022, until December 30, 2022 – and will encourage market participants to further bolster trading activity and liquidity on the exchange, thus making prices more efficient for the DGCX’s member base. The closing date for receiving applications is 24th September 2021.

The Group will host a webinar about Marketing Making Opportunities at DGCX on the 7th of September 2021. Interested participants can join the webinar by clicking here.

Les Male, CEO of DGCX, said, “In August, the DGCX saw market participants leverage several of our contracts for a variety of hedging and investment purposes. These were stimulated by managing exposure to volatility in the oil markets, capitalizing on gains in the INR and diversifying into new geographies. As we continue to receive interest in our contracts, we believe it is important to continue driving liquidity, and have recently invited our members to act as market makers on the exchange. The initative will pave the way for increasing market activity across our portfolio and support our strategic objective of generating stronger trading activity that continues to strengthen Dubai’s growth and development for commodities, FX and equities trading.”

Source: Emirates News Agency