Day: September 14, 2021

DUBAI, Expo 2020 Dubai will open up a whole new, immersive world for families – a magical place that merges the fantasy of a vivid imagination with the reality of a world that needs everyone’s help, where children will encounter breakthrough new discoveries, explore the world’s ecosystems and learn important lessons about our planet and humanity.

Magical mascot shows, featuring siblings Rashid and Latifa, will welcome families to join in singalongs, dance-offs and theatrical productions that share a special message of uniting to overcome adversity, and the role that each of us can play in making that possible.

Rashid’s Playground in Jubilee Park is an ocean-themed adventure inspired by Rashid’s imagination and underwater exploits. Highlights include sharks on springs, whale slides, ocean liners and an interactive 3D maze modelled on one of UAE’s local waters’ most surprising inhabitants: the humpback whale.

For more green space, families can head to Al Forsan Park’s huge lawn. With its interlaced network of paths, the park offers a rich mosaic of opportunities for cultural interaction and recreation, including Latifa’s Adventures in Space City, where kids can bounce over nets in the ‘zero-gravity’ chamber, leap into orbit around swings and hop aboard a replica of the UAE’s Hope Probe.

Marjan Faraidooni, Chief Experience Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, said, “Expo 2020 is a captivating place for families to connect while discovering new cultures, technologies and life-changing innovations. With inspirational exploratory exhibits where children will want to explore, play is encouraged, with learning becoming a product of their experiences. Expo will open up a world of exciting, entertaining and educational experiences to millions of children, and is great value too, with children under 18 entering free of charge.”

Hop aboard the Expo Explorer, a train with a difference that takes passengers on a sight-seeing journey while experiencing the sustainable future of transport. The Explorer may look like a classic locomotive, but it runs on compressed air, making it pollution-free.

The 191 Country Pavilions with a family-friendly focus, such as the Luxembourg Pavilion, which sports a 21-metre-tall slide to whisk visitors down into a green, woody space that evokes the country’s beautiful forests. At the Ethiopia Pavilion, one can try a hand at the traditional board and playground games, and see folktales brought to life in the Guinea Pavilion. Visitors can experience an innovative playground that converts kids’ kinetic energy into light at the Bulgaria Pavilion, fostering imagination and creative play, and drop by the Tonga Pavilion, where Lafi and his best friend Kaho the whale chaperone visitors through an incredible enchanted forest.

Kids of all ages will love Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion, a playful experience that brings to life the UAE and Expo 2020’s commitment to sustainability, acting as a catalyst for change. Taking visitors through the wonders of the natural world, Terra is designed to change mindsets and encourage people to break the cycle of consumerism and will live on as a Science Centre after Expo closes its doors, inspiring sustainable choices for generations to come.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, The Ministry of Community Development (MoCD) has announced the opening of registration and participation in “Al Sanaa-13” Pavilion for UAE productive families at the Global Village for the new season 2021/2022.

Afra Buhumaid, Director of Productive Families Department at MoCD, revealed the completion of e-connectivity with the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship, Ministry of Economy and some relevant local government authorities in order to achieve speedy transactions and requirements, enhance access to the best and easiest services for productive Emirati families, promote their commercial and economic objectives and accelerate economic development beginning from the family and within the scope of domestic and micro-businesses.

“Those who are willing to register in “Al Sanaa-13″ Pavilion this season, which will start in conjunction with the opening of the Global Village on October 26th, can apply digitally and meet the participation requirements through the ministry’s website,” she said, adding that the registration steps start from the membership in Al Sanaa, submission of the application digitally, approval of all the conditions and requirements, to the completion of the procedures within 5 working days.

One of the primary conditions set for Al Sanaa is that the applicant must be a UAE citizen, has a membership card in Al Sanaa for a year or more with exceptions for outstanding projects, full eligibility and not less than 21 years old. As for those who are less than 21, the shop must be registered in the name of the guardian with full commitment to take responsibility.

Afra Buhumaid emphasised that other requirements include that all products must be done by micro-entrepreneurs and not ready-made products that are resold.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Mashreq Bank has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) to support and grow the ecosystem of services available to small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) setting up in the zone.

The MoU will ensure DAFZA businesses have access to a wide variety of initiatives including API integration, as well as banking services through Mashreq’s exclusively digital business banking platform, NEOBiz.

Under the MoU, DAFZA companies will be given priority access to banking services through the platform, where they will be able to open instant accounts. Mashreq’s NEOBiz solution will be the preferred platform to support businesses under DAFZA’s innovative Scality Tech Startup Programme.

The MoU also provides DAFZA SMEs with discounted access to accounting packages, cloud infrastructure, digital tools and a suite of mobile point-of-sale solutions, payment gateways and software systems such as ZohoBooks, Microsoft Office and AWS – all designed to help SMEs become more successful.

Abdulaziz Al Hammadi, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at DAFZA and board member of Scality, said, “Through this memorandum, Mashreq Bank and DAFZA will offer a new addition to the support system and experience of our customers to facilitate business and drive the improvement of operational processes for more than 1,800 companies in the free zone. This initiative is part of our commitment to continue supporting various types of companies through facilities, quality services, institutional and technical advice, including for small and medium-sized companies in DAFZA. They benefit from strategic support that increases their economic contribution and increases the growth of their businesses, especially during the post-pandemic recovery phase.

“The Scality programme, which was launched by DAFZA, has a strategic priority to support local, regional and global emerging technology companies through an exceptional experience that ensures smooth establishment. This memorandum serves as an important strategic complement to the system supporting this category of companies,” he added.

Vikas Thapar, Head of Business Banking and NEOBiz, Mashreq Bank, added, “We are pleased to embark upon a long-term strategic partnership with DAFZA to support the SME eco-system with value added services and banking products. NEOBiz empowers DAFZA SMEs and entrepreneurs with branch-less banking, intelligent teller machines, ATM and cash deposit machines, and online and mobile application banking.”

Additionally, the Mashreq NEOBiz team will share expertise and insight with business owners through webinars hosted by its executives and their strategic partners and facilitating round table sessions with the aim of fostering entrepreneurship and education for the SME community.

Mashreq NeoBiz has also partnered with other free zones, startup ecosystems and incubators to serve newly set up companies, including a blockchain based partnership with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) today announces it has started including court-ordered payment obligations from Dubai Courts in its Credit Reports, upon completing system integration between both parties.

This is in line with the company’s implementation plan of the Federal Decree Law No. 8 of 2020 regarding amendments to the Federal Law concerning Credit Information, in cooperating with a range of federal and local government data providers to enrich Credit Reports and increase credit awareness in the UAE.

Dubai Courts is one of the most active courts in the UAE in terms of the number of court cases. To date, the court has more than 53,962 active judgments in cases that impose payment obligations, including over 37,495 for individuals and 62,455 for companies. AECB started the process of adding courts data in Q1 of 2021, reaffirming its role in expanding the credit register to include payment obligations from non-financial sectors on individuals and companies in the UAE. All of which echoes AECB’s commitment to support the stability the UAE’s credit marketplace.

Marwan Ahmad Lutfi, CEO of AECB, said, “Our cooperation with Dubai Courts will act as a springboard to deepen the comprehensiveness of AECB Credit Reports to include payment obligations residing within UAE Courts. Creditworthiness of individuals and companies are affected by their ability to repay on financial obligations, and by including this new information on top of the existing bank-related credit information, banks, telecom operators, service providers and other subscribers and users will be able to make better credit assessments and decisions.”

Taresh Al Mansouri, General Manager of Dubai Courts said that Dubai Courts have completed, through the (Dubai Pulse) Platform, in cooperation with Dubai Digital and Al Etihad Credit Bureau, the process of credit Data exchange and integration. “This is in line with Dubai Government policy aiming to develop the process of exchange of information between governmental and private entities and evidence-based decision-making; support the culture of information exchange, through using and reusing the same information, beside protection of confidential information; achieve the UAE vision in becoming the first country in providing best governmental services to achieve people’s happiness, harmonisation and integration between governmental and local services; increase efficiency of federal governmental services in terms of quality, speed, simplification of process and raising competitiveness indicator of the UAE; achieve Dubai’s vision of becoming the happiest city, and support decision-making process at federal and local governments; and implement Dubai’s plans and strategic initiatives efficiently.”

“This contributed to achieving the Country’s strategic objectives in providing investigation tools, protection of rights and accomplishments, besides growth of business,” he added.

Al Etihad Credit Bureau has started the gradual process of onboarding UAE Courts to enrich its credit register, which currently includes more than 11 million individuals and one million companies.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Emirates announced today that it will introduce the first scheduled commercial Airbus A380 service to Istanbul, Turkey from 1st October. For the first time, travellers to and from Turkey will have the opportunity to regularly enjoy the experience of flying on this iconic double-decker jumbo jet.

Emirates will operate the A380 on its daily EK123/124 service. Flight EK123 will depart Dubai at 10:45 and arrive in Istanbul at 14:25. The return flight EK124 will depart Istanbul at 16:25 and arrive in Dubai at 21:50. All times are local.

Deploying its three-class A380, Emirates will offer a total of 517 seats, with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 mini pods with lie-flat seats in Business Class and 427 spacious seats in Economy Class, increasing capacity per flight by more than 150 passengers compared to the current Boeing 777-300ER.

“We are excited to finally bring our flagship to Istanbul to join many other top cities we currently serve with the A380. Since Emirates started operating to Turkey 34 years ago, we have carried six million customers on more than 23,000 flights. Bringing the A380 service to Turkey is a major milestone for Emirates and we would like to thank all our partners and stakeholders for their support in making this a reality,” said Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer.

“Since we moved to our new home at Istanbul Airport on 6 April 2019, Emirates’ A380 entry is another milestone for us. I am proud that the world’s largest A380 operator, Emirates, will operate the Dubai-Istanbul route with their flagship, making it the first ever A380 operation at Istanbul Airport and Turkey. This increase will help to boost traffic between our two nations. In the post-Covid-19 era, through Emirates’ extensive network, it will bring more inbound tourism to Istanbul and Turkey from currently unserved or underserved destinations. We are looking forward to further developing our good relations with Emirates and would like to welcome the Emirates A380 to Istanbul Airport,” said Majid Khan, Vice President Aviation Development of iGA Istanbul Airport.

Customers are encouraged to check the latest government travel restrictions in their country of origin and ensure they meet the travel requirements of their final destination.

Source: Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of condolences to Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, on the death of his mother.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also sent similar messages to the UK Prime Minister.

Source: Emirates News Agency