Day: November 28, 2021

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Behind Expo 2020 Dubai’s logo: Saruq Al Hadid documentary links UAE’s rich past with innovative future

DUBAI, A documentary on the ancient international trade centre where the ring that inspired the Expo 2020 logo was found was unveiled at a private screening on Sunday. It will be available for general viewing from Monday, 29 November on Expo 2020’s Virtual Expo, Abu Dhabi TV and Dubai TV, and soon on Discovery Channel.

The 30-minute ‘Saruq Al Hadid: Dubai’s Iron Age’ documents the story of how His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai discovered the area – now one of Dubai’s most historical findings – when he spotted thousands of black, man-made rocks on the dunes from a helicopter.

When archeologists began excavating the site, they found an intricately-designed ring. That ring inspired the design of Expo 2020 Dubai’s official logo, representing the link from the past that is helping to shape the future.

Manal AlBayat, Chief Engagement Officer, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “The story of Saruq Al Hadid links Dubai’s rich past with its exciting, innovative future, showing how people, throughout the ages, can create something truly magical when they work together. This is the message of Expo 2020 and one that, with the help of this fascinating documentary, people from all around the world, from different cultures, will be able to enjoy and learn from, long after Expo 2020 closes its doors.

“The documentary also showcases the incredible work that Dubai and the UAE is doing in the field of preserving our ancient sites, and how preserving the UAE’s rich and vibrant history allows us to learn from our past and help build a better, brighter future for everyone.”

The documentary is a collaboration between Expo 2020 Dubai, Image Nation and Atlantic Productions.

Lina Zilinskaite, Director of Saruq Al Hadid, said: “When we think about ancient great civilisations, our minds immediately go to Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece. What I found incredibly rewarding working on this project was showing that the ancient world was much richer and much more diverse than people think and that there were other cultural centres, other major civilisations at the time that were hubs of cultural activity, of trade and of exchange.”

In addition to exploring the connection between the historic area and Expo 2020 Dubai, the documentary focuses on Dubai’s Iron Age period and the Saruq Al Hadid excavation site, as well as the unique artefacts currently on display at the Saruq Al Hadid Museum.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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UAE’s GreenDome Investments acquires Elite Co. in multi-million dollar deal

DUBAI, GreenDome Investments announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of Elite Co. from Prama Holdings, in a transaction that represents one of the region’s largest acquisitions in the logistics market and is the first of many acquisitions by GreenDome Investments, a logistics investment vehicle owned by regional industry leaders.

Elite Co., a leading fully integrated land freight and courier solutions providers in the Middle East, has state-of-the-art operations and assets across Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, with its regional hub in Dubai, the UAE.

With over 1,000 staff, 600 trucks and 100,000 square feet of warehouse capacity, Elite Co. has progressively expanded its network over the past two decades by supporting customer and partners with a full spectrum of land logistics, including unique bonded services and multiport clearance options. Elite Co. serves a diverse client base including financial institutions, e-commerce, retail, oilfield, and automobile industries.

Headquartered in Dubai, GreenDome Investments aims to build an integrated end-to-end logistics services powerhouse to tap into the Middle East and the world’s growing logistics and e-commerce industry. The company is backed by regional industry leaders, including UAE-based Rais Hassan Saadi Group and the Sharaf Group, and Logipoint, a subsidiary of Saudi Industrial Services Company, SISCO, a listed company on the Saudi Arabia stock exchange.

As a strategic hub for international trade, and at the cross-roads between the East and West, the Middle East represents one of the fastest growing trade centres in the world with an expected growth in the logistics sector of 4.3 percent between 2020 and 2025. The region will play a central role in the global logistics market, which is projected to reach US$6.9 trillion by 2026, expanding at an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent throughout 2021 to 2026.

The region is also witnessing significant expansion in the e-commerce sector, with the market expected to grow by 19 percent to US$50 billion by 2025, in turn driving the growth of e-commerce logistics by 20 percent to US$5 billion by 2025.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Dubai Maritime City’s industrial district to undergo infrastructure enhancements worth AED 13.4mn

DUBAI, DP World’s purpose-built maritime centre, Dubai Maritime City (DMC) announced 20% completion of the upgrade for the wastewater management network in the industrial precinct.

The network will connect DMC, Mina Rashid and P&O Marinas to the existing Dubai Municipality main infrastructure.

DMC features varied facilities including workshops, warehouses, showrooms, shops, office spaces, yacht manufacturing workshops and more that are ideal for major businesses in marine services.

Currently, their customer base includes companies primarily dealing with ship lifts, ship repair and yacht manufacturing. The AED 13.4 million upgrade project will meet the increasing demand within the industrial hub creating an uptick in the number of occupants.

Ahmed Al Hammadi, Chief Operating Officer, DMC, said: “The Industrial Precinct of Dubai Maritime City is a bustling business hub, housing leading marine companies. Currently, the occupancy rate in the district has reached 82 per cent with 299 business partners. The rapidly increasing number of occupants prompted us to initiate the upgrade of the existing effluent treatment systems to offer first-grade services for the businesses here. We are constantly working to ensure that our existing facilities meet our clients’ needs. Thus, supporting our mission and purpose of helping DMC’s business partners thrive and preserving the quality we offer our discerning customers, while also facilitating the wastewater treatment processes in the city.”

Currently, the team has achieved 98 percent of the design work and 36 per cent of the engineering and placement of contracts related to the upgrade project that commenced in October 2020 and is scheduled for completion in Q2 of 2022.

Source: Emirates News Agency

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Etihad Credit Insurance partners with Tradeling to ramp up trade and business growth in MENA region

DUBAI, Giving a major boost to trade relations and continued business growth in the region, Etihad Credit Insurance, the UAE Federal export credit company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tradeling, the hyper-growing eMarketplace focused on business-to-business (B2B) transactions in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Under the agreement, signed by Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, and Marius Ciavola, CEO of Tradeling, the UAE’s Federal export credit company will provide Tradeling’s customers with a broad range of trade credit insurance solutions, which will protect them against commercial and non-commercial risks arising from customers’ insolvency, protracted defaults as well as supply and political risks. It will also help them achieve growth on a global scale by providing a wide range of market intelligence and ease of access to international trade.

With ECI’s commercial and Shariah-compliant solutions, Tradeling’s customers will be insured for invoice discounting, which is a finance facility when a company’s unpaid invoices are used as collateral for a loan. In addition to ECI Islamic and SME Protect, other innovative trade credit insurance products will benefit small, mid-cap and large enterprises using Tradeling’s platform. ECI will also facilitate finance policies on a case-by-case basis according to the requirements of Tradeling’s customers.

On the other hand, Tradeling will conduct events in cooperation with ECI to provide valuation tips and information for its customers discussing the advantages of using trade credit insurance to ensure the growth as well as continuity of their business.

Establishing a dominant business-to-business ecosystem in MENA with its eMarketplace and other innovative digital platforms, Tradeling ensures a safe and stable trade process, which is perfectly in sync with the mission of ECI to accelerate non-oil trade and economic diversification of the UAE.

Commenting on the agreement, Falcioni said: “In today’s complex economic and trading ecosystem, it is indispensable to have businesses protected by proper insurance solutions. By associating with a dominant digital business platform in the region, we intend to reach out to numerous local businesses supporting them with our trade credit insurance services and global network of more than 320 million businesses worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Ciavola said: “Tradeling connects local businesses with global sellers from around the world. Through this partnership with Etihad Credit Insurance, sellers can sell their products to the UAE market with a high level of government protection and support. Similarly UAE SMEs can safely export their products using Tradeling’s platform. We are honoured to have this opportunity to collaborate with a Federal agency, which we believe will have a tremendous impact on the business growth of our loyal customers across the region.”

Source: Emirates News Agency

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UNESCO approves UAE-led decision to consolidate action for protection of cultural and creative ecosystem

ABU DHABI, The Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has adopted a decision led by the United Arab Emirates, a member of the Executive Board of the Organisation, to consolidate action for the protection of the cultural and creative ecosystem.

The decision, entitled “Building on the 2021 International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development Through Consolidated Action”, was submitted in partnership with Indonesia, Colombia and Bangladesh as co-authors of the document, each representing pioneers in the creative economy. The document compliments significant initiatives in the cultural and creative sectors, including those led by its co-authors. Moreover, this decision is part of the UAE’s efforts towards marking the year 2021 that was declared as the International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development by the United Nations.

The decision was adopted during the 212th session of the UNESCO Executive Board and supported by over 36 UNESCO member states.

Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, said, “The decision submitted by the UAE aims to consolidate action towards safeguarding the cultural and creative ecosystem, and builds on the strategic role played by the UAE in the international creative economy. Today, the creative economy plays a significant and remarkable role in achieving inclusive economic development of societies. Global efforts are needed to protect and nurture the cultural and creative industries, and international cooperation continues to be vital to transcend exchange into meaningful action.

“This decision will build on the outcomes of the World Conference on Creative Economy (WCCE) organised by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth to be held from 7th-9th December 2021 during Expo 2020 Dubai. As the WCCE aligns with UNESCO’s mission and vision under its cultural mandate, the decision will assist member states in decision-making for this vital sector.”

Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said, “We are pleased with the decision made by the UNESCO Executive Board to adopt this resolution aimed at promoting the cultural and creative industries around the globe as a means of fostering human-centered sustainable development. We also welcome this resolution as it supports the aims of UNESCO and its member states and contributes to advancing cultural planning and decision-making in their countries.”

The document emphasises the importance of continuing to strengthen efforts to nurture, and protect, the cultural and creative ecosystem, by requesting that the Organisation take stock of the efforts undertaken across existing and emerging international platforms and conferences, with the aim to ensure policy directions at the international level meet the future needs and aspirations of member states. Further, it requests that UNESCO initiate the development of international indicators on cultural and creative industries to assist all member states in quantifying and overseeing the development of the sector by 2022.

The decision also recommends strengthening cooperation between UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and other relevant organisations, to envisage collectively developing recommendations on the required intellectual property protections for cultural and creative industries to address the challenges and explore new developments in the cultural sector resulting from digital transformation and artificial intelligence.

Source: Emirates News Agency