
Insights: General
Cultural awareness, expat life and practical guides for anyone building a life or career in the Middle East.
Latest Articles


Kuwait’s Agility forms new South African joint venture
Kuwait-based global logistics provider Agility has announced that it has formed a joint venture in South Africa with Super Group, a Johannesburg-based supply chain management and transportation specialist, after acquiring a minority stake in Super Group’s freight forwarding unit. SG Agility Proprietary Ltd will be led by Henk Theron, formerly CEO of Micor, Super Group’s


United Arab Emirates: UAE ends practice of putting family visas on hold
What does the change mean? The change will not affect family members of principal visa holders who change jobs within UAE free zones. It will, however, impact family members of visa holders who change jobs where either the new job or the old one is outside of a free zone. In such instances, family members


Revealed: Dubai’s most popular apartment rental areas
As the first half of the year draws to a close, the real estate market of Dubai has managed to garner positive response from investors that has seen values registering marginal increases in the fifth month of the year, says Bayut.com. With rents holding ground across Dubai, the property website has complied a list of


UAE tops Middle East rankings for ICT economic benefits
The UAE is leading the Arab world when it comes to generating economic impact from investments in information and communications technologies (ICT), according to a new study. The World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2016 ranked the UAE 26th globally, just ahead of Qatar (27th) while Kuwait (61st) was one of the world’s biggest


Saudi Arabia — the Gulf’s new hotspot
Proposing a move to Saudi Arabia may not be the easiest subject to discuss at the family dinner table. Leaving aside the grisly mass state executions — January 2 saw 47 dispatched in a single day — the desert kingdom appears far from ideal when it comes to the practicalities of family life. Under the


Vogue Arabia to launch with Saudi royal as editor-in-chief
The first edition of the magazine is due to appear online in October under Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, 41, who is married to a member of the Saudi royal family, and has been appointed founding editor-in-chief. Print editions are to follow in the spring. “The Arab world consists of 350m people, and they never had a


French hotel firm says 20,000 rooms now open in Middle East
French hospitality giant AccorHotels has announced the opening of a new seaside Novotel in Yanbu, the Red Sea port city in the western province of Madinah, Saudi Arabia. With this latest addition, AccorHotels said it has a total network of more than 20,000 rooms in operation across the Middle East. Novotel Yanbu is AccorHotels’ second


UAE confirms start of Eid al-Fitr holiday on Wednesday
The moon-sighting committee in the UAE has announced that Tuesday will be the last day of Ramadan, with Wednesday the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Sultan bin Saeed Al Badi, Minister of Justice and chair of the committee, said in a statement published by news agency WAM that the committee has not sighted the Shawwal


Why UAE expatriates should not keep all their cash in the bank
Dubai: Bianca Selma has more than Dh100,000 sitting in a bank account in Dubai that doesn’t offer any interest at all. The expatriate feels foolish just letting the money sit idly by. She had worked so hard to build that money for five years and it frustrates her every time she remembers that the bank,
Have a question about the Middle East?
Our advisors are available to discuss your business setup, immigration or relocation requirements across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

