Insights: General
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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,
Venture capital can unlock the potential of entrepreneurs in Qatar
As it strives to become a knowledge-based economy, Qatar has experienced a remarkable economic and social development over the last 30 years. The country’s economic policy has been traditionally focused on developing its vast oil and gas reserves but has also been pushing recently for more diversification, driven by the Qatar National Vision 2030 .
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