“Easter is meant to be a symbol of hope, renewal, and new life.” Janine Di Giovanni
UAE dominates Gulf Business’s Top 100 Arab Power List for 2022 – GulfToday — www.gulftoday.ae
Highlights:
– On Sarah Al Amiri, Gulf Business said, “After reaching Mars, the chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, Sarah Bint Yousif Al Amiri is not standing still.
– Al Jaber was named the highest-ranked CEO outside of the US and China, according to Brand Finance.”
– Sheikh Ahmed led Dubai carrier Emirates’ resurgence in the wake of the pandemic.
– On selection of Al Mubarak, Gulf Business said, “With $243 billion in assets under management, Mubadala Investment, headed by Al Mubarak is playing a key role in diversifying Abu Dhabi’s economic growth.
– Emaar founder, Alabbar, has also driven the e-commerce platform noon.com.
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Highlights:
– The GEM 2021/22 report includes a comprehensive National Expert Survey (NES), which captures the perspectives of more than 2,000 relevant experts – at a minimum of 36 per country – across the 50 participating countries, about the conditions governing entrepreneurship in their country.
– Of the 35 countries that participated in the NES for each of the three years, the highest increases were in Saudi Arabia (from 5.0 in 2019 to 6.1 in 2021), the UAE (from 5.8 to 6.8), and the Republic of Korea (from 5.1 to 5.7).
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UAE calls on global investors to benefit from its business-friendly environment — www.thenationalnews.com
Highlights:
– Last year, the UAE announced Operation 300bn, which aims to more than double the contribution of the industrial sector to economic output to Dh300 billion ($81.68bn) by 2031, from Dh133bn in March 2021.
– Dubai Industrial City, part of Tecom Group, has attracted regional and international players in the industrial and logistics sector, and promoted the export of UAE-made products to international markets, Malek Al Malek, director-general of the Dubai Development Authority and group chief of Tecom Group, said.
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UAE Investors Weigh Projects in Syria as Ties Warm: Al-Watan – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– in recent years, Gulf Arab governments have been restoring relations with the country, with the UAE reopening its embassy in Damascus in December 2018.
– Last year, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported that UAE firms and the country’s electricity ministry signed an agreement to build a photovoltaic power station in the Damascus suburb.
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A New World Energy Order Is Emerging From Putin’s War on Ukraine – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– The 27-nation European Union has responded by speeding up its disconnection from Russian gas, while the U.S. has barred Russian oil imports and is scouring the world for alternative supplies. Saudi Arabia is reveling in a renewed strategic importance as crude prices that collapsed two years ago hit new highs.
– Gulf Arab nations accused the U.S. of a lack of support in the face of repeated attacks by Iranian-backed militia on Saudi oil facilities and Gulf tanker traffic, and on Abu Dhabi this year.
– Now that we are in a crisis moment, we’re reaping the effect of that lack of trust that’s been building over the years,” said Karen Young, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
– Biden needs more oil to keep down the price of gasoline at the pump for American voters and help his Democratic party’s chances of retaining Congress in November’s midterm elections.
– China will continue to carry on “normal trade cooperation” with Russia, including in oil and gas, said Zhao Lijian, a foreign ministry spokesperson. China is considering buying or increasing stakes in Russian companies such as Gazprom PJSC, Bloomberg reported this week.
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Corporations Could Pay Nearly 14% More Under Global Tax Deal – Bloomberg
Highlights:
– The IMF’s projections foreshadow a sharp increase in corporate tax collections largely tied to a two-part pact struck last year with nearly 140 countries to implement a 15% minimum tax rate and an overhaul of some global taxing rights to require some of the largest companies to book income in the countries where revenues are generated.
– The minimum tax would increase corporate tax payments worldwide about 5.7% — or roughly $150 billion, according to the IMF’s estimates.
– The estimates provide an optimistic outlook for a potential end to rampant cross-border profit shifting, a problem that world leaders have for years been trying to resolve.
Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Default Looms as Debt Payments Halted to Save Dollars – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– All outstanding payments to bond holders, bilateral creditors and institutional lenders will be suspended until a debt restructure, the finance ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
– Sri Lanka has about $12.5 billion outstanding in eurobonds, and its next payments are due on April 18, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
– Nomura Holdings Inc. expects an “Ecuador-style debt restructuring” where the existing stock of bonds are exchanged into three longer-dated bonds with a reduction in coupon rates and some principal haircut, said Nicholas Yap, head of Asia credit desk analysts in Hong Kong.
Can Celebrities Promote NFTs? Regulators Struggle to Oversee DeFi Market – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– A key legal question is whether digital assets including NFTs are securities, and therefore subject to the same rules as stocks.
– U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules stipulate that it is unlawful for any person to tout security, like a stock, without disclosing a financial relationship or ownership to the source. In other words, celebrities that are being compensated would need to disclose their payment.
– About $44 billion worth of crypto was sent to smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain tied to NFTs during 2021, up from $106 million the year before, according to data from Chainalysis.
– For MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright, it’s clear why artists and musicians are so attracted to NFTs: Web3 and the blockchain technology that underpins NFTs have the potential to disrupt how creators and artists manage their royalties without the help of middlemen, he said.
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