Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, may all the positive vibes of Christmas shield you, and fill your life with joy and merriment. Dr. Atie J El Mouallem
December Third Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #36
India’s Reliance Agrees to Build $2 Billion Petrochemical Plant in UAE – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Reliance are looking to turn hydrocarbons into products that will help them tap consumer demand for plastics. – The collaboration will see the establishment of a joint venture at Ta’ziz, the chemicals and industrial complex under development at Ruwais. Read more. BlackRock-Led Group Wins $15.5 Billion Saudi Aramco Pipeline Deal – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The consortium will buy a 49% stake in a new entity that holds 20-year leasing rights over pipelines carrying Saudi Aramco’s gas across the country. – The deal, announced by Aramco on Monday, is part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to sell assets and use the money to fund new industries from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles, while also increasing output of both oil and gas. – Bloomberg reported last month that BlackRock was among the firms that bid for the gas pipelines. Others included EIG, Italian infrastructure firm Snam SpA and China’s state-backed Silk Road Fund Co. – Expectations that the world can move quickly to renewable sources of energy are “deeply flawed,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said Monday in Houston. – Doing otherwise will lead to “energy insecurity, rampant inflation, and social unrest if prices become intolerably high,” he said. Read more. UAE Royal Visits Iran, Marking Highest-Level Engagement in Decade – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, UAE’s national security adviser, issued the invitation to Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting in Tehran on Monday, according to Iran’s official president’s website. – Tahnoon said the UAE wanted to develop trade and investment but he gave no details and it wasn’t clear how that would tally with U.S. secondary sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. Could a One-Shot Coronavirus Vaccine Protect You From All Variants? – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – What Wang found astonished him. After getting the Covid shot, the SARS patients had developed something akin to super-antibodies, which blocked both SARS viruses and a multitude of other coronaviruses – The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in August, offered one of the strongest bodies of evidence that a universal coronavirus vaccine is possible. – At his 13th-floor lab a few kilometres from Singapore’s central business district, Wang is working on a prototype vaccine that could generate the same type of wide-ranging immune response he saw in the Covid-vaccinated SARS survivors. – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a global nonprofit based in Oslo. CEPI plans to spend $200 million to develop broad-acting coronavirus vaccines over the next five years. – A broad-acting vaccine could provide a ready-to-use weapon against threats such as omicron, which has far more mutations than any previously identified variant and which researchers and governments are scrambling to understand and to develop boosters for. – Given the plethora of bat coronaviruses lurking in nature, there’s every reason to expect more Covid-like epidemics. – More than a dozen academic teams, along with a handful of biotech companies, are working on the problem. Labs at Duke and a few other U.S. universities have already created prototypes demonstrating potent cross-virus immune responses in animals, including against SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and some related bat coronaviruses. Read more. Billionaire’s Bet on Pfizer Vaccine for China Fails to Pay Off – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Chinese billionaire Guo Guangchang’s drugmaker appeared to have scored a big win: A partnership with Germany’s BioNTech SE, which went on to produce with Pfizer Inc. one of the world’s most successful vaccines against the coronavirus. – Yet almost a year later, the shot is yet to be approved in mainland China, and in recent weeks Beijing has thrown its heft behind a homegrown mRNA vaccine, allowing China’s Walvax Biotechnology Co. to test its own experimental shot as a booster. – The delayed approval is the latest sign of how vulnerable Chinese tycoons — and their foreign partners — are to Beijing’s political dictats. – Zhao Bing, a senior analyst who oversees healthcare research at China Renaissance Securities HK Ltd. said “How much market share can Fosun grab? I don’t know, but it’s certainly not looking optimistic.” – The uncertainty is a blow to the ambitions of Guo, 54, who in recent years has increasingly made health care a key area of focus for his conglomerate. – China doesn’t have an mRNA vaccine right now. When it does, it’d better be a domestic one, so that it shows the country is just as capable of pulling it off,” said Mia He, senior healthcare analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Read more. Why People Are Quitting Jobs and Protesting Work Life From the U.S. to China – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The Great Resignation has U.S. workers quitting their jobs in record numbers—more than 24 million did so from April to September this year—and many are staying out of the labor force. Germany, Japan, and other wealthy nations are seeing shades of the same trend. – China’s “lie-flat” movement, jump-started by a social media post from which it got its name, is also about opting out. It’s a reaction against a system in which a gruelling “996” work schedule—9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week—is common in industries like technology. – Some see the lie-flat phenomenon as a warning of impending Japan-style stagnation—one that’s arrived unexpectedly early in the economy’s development. Others argue it’s more of the 1960s-style counterculture movements that cropped up in the U.S. and parts of western Europe, with ordinary people seeking a lower-pressure society that’s more focused on personal development. – Xiang Biao,
December Second Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #35
Macron Announces Saudi Intiative to Solve Lebanon Crisis – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Macron told reporters in Jeddah that he and the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had called Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati together “to send a clear message that Saudia Arabia and France want to fully engage to support the Lebanese people.” – In a statement on Twitter, Mikati said the conversation was “an important step to restoring the historic fraternal relations with Saudi Arabia.” – Macron said that France and Saudi Arabia want Lebanon’s government “to be able to work in a normal way” and called on Beirut to implement “useful reforms”. – Asked if he had the impression that Saudi Arabia will now re-engage financially in Lebanon, Macron replied: “Yes, this was the commitment made to France and this is what we decided together.” Read more. Dubai’s $25 Billion State Utility Picks Banks for Record IPO – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – DEWA has chosen Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc and Emirates NBD Bank PJSC to lead the offering. – It is planning to seek a valuation of around $20 billion to $25 billion. – Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are among the bookrunners that have been selected to work on the IPO. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more Foxconn and Saudi in Talks to Form Electric Car Joint Venture, Sources Say – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Foxconn will provide software, electronics and electrical architecture for the new EVs and will be a minority stakeholder in the collaboration, according to one of the people. The arrangement will help the country gain experience in manufacturing cars, another person said. – The joint venture is looking to assemble EVs on a chassis licensed from BMW AG, two people said. Read more. UAE Moves Weekend Days to Saturday-Sunday, Makes Friday a Half-Day – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The changes, which the government said will allow the UAE to align more closely with global markets, will come into effect on Jan. 1 and apply to the public sector and schools. There will be a 4 1/2-day working week with Friday — a holy day in Islam — being a half-day, the federal government said in a statement. – The government didn’t say whether the private sector would have to adopt the new 4 1/2-day weeks, with the door being left open for private companies to decide how to allocate resources. – The changes “will increase the number of days we do business with the rest of the world, which will boost trade,” said Nabil Alyousuf, chief executive officer of Dubai-based International Advisory Group. – Pedro Gomes, an economist at Birkbeck, University of London, and author of the book says “Starting by the public sector is a tactical mistake. It will exacerbate the narrative of the hardworking private sector versus lazy bureaucrats. This is why the Utah 2011 4-day week failed. It should be implemented to the whole economy, giving 4/6 years for the adjustment.” Read more. EXPERIENCE LIVING IN PIXEL Forward Living – The Pixel Pixel is the first mixed-use residential community at Makers District. Pixel offers its residents & visitors a unique space to enrich, collaborate & engage. Designed as human-scale, the 7 mixed-use residential towers surrounded by quiet pocket gardens have been strategically arranged around a vibrant pedestrianized plaza. Learn more. Banker Cristina Junqueira Quit Job to Found Nubank, and Now She’s a Billionaire – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Cristina Junqueira knew she needed to make a change. Tired of selling people products she said they didn’t actually want. – She met David Velez, a Colombia-born private equity executive who was trying to start a digital bank to compete with Brazil’s behemoth lenders. But he was in need of someone with inside knowledge. – Fast forward eight years, and the 39-year-old Brazilian is on the cusp of joining an extremely small group of self-made female billionaire bankers. – When Nu Holdings, the digital bank they created together, prices its initial public offering on Wednesday, Junqueira’s stake could be valued at as much as $1.1 billion. Read more. Did Purdues’ Sacklers Abuse US Bankruptcy to Avoid Opioid Lawsuits? – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – A handful of U.S. attorneys general, including those of Connecticut, Delaware and Vermont, allege in court papers that those cash transfers are part of a long-term strategy by the members of the Sackler family to shield their wealth from opioid victims. They want Judge McMahon to reject the settlement. – The U.S. Trustee — an arm of the Justice Department trying to overturn Purdue’s opioid settlement — is less interested in an explanation for the transfers. – The majority of Purdue’s creditors and most of the attorneys general in the U.S. support the settlement and don’t want it overturned. In court papers, the drugmaker’s official unsecured creditor body — in charge of looking out for the best interests of almost anyone owed money by Purdue — said it has had the cash transfers at issue in its “cross-hairs” for more than two years. Read more. Venezuela’s PDVSA Restarts Oil Production With Backpacks of Cash – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA has been pumping about 908,000 barrels a day in the past week, according to people familiar with the matter. With crude near $75 a barrel, it’s a financial lifeline for a nation hobbled by U.S. sanctions and in the throes of a seven-year recession. – According to people with direct knowledge of the matter, it’s handing out contracts to little-known local companies with the promise of payments in scrap
December First Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #34
We’re ushering in next 50 years with a well-thought-out strategic vision: UAE President — gulfbusiness.com Highlights: – The UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said that the country’s founding fathers embraced sustainable development as a guiding methodology to build up a modern nation that derives its human, socio-economic, and cultural clout from robust constitutional, organisational and structural tenets. – President Khalifa added, “We have introduced to the world an inspiring development success story, which has rendered our country a leading regional and international financial centre, and a sought-after place to live, work, invest and travel. In so doing, we have surpassed others in terms of wellbeing, service excellence, corporate governance, trade openness, quality of life and entrepreneurship. We have successfully weathered the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and restored normalcy while observing full compliance with preventative measures in place.” Read more. Sphinx Avenue Restored After 2,500 Years as Egypt Boosts Tourism – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Construction of the original avenue was finished during the reign of Nectanebo I (380-362 BC), one of Egypt’s last native pharaohs whose armies sparred with Persian invaders. It was then renovated by the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra and later used by the Romans. – The restoration’s one of several projects undertaken by Egyptian authorities in a bid to win back the legions of tourists who used to flock to the country’s ancient treasures before post-Arab Spring turmoil and then the coronavirus took their toll – As the global health emergency froze travel, income dropped by half in the fiscal year that ended in June, falling to $4.9 billion from $9.9 billion in the previous 12 months, according to the central bank. Read more. UAE Sets Up $10 Billion Fund to Support Turkey as Ties Warm – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The fund will focus on strategic sectors such as energy, food and healthcare, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency reported. The UAE, a small but influential Persian Gulf oil-and-business powerhouse, and Turkey also signed cooperation deals for their wealth funds, stock exchanges and central banks. – Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ signed a cooperation deal with the Turkish Presidency Investment Office on foreign direct investment involving energy, petrochemicals, technology, transportation, infrastructure, health care, financial services, food and agriculture. ADQ is also expected to sign cooperation agreements with closely held Turkish companies Kalyon and CCN, according to a Turkish official. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more Villa With Caravaggio Paintings in Rome Up for Auction, Valued at EUR471 Million – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The Casino dell’Aurora, also known as Villa Ludovisi, was built in 1570 and has been in the Ludovisi family since the early 1600s. After Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi died in 2018, the villa became the subject of an inheritance dispute between the children from his first marriage and his third wife, Rita Jenrette Boncompagni Ludovisi. – A “monumental property” on six levels, the listing says it is “among the most prestigious architectural and landscape beauties of pre-unification Rome,” with three garages, the Caravaggio, two roof terraces and a “splendid garden with arboreal essences and tall trees, pedestrian paths, stairs and rest areas.” – Aside from the Caravaggio ceiling and the lush gardens outside, the 2,800-square-meter (30,000-square-foot) home off the swank Via Veneto features frescoes by Guercino. Read more. Business Booms for Cargo Salvage Buyers Amid Supply Chain Crisis – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – When a product doesn’t reach its destination for a period of time, it often loses the value that it originally had,” says Tom Enders, owner of Michigan-based Salvage Groups Inc. When that happens, customers sometimes refuse to accept the goods; other times, they simply abandon them. In either case, “shipping lines can contact a company like ours to recover as much value from it as they can,” he says. – No one in the supply chain makes money when stuff is sitting idle,” Enders says. “They make money when they’re moving stuff.” – That’s where salvage buyers come in. – The size of the buyers’ profits hinges on how cleverly they can get rid of what they acquire. – When the goods are worthless or dangerous they take a cut of the disposal fee; when the goods have value they make a profit on the resale. – Because 90% of the world’s goods travel by ship, just about anything can wind up in the hands of a salvage buyer. Read more. Recurring revenue loans show how everything is a growth stock – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Having spent years chasing shrinking returns in the booming institutional loan market, yield-hungry lenders are taking a leaf out of the venture capitalist playbook and extending cash to companies that aren’t yet profitable but which might be expected to become so in the future. – After years of watching the equity market pour money into unprofitable but ‘high-growth technology companies, the credit market appears to be doing the same. – As recurring revenue deals proliferate, the amount of yield lenders are receiving in exchange for risk is diminishing. Read more. Brazil’s Anti-Poverty Program Will Rock Commodity Markets – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Brazil has an outsize role in a wide array of the world’s essential foodstuffs and minerals. When the currency falls, production costs for Brazilian producers fall as well, making their goods more competitive and adding to supply. – the weakness of the real may yet help to ease the inflationary pressures coursing through the world economy. – Soybeans, the country’s largest export, production in the current crop season is projected to hit a record of more than 5 billion bushels – Brazil
November Fourth Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #33
UAE announces citizenship for investors, medical doctors, skilled professionals, scientists and talented people | Government – Gulf News Highlights: – The decision to give people with exceptional talents and their families Emirati citizenship aims to embrace them as members of part of the UAE society, ensure the social stability of these people in the country and boost the overall national development process. – The changes, taken upon the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, were approved by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Saturday. – In addition to granting citizenship to the families- the spouse and children of this specialised and skilled segment, the law allows for them to also keep their current citizenship, which is a major change to the previous rule that doesn’t allow for dual citizenship Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. ADNOC Awards $1.46 Billion EPC Contracts for the Dalma Gas Development Project Highlights: – The Dalma field is part of the Ghasha Concession which is the world’s largest offshore sour gas development and an important enabler of gas self-sufficiency for the United Arab Emirates (UAE). – Both engineering contracts are expected to be completed in 2025 and will enable the Dalma field to produce around 340 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of natural gas. The offshore Dalma field is located 190 kilometers northwest of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi Read more. Revealed: Winners at the 2021 Gulf Business Awards — gulfbusiness.com Highlights: – Gulf Business also presented the coveted Lifetime Achievement award to Colm McLoughlin, executive vice-chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty-Free, for his outstanding contribution to the travel retail industry. BUSINESS LEADERS OF THE YEAR Banking: Rola Abu Manneh, CEO, Standard Chartered UAE. Energy: Paddy Padmanathan, CEO and president, ACWA Power. Healthcare: Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, chairman and managing director, VPS Healthcare. Investment: Bal Krishen, chairman, Century Financial. Real estate: Hussain Sajwani, founder, DAMAC Properties. Retail: Mohammad A Baker, deputy chairman and CEO, GMG. Technology: Nidal Abou-Ltaif, president – Avaya International (EMEA & APAC). Transport and Logistics: Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, chairman of the Hope Consortium Executive Committee; Group CEO, Abu Dhabi Ports. Tourism and Hospitality: Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Read more. G42 (Mubadala) Driverless Car Service: Yas Island News – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Group 42’s Bayanat unit will begin with five cars on Yas Island. – Bayanat signed an agreement to begin autonomous vehicle trials in March and the UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved testing of self-driving vehicles this month. – Earlier this year, Cruise LLC, the self-driving car unit backed and majority-owned by General Motors Co., signed a deal to begin operating self-driving taxis in Dubai in 2023. – Mubadala took a stake in the company last year. Read more. The $5 Billion Hoard of Metal the World Wants But Can’t Have – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – In the esoteric world of aluminium, those in the know say the stockpile in Vietnam is the biggest they have ever seen. – To put it in perspective, it’s equivalent to the entire annual consumption of India, the world’s second-most populous country, said Duncan Hobbs, a London-based analyst. – The blistering rally in prices means the value of the metal has risen more than 50% since it was impounded. If the stockpile ever started moving, the impact could be seismic. It would be more than enough to erase a global deficit that has emerged in the aluminium market this year, and a fire sale could send prices crashing. Read more. Asia’s Richest Man Mukesh Ambani Eyes Walton Family For Succession Plan – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Ambani is considering moving his family’s holdings into a trust-like structure that will control the Mumbai-listed flagship Reliance Industries Ltd. – Ambani, his wife Nita, and three children will have stakes in the new entity overseeing Reliance and be on its board, along with a few of Ambani’s long-term confidantes as advisers. Management, though, will largely be entrusted to outsiders, professionals who will handle the day-to-day operations of India’s most influential company and its businesses that span oil refining and petrochemicals to telecommunications, e-commerce and green energy. – The magnate is drawn to the way the family behind Walmart managed the transfer of control after the death of founder Sam Walton in 1992, the people familiar with his thinking said. – The Walton family model reflects unusual prescience on the part of founder Sam, who built the now global giant from a handful of five-and-dime stores. He started preparing for succession in 1953 — almost 40 years before he died — by passing 80% of the family business to his four children: Alice, Rob, Jim and John. That minimized estate taxes and helped the family retain control even as the company grew into the world’s largest retailer. – A model that keeps the family central but delegates management has obvious appeal for someone like Ambani, given his history. Read more.
November Third Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #32
What lessons can Électricité du Liban learn from EDZ to provide 24/7 Electricity — atiejelmouallem.com Over the last decade, Électricité du Liban transfers averaged 3.8% of Lebanon’s gross domestic product (GDP) per year and accounted for around half of the overall fiscal deficit. The means that the more electricity Électricité du Liban produces the greater the public debt it loads on to Lebanese people. However, this doesn’t mean that Lebanese should get used to living with staggering electricity cuts. Electricity is what makes humans feel civilised and gives dignity to our lives. It is one of the most essential attributes of modern life. Without electricity, we are engulfed in the dark abyss of Neverland. Our options of progress and development are linked with the availability of electricity. Failure of EDL to provide electricity also is reminiscent of the post-war failure of the state formed after the Taif Agreement. It also reminds the Lebanese of the period of the Civil war. Read more. UN poverty expert says Government fails population – Extreme Poverty and Human Rights — www.srpoverty.org Highlights: – Lebanon is not a failed State yet, but it is a failing State, with a government failing its population,” the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, said at the end of a 12-day visit to the country. – While the population is trying to survive day-to-day, the Government wastes precious time evading accountability and scapegoating refugees from the comfort of their offices,” he said. – Unfortunately, I heard no credible poverty alleviation plan from the Government that does not rely on international donors and non-governmental organizations. – De Schutter said dependence on international aid is not sustainable and in fact it weakens State institutions. – The dereliction of responsibility at top levels of political leadership is astonishing. While I met with dedicated officials at lower levels of Government, I was shocked by the disconnect between the political establishment and the reality of those in poverty on the ground. Read more. Broken Supply Chains Threaten Ruin at a Growing Number of Small Firms – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Covid was tough enough to figure out in terms of consumer behavior, increased leverage,” said Lisa Donahue, global co-head of restructuring at AlixPartners. “And then you add stress on the supply chain, coupled with inflation — that makes it really complicated,” she said. “If you have high leverage and other fixed costs to start with, you’re going to find yourself getting pushed a lot closer to the edge.” – One silver lining to the distressed drought is that investors who specialize in troubled companies have plenty of idle cash looking for something to rescue, and there’s no shortage of turnaround consultants. – No one expects supply chains to untangle any time soon. Donahue at AlixPartners hears that normal could be anywhere from 18 to 24 months away. Read more. India, China, BRICs: How Top Emerging Economies Fared Over 20 Years Highlights: – Jim O’Neill chief economist of Goldman Sachs Group Inc launched a project built around a simple premise: the economic heft of Brazil, Russia, India and China was set to grow massively. The result was Global Economic Paper Number 66: “Building Better Global Economic BRICs,” published on Nov. 30, 2001. – The central thesis: The global economy would in the following decades be driven by the growth of these emerging markets which had large populations to harness. It argued global policymaking forums such as the Group of Seven should be re-organized to incorporate BRIC representatives. – I got China very right, and Brazil and Russia very right in the first decade, but the second decade for Brazil and Russia has been close to a disaster,” says O’Neill. – Brazil started to slow due to consumer debt and weak business confidence. Oil price volatility weighed on Russia. India was rattled by the 2013 Taper Tantrum, when the Federal Reserve signaled a winding back of its bond buying program. By August 2013, Brazil and India had been lumped into the Fragile Five grouping, coined by Morgan Stanley, to capture the economies vulnerable to investor outflows (joined by Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey). China continued to power ahead, fueled by a massive borrowing binge that Beijing’s policy makers are still grappling with the legacy of even today. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. Global Wealth Surges as China Overtakes U.S. to Grab Top Spot – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Net worth worldwide rose to $514 trillion in 2020, from $156 trillion in 2000, according to the study. China accounted for almost one-third of the increase. Its wealth skyrocketed to $120 trillion from a mere $7 trillion in 2000, the year before it joined the World Trade Organization, speeding its economic ascent. – As computed by McKinsey, 68% of global net worth is stored in real estate. The balance is held in such things as infrastructure, machinery and equipment and, to a much lesser extent, so-called intangibles like intellectual property and patents. – Financial assets are not counted in the global wealth calculations because they are effectively offset by liabilities: A corporate bond held by an individual investor, for instance, represents an I.O.U. by that company. Read more. India Is Said to Take Forward-Looking Steps on Digital Currency – Bloomberg Highlights: – India has had a hot-and-cold relationship with digital currencies in the past few years. In 2018, it effectively banned crypto transactions after a string of frauds following Modi’s sudden decision to eliminate 80% of the nation’s currencies, but the Supreme Court struck down the restriction in March 2020. – The Reserve Bank of India remains a critic, but is now working
November Second Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #31
UAE leaders say country ‘ready to host Cop28’ if selected — www.thenationalnews.com Highlights: – “The UAE has submitted a request to host the Cop28 conference in 2023, the largest global conference of heads of state and government on climate and environmental issues,” Sheikh Mohammed posted on Twitter. – “Many countries have supported our request, and we are looking forward to announcing the selection of the host country within the next two days,” said Sheikh Mohammed. Read more. Dubai to list utility Dewa under bourse expansion plan | Reuters — www.reuters.com Highlights: – The listing plans are aimed at making Dubai a more competitive market against bigger bourses in the region, such those in as Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Abu Dhabi, that are seeing larger listings and strong liquidity. – The Dewa listing plan comes a day after the emirate’s deputy ruler Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said Dubai is aiming to list 10 state-backed companies, state news agency WAM reported. Read more. Ray Dalio Comments on Inflation: Rising Portfolios Don’t Mean Increasing Wealth – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Some people make the mistake of thinking that they are getting richer because they are seeing their assets go up in price without seeing how their buying power is being eroded,” Dalio wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “The ones most hurt are those who have their money in cash.” – In periods of rising prices, he says it’s actually more important to look at what you can buy with that money. – Printing money and giving it away won’t make us wealthier if the money isn’t directed to raise productivity. – History shows that when an individual, organization, country, or empire spends more than what they earn, misery and turbulence are ahead. Read more. 26-Year-Old CEO Takes His Autonomous Truck Company Public in $5 Billion Deal — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Self-driving technology is an unproven business that’s suddenly ready to test its mettle. Embark Trucks is the second major company in the industry to go public this month after Aurora Innovation Inc. completed its own SPAC merger at a valuation of $13 billion. – Embark makes self-driving software for trucks that carry freight. – The SPAC deal brings Embark’s total funding to $317 million. Its investors include Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and Y Combinator. The company has more than 200 employees and has worked with Anheuser-Busch InBev and Werner Enterprises to test its software. Read more. Saudi Arabia Chases Star-Studded $64 Billion Hollywood Dream – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The action flick ‘Desert Warrior’, starring Anthony Mackie (Marvel’s new Captain America), is being filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia, and Gerard Butler’s latest thriller ‘Kandahar’ is starting principal photography in the Al-Ula region this month — a first for the UNESCO World Heritage Site opened last year as part of Saudi Arabia’s related push to introduce tourism. – We’ve started from the beginning, no one was here before, and we have high ambitions to build up Al-Ula as an international film destination,“ said Stephen Strachan, film commissioner for the unspoilt region that boasts majestic pre-Islamic ruins neglected under decades of religious rule. – As part of the push, the kingdom is launching its first international film festival. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. Dubai to List 10 State Firms in Bid to Reverse Falling Trade – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Though the announcement didn’t specify which state firms may be listed, officials at companies such as Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and Emirates Airline have said in the past that any decisions about IPOs rest with the government. – Dubai plans to offer stakes in 10 state-owned companies in what may prove to be a test of confidence in a stock market dogged by falling volumes at a time when regional rivals are stepping up sales. – Dubai has staged just one IPO since 2017, and its only prospect of a listing this year fell through when logistics firm Tristar Transport pulled its offering in April. At the same time, flagship names such as port operator DP World have delisted while others like Emaar Malls and Damac Properties are in the process of doing so. Read more. Turkey’s Rich Cash In as Erdogan’s War on Interest Rates Punishes Supporters – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – While governments elsewhere look to curb surging prices as the global economy recovers from the pandemic, Erdogan’s betting that lower rates will turbo-boost growth. – Driving credit-fueled growth the year before an election has worked for Erdogan in the past but the accumulating impact of that policy over the years, plus the damage wrought by Covid, means the potential social costs are much bigger this time. – Nowhere is the divergence clearer than in Istanbul’s property market, where investors are taking advantage of cheap lending to snap up real estate as a hedge against lira volatility. – By some counts, the policy is a roaring success. – Manufacturers and exporters are thriving as the currency’s slide has sharply reduced labor costs at home and made Turkish products more competitive abroad, while cheaper borrowing has allowed companies to rapidly ramp up output since the pandemic – All that has come at the expense of workers, however, as income distribution becomes more unequal. Read more.
November First Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #30
Deutsche Bank’s Top Money Maker Takes Big Risks and Earns Billions in Singapore – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Shah may not be a household name on Wall Street, but his global financing and credit trading group pulls in an estimated 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) annually, accounting for about a third of revenue for the entire investment-banking division, people familiar with the matter said – Under Shah’s leadership, Deutsche Bank has cemented its role as one of the world’s biggest credit traders. His global empire includes the distressed-debt trading business that has long been a strength of Germany’s biggest bank. – Lower taxes are also a draw for many bankers, as Singapore’s top marginal income tax rate of 22% is less than half the level of Germany. – Shah’s team provides the high-risk credit, sometimes back-stopped by derivatives that have so far kept losses to a minimum. The hedges offer credit protection for the loans provided by Deutsche Bank, often to cash-strapped yet asset-rich Asian entrepreneurs. Read more. Supply Chain Crisis Has Central Banks Facing Stagflation Lite – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Central banks, already retreating from their view that inflation is “transitory,” may be forced to counter rising prices with earlier-than-expected interest-rate hikes. – Producers have been caught off-guard by this year’s rebound after they slashed orders of materials last year when consumers stopped spending. – Pulling all these pieces together, the Bloomberg Economics supply indexes show shortages just off a 20-year high in the U.S. Gauges for the U.K. and euro area are at a similarly elevated level. – Apple said it lost $6 billion in sales because of its inability to meet demand and could lose more next quarter. – Shipping conditions should start to ease after the Chinese New Year in early February, “although disruptions could last at least till the middle of next year,” said Shanella Rajanayagam, a trade economist at HSBC. Read more. Dubai Billionaire Sajwani Ups Damac Offer Amid Investor Backlash – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Sajwani’s bid is the latest in a string of similar deals in the United Arab Emirates which sought to buy out minority shareholders at a discount. Emaar Properties PJSC said in March it will effectively delist one of its units for about two-thirds of its original public-offering price. Late last year, government-controlled Meraas Holding LLC proposed taking DXB Entertainments private at a 33% discount. Read more. Saudi Arabia Eyes 7,000 Global Firms as Dubai Rivalry Heats Up – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Officials are talking to major companies with annual revenues of a billion dollars or more, Al-Rasheed said, with the aim of getting 480 of them to set up in Saudi Arabia by 2030. Around half the companies that received their permits this week had already signed agreements in January to relocate regional headquarters to Riyadh. – The carrots are paired with a stick: From the start of 2024, the government and state-backed institutions will stop signing contracts with foreign companies that base their Middle East headquarters elsewhere in the region. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. Saudi Aramco Raises Oil Prices Sharply After OPEC+ Defies Biden – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Analysts expect the oil market to remain under-supplied over the rest of the year following the decision by OPEC+, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia. – The continued supply curbs from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners have helped oil prices surge 60% this year to more than $80 a barrel. This month, BP Plc said global oil demand had surpassed 100 million barrels a day for the first time since the pandemic started. Read more. Why We Should All Start Talking About ‘Whackflation’ – Bloomberg Highlights: – The global pandemic initially sparked a collapse in demand for goods, which led retailers to pull back on ordering and factories to reduce output. As consumer demand began recovering, retailers and factories struggled to meet it. Put simply, they didn’t expect the impact of the big whack to turn back just like that, and have been struggling to balance supply and demand ever since. – It’s that potential to suddenly change the system’s behavior, this inelastic linkage of supply and demand,” says King. “As we see these potential shifts again, I think that the possibility that they end up rippling or cascading through the economy and are more lasting” is significant. Read more. Palm Oil Destroys Rainforests But World Not Buying Sustainable Crop — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – It has always been the understanding and sort of verbal promise that if growers produce certified sustainable palm oil under the RSPO, there will be a market for it,” Bek-Nielsen said. But “people and many large consumer goods manufacturers, including retailers in Europe, are not willing to pay for it.” – Palm oil is cheap, abundant and probably the most versatile crop produced by large-scale farming. – The oil and its derivatives can appear in a list of ingredients under more than 200 names, according to the environmental group Orangutan Alliance. Pick up any packaged item in a supermarket and there’s about a 50 percent chance it’s got palm oil in it. – Palm oil contributes to global warming as forests are cleared to make way for oil palm plantations,” says Matt Piotrowski, Director of Policy and Research at Climate Advisers. – In 2004, the RSPO was created to bring growers, traders, consumer goods makers, retailers, banks and environmental groups together to try to find a way to make the industry sustainable and to halt deforestation, said Chandran. – The RSPO estimates that just over 19 million tons of global supply is certified sustainable,
October Last Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #29
Super-Rich Form Exclusive Club R360 for Billionaires, High-Net-Worth Individuals – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Members with those values — which include honor, entrepreneurial grit and generosity of spirit — are invited to go on a three-year “journey” to gain mastery across six kinds of capital: financial, intellectual, spiritual, human, emotional and social. A three-year family membership costs $180,000. – R360 is set up as a limited partnership, with 48 founding partners contributing $350,000 each, which equates to about a 60% ownership. – One perk of many wealth networks is access to deal flow. R360’s members can propose investment opportunities to the rest of the group, but each deal first goes to a four-person committee, which runs it through a process looking at 100 different factors, Garcia said. – Members also get access to experts at elite universities and medical schools. For R360, custom programming is being developed with Harvard Medical School, Stanford Medical School, Columbia Business School (around fintech and cryptocurrencies), West Point (around leadership) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Garcia said. Read more. Meet UAE Leader Sheikh Mohammed’s New Royal Troubleshooter – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – MBZ has four other brothers, two sisters and several half-siblings, but it is to Sheikh Tahnoon that he has entrusted the country’s most sensitive foreign-policy files and stewardship of an extensive business portfolio that includes IHC, the Royal Group conglomerate, investment firm Abu Dhabi Development Holding and the UAE’s biggest lender, First Abu Dhabi Bank. – The emergence of Sheikh Tahnoon, 51, from relative obscurity just five years ago has set off speculation about his place in the princely pecking order: Might he, rather than one of MBZ’s sons, be next in line to become crown prince? Read more. How Saudi Arabia Is Planning to Reach Net Zero by 2060 – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Without continuing to export oil, the energy minister warned, the country may not have the ability to reach those goals. – No country has a detailed plan for reaching net-zero emissions apart from the U.K., which released a strategy document only last week. – Why 2060? Because most of these technologies may not mature before 2040,” the energy minister said. – The target year of 2060 matches the ambitions set by Russia and China, but it lags those set by other large economies like the U.S., the U.K. and the EU. Even among petrostates, the UAE earlier this month set a net-zero goal set for 2050. Read more. EXPERIENCE LIVING IN PIXEL Forward Living – The Pixel Pixel is the first mixed-use residential community at Makers District. Pixel offers its residents & visitors a unique space to enrich, collaborate & engage. Designed as human-scale, the 7 mixed-use residential towers surrounded by quiet pocket gardens have been strategically arranged around a vibrant pedestrianized plaza. Learn more. Netflix’s Squid Game: Guide to Understanding Korean Inequality, Debt – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The Netflix Inc. hit Squid Game may be a big win for South Korea’s entertainment industry, but it has also exposed the country’s darker side to a global audience. – Decades of super-charged growth have left a deeply stratified society, where soaring house prices and a lack of social mobility fuel excessive borrowing. – These cramped flats built half below ground level, where the characters of the 2020 Oscar-winning film Parasite also live, have become the last resort for Korea’s underclass as apartment prices have surged 70% in the past five years, pushing the average price of an apartment in Seoul beyond $1 million. – The Bank of Korea estimates the Gini coefficient, a global measure of inequality that ranges from zero to one with a lower reading indicating better equality, deteriorated to 0.399. – A major reason for the imbalance is that the country’s sprawling family-owned chaebol groups still control large swathes of the economy, and those who don’t work for chaebols are largely shut out of economic advancement. Read more. EU’s Biggest Pension Fund to Dump $17 Billion in Fossil Fuels – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – ABP said Tuesday it will divest 15 billion euros ($17.4 billion) worth of fossil-fuel assets by early 2023. – The announcement underpins the speed with which the investment industry is turning its back on oil, gas and coal, with 1,500 asset managers overseeing a combined $39.2 trillion now committed to offloading such holdings. – The fossil-fuel divestment movement is growing at an accelerated clip, because the world has realized where the money flows determines our success in slowing climate change,” said Richard Brooks, climate finance director at environmental nonprofit Stand.earth. – BlackRock Inc. report commissioned by New York City that said “no investors found significant negative performance from divestment, but rather have reported neutral to positive results.” Read more. U.S. Says It’s Working With Taiwan to Secure Chip Supply Chain – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The Commerce Department’s request for information is designed to better understand the semiconductor supply chain,” Oudkirk, who is the U.S.’s de facto ambassador in the absence of official ties, said at her first news conference since being appointed in July. – She added that the drive was designed to enable the department to make regulations to “improve or alleviate the disruptions to the supply chain. Read more. Xi Jinping’s Toughest ‘Common Prosperity’ Test Is Raising China’s Taxes – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – As part of the “common prosperity” campaign, which seeks to promote economic equality and narrow China’s wealth gap, the government announced that it will initiate a series of local property tax pilots. – Hainan, which is being turned into a free trade hub, and model socialist city Shenzhen, are considered among the likely candidates. – China has shown a renewed determination to tackle tax evasion by the wealthy, but no clear time frame has emerged for further reforms. – If implementing an inheritance tax requires the wealthy to fully disclose their assets, it’s not on the table. Read more.
October Fourth Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #28
Google’s New Green Campus Brings Sustainability to Silicon Valley – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Last year, Pichai announced Google’s plan to run every office and data center on electricity from clean sources, around the clock. He set 2030 as the deadline, marking perhaps the most ambitious corporate commitment to decarbonization ever. Google calls it a moonshot. –. Last year, Google met 67% of its data center electricity needs with renewable sources on an hourly basis, a 6% jump from the prior year. – Although they’re huge and influential energy consumers, they’re mostly at the mercy of antiquated utilities built on fossil fuels. Google knows this. “The ultimate solution is to get the power grids to carbon-free all the time,” says Michael Terrell, Google’s director of energy. “We still don’t know the path everywhere, and that’s really challenging.” – Bill Weihl worked at the company from 2006 to 2011 as its “green energy czar” and now runs ClimateVoice, an advocacy nonprofit. He says he believes, as do many experts, that the fastest way to decarbonize the grid is through rewriting laws, not corporate procurement. Read more. How American Billionaires Like Phil Knight Pass Wealth to Heirs Tax-Free — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Nike is publicly traded and both Knight and his surviving son, Travis, play roles on the company’s board and must report their stock transactions, theirs is the rare case that can be examined in detail from public filings, exposing a process that’s usually shrouded in secrecy. – First, Knight cycled millions of Nike shares through a series of trusts that effectively moved billions of dollars worth of stock price gains from his estate to his heirs, tax-free. Then he put most of his remaining shares into a vehicle called Swoosh LLC and let a trust controlled by his son, Travis, purchase a stake at a big discount. The chain of trusts let hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends flow to Knight’s heirs with him covering the income taxes. All this planning also ensured his family would retain control of his sneaker empire. – If you’re interested in taxing wealth,” says Columbia law professor Michael Graetz, “the estate tax is the only mechanism the federal government now has.” – The foundation of Knight’s strategy is the grantor-retained annuity trust or GRAT. His first step was to set up nine GRATs, which successfully transferred Nike shares now worth $6.1 billion to heirs tax-free from 2009 to 2016. – After routing a fortune through GRATs, Knight put much of his remaining Nike shares into Swoosh LLC, which exploits a loophole President Barack Obama tried to close in his final days in office. Called the minority valuation discount, it takes advantage of rules allowing taxpayers to take discounts on assets that are harder to sell. – What Knight did: Take publicly traded stock such as Nike shares and put it in an LLC, then divide that up between yourself and your heirs in a way that qualifies for a discount, minimizing your own tax bill while passing more assets onto heirs. Read more. Abu Dhabi Fund Mubadala Capital Buys Major Taco Bell Franchisee – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Mubadala Capital, the fund’s asset management arm, bought K-Mac Holdings Corp. from Lee Equity Partners Opportunities Fund, according to a statement on Thursday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. K-Mac operates some 300 fast-food Taco Bell outlets that are primarily located in the country’s Midwest and South. – The deal reflects Mubadala Capital’s foray into the food and beverage sector, where it invested about $1.8 billion in the past seven years alone. – It also underlines the buyout division’s U.S. focus, a destination for about 80% of its capital, said Adib Martin Mattar, who heads private equity at Mubadala Capital. Read more. UAE- Iraq to sign agreement to nourish and secure the trade ties – The Law Reporters — thelawreporters.com Highlights: – The pact, signed by the UAE Ministry of Finance and Iraq’s National Investment Commission, will boost foreign investment in both countries by providing a suitable investment environment and secure a balance between rights and obligations between investors and the host country, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. – Earlier this month, UAE energy company Masdar signed a deal with Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity and National Investment Commission to build power stations in five locations across Iraq. – The pact also protects both countries’ investments from all non-commercial risks, including nationalisation, confiscation, judicial seizures and freezing. Read more. EXPERIENCE LIVING IN PIXEL Forward Living – The Pixel Pixel is the first mixed-use residential community at Makers District. Pixel offers its residents & visitors a unique space to enrich, collaborate & engage. Designed as human-scale, the 7 mixed-use residential towers surrounded by quiet pocket gardens have been strategically arranged around a vibrant pedestrianized plaza. Learn more. UAE rises to fourth spot in HSBC’s Top 10 countries to live and work | Business – Gulf News Highlights: – The UAE climbed 10 places to be ranked fourth best country in the world to live and work, according to HSBC’s 14th annual Expat Explorer study, which tracks the sentiments of over 20,000 people who live and work abroad. – Most expats in the UAE (86 per cent) say their overall quality of life is better than their home country, and six out of every 10 intend to stay longer for that reason. Abu Dhabi’s ADDED unveils golden list project of industrial products – GCC Business News — www.gccbusinessnews.com Highlights: – This project is part of the Abu Dhabi Local Content Program (ADLC) established by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) to encourage firms and institutions with the In-Country Value (ICV) Certification to purchase products from the golden list of the projects and bids offered by the government. – The IDB has included 231 local products produced by 62 factories in Abu Dhabi as the initial list of the initiative. Read more.