The UAE non-oil sector posted a marked increase in new business during October, driven by rising spending and tourism amid the opening of Expo 2020.

According to IHS Markit UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), economic indicators derived from monthly surveys of private sector companies, confidence regarding future activity also improved significantly.

The PMI surged to 55.7 in October, from 53.3 in September. This was the highest reading since June 2019.

An economist at IHS Markit, David Owen said that the Expo 2020 brought a highly welcome upsurge in growth across the non-oil private sector.

“The increases in both output and new business were sharp and the most marked since July 2019. In addition, the boost to sales led more companies to predict a rise in activity over the next 12 months, as optimism jumped to the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.

“The key test for the UAE economy will be whether this initial uplift in demand from the Expo can be sustained over the coming months. We also wait to see whether this will strengthen employment growth, as latest data showed a subdued rate of hiring despite growing pressure on business capacity.”

According to panellists, Expo drove increased sales in several sectors as tourism strengthened and investment spending rose. In contrast to domestic sales, export orders ticked up only marginally at the start of the fourth quarter.

In addition to Expo, firms noted that the loosening of pandemic restrictions also helped to boost activity.

Source:https://www.khaleejtimes.com/expo/expo-2020-dubai-uae-private-sector-growth-surges

The programme operated by the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus will offer services worth over Dhs550,000

The Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA) has launched Sandbox, a startup programme that supports early-stage technology startups to scale and raise funds.

The 12-month programme run by the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus (Dtec), DSOA’s wholly owned tech hub and coworking space, is open to early-stage startups from MVP to seed stage, with a rolling application process.

Enrolled entrepreneurs will follow a structured curriculum which includes theoretical and practical workshops, mentorship sessions and networking opportunities that will help them grow their startups.

Dtec has dedicated a funding purse to be invested in promising startups of the programme. Dtec is offering Sandbox participants exclusive company setup rates, equivalent to Dhs9,500. The programme will provide each participant access to leading venture capital funds, and broad services provided by DSOA’s partners worth more than Dhs550,000, according to the Dubai Media Office.

Sandbox is built on six key pillars: product development, traction, scaling, financial diagnostics, wellbeing and legal support.

Startups enrolled in the programme will benefit from over 200 hours of practical workshops and more than 100 hours of one-on-one mentorship from practitioners and field-experts.

Entrepreneurs will also have access to a full suite of diagnostic tools for financial efficiency and legal compliance.

Dtec offers coworking spaces, business accelerators, R&D facilities, event spaces and digital business setup support including licensing. It houses more than 1,000 startups from 75 countries. Through the centre, DSOA supports entrepreneurs, startups and innovators, especially those that operate in the technology, Ai and digitalisation spaces.

“The launch of the Sandbox startup programme coincides with the Projects of the 50, a strategic set of initiatives that will lay the foundations for a new development cycle in various economic sectors. All these projects position the nation as a destination for talents, skilled individuals, entrepreneurs, startup founders, innovators and investors,” said Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, vice chairman and CEO of DSOA.

“Dubai Silicon Oasis, and its wholly owned Dtec, have extensive experience as a tech hub and an incubator for entrepreneurs and startups, supporting them in transforming their innovative ideas into reality and empowering them in securing financing. The programme is the first of its kind in the region, founder-centric, addressing a gap in early-stage initiatives.”

Source:https://gulfbusiness.com/dubai-silicon-oasis-authority-launches-sandbox-programme-to-support-early-stage-tech-startups/

Dubai – The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the UAE and South Korea will include deals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop green technology, South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-Koo

The UAE and South Korea on Thursday began discussions on further bolstering their trade and investment partnership with a new comprehensive agreement.

Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, and Yeo Han-Koo, South Korean Minister for Trade, discussed the prospect of pursuing a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to strengthen economic ties, enhance investment opportunities and mark a new era of bilateral cooperation with one of Asia’s most important markets.

The UAE-South Korea’s largest trading partner in the Arab world with a bilateral trade value of $9.4 billion in 2020 — has already started negotiations on two such deals, following the launch of talks with India and Indonesia in September. CEPA talks underscore the UAE’s ambition to move fast by striking new trade agreements with high-growth markets in Africa and Asia under a clear social and economic strategy for the next 50 years.

“We are working around the clock to consolidate the UAE’s position as a global trade and logistics hub that connects the world to the broader region and beyond,” Dr. Al Zeyoudi said.

The UAE promises immense business opportunities as well as substantial rewards on investment across a diverse field of sectors, experts said at an event on Sunday.

In a knowledge session titled ‘UAE: Land of Opportunities’, organised by MBG Corporate Services along with the BeNeLux and Netherlands Business Council, several experts highlighted various opportunities for European businesses in the country. The session drew the participation of several high-level delegations, government representatives, and officials from various international trade councils who were in Dubai for the Expo 2020 exhibition.

Nienke Gelderloos, Economic Advisor for Expo at the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dubai, started the session with a keynote on the Netherlands Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

“We think that there are plenty of opportunities here in the UAE, and we have taken an umbrella approach in selecting all the companies that will be exhibiting at Expo 2020 Dubai under the theme ‘Uniting Water, Energy and Food’,” she said. “Eight years ago, when the UAE won the bid to host the Expo, we decided on this theme because it was relevant, and it is still relevant today, and will be for the decades to come. Water, energy, and food are vital resources for life on earth, and we need to be smart about how we go about using them.”

“If we are to sustain a growing population of billions, then we really need to change things,” she added. “We think that the sustainable solutions that we are showcasing at the pavilion are smart and the approach that we have taken is to connect businesses and the opportunities that they see. Solar panels on the roof provide the energy to power a water making machine that harvests water from the air – we harvest up to 800 litres of clean water a day – which we then use to grow food such as edible plants on the exterior and oyster mushrooms in the interior of the pavilion’s 18m vertical farm.”

Shailendra Ranjan, director of MBG, in his presentation looked back on the history of the UAE and the strides that it had made since the formation of the union. He noted that the UAE leadership has already developed a vision of how to take the country forward from where it was today under the UAE Centennial 2071, which is based on four key pillars including: a future-focused government; excellent education; a diversified knowledge economy; and a happy and cohesive society.