The Indian government on Wednesday reduced taxes on petrol and diesel in a bid to improve consumer sentiment, as Asia’s third-largest economy recovers from the shocks of severe lockdowns to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The excise duty on petrol has been reduced by Rs5 ($0.0671) per litre, and that on diesel by Rs10 ($0.1342) per litre, the government said in a statement.

Following the federal move, at least ten states ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), or his allies, said late Wednesday they would go further and reduce local fuel taxes by as much as Rs7 a litre.

The tax relief comes on the eve of the Hindu festival of Diwali, which marks the beginning of a busy festive season in India, typically marked by increased consumer spending.

Recent months have witnessed a steady growth in consumer spending in India, with a relaxation on curbs on travel and business operations due to a dip in the number of coronavirus cases.

But high fuel prices have been hurting the margins of corporates as well as farmers, who contribute a significant chunk to the economy. The cut in fuel taxes is likely to come as a boost to manufacturers and farmers.

“Given that inflation expectation is building up, there was a need to relook at the tax component,” said NR Bhanumurthy, economist and vice chancellor at the Bengaluru-based BR Ambedkar School of Economics. “This will cool down the inflation expectation to some extent, which will augur well for sustained GDP (gross domestic product) growth.”

Modi’s government has faced increasing criticism from its main opposition Congress party over rising fuel prices in recent weeks. In a country where a majority of the people live on less than $2 a day, taxes make up a large component of fuel prices: a litre of petrol comes at Rs110.04 while diesel comes at Rs98.42 in New Delhi.

Before the cut to prices announced on Wednesday, taxes made up about 52 per cent of the price of petrol and about 47 per cent of that of diesel.

Spiking global oil prices have pushed up the retail prices of petrol and diesel to a record high this month in India, which is the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer and ships in about 85 per cent of its oil needs from overseas.

Global oil prices surged to $86.40 a barrel on October 26 – the highest since October 2014 – battered by the hit to economies from the Covid-19 pandemic, although they since eased to about $82.5 per barrel.

Source:https://www.khaleejtimes.com/economy/india-cuts-taxes-on-petrol-diesel-ahead-of-diwali-to-boost-economy

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.