GULF STATES – ECONOMICS & FINANCE
90,000 People apply for over 200 jobs at ikea in Dubai
Dubai – and its brands – continue to maintain strong appeal among job seekers that very few other cities can match.
To prove the point, thousands of people recently applied for just over 200 jobs at the opening of the UAE’s largest IKEA store, which opened its door for public on Wednesday.
Al Futtaim Group, one of the largest family-owned businesses in Dubai, owns IKEA franchise for the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman.
“Al Futtaim Group and IKEA are quite popular. But we were still taken aback when we had 90,000 application when we opened vacancies for this store. We had a fantastic support from our central HR team of Al-Futtaim. Together with our IKEA team, we had to go through all those 90,000 applications and had 36 assessment factors,” Vinod Jayan, managing director of IKEA for UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Oman, said at the inauguration of IKEA’s latest outlet in the UAE on Wednesday.
“And to top it all, trainers spent 550 hours training the co-workers. We have more than 200 new coworkers here (in the new store). We are and we will continue to invest in coworkers and their core competence. We are expanding a lot more in coming months in UAE, Oman and Cairo,” he said.
Jayan had earlier told that IKEA will recruit 1,500 more people in the next 2-3 years, doubling its existing workforce. The group will also open outlets in Sharjah, Oman and Egypt.
In addition to IKEA store, Al-Futtaim Group also opened new shopping mall – Festival Plaza – in Jebel Ali on Wednesday.
Omar Al-Futtaim, vice-chairman of Al-Futtaim Group, said, the group has been transforming in the last two years. “We have been focusing on our customer, investing in technology and trying to mitigate any risk that might come across us from e-commerce.”
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Etihad credit insurance partners with HSBC
Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HSBC to help UAE businesses and exporters access global markets, which will give them a platform for sustainable growth and development over the long-term.
The MoU was signed by Massimo Falcioni, CEO of Etihad Credit Insurance, and Abdulfattah Sharaf, CEO, UAE and Head of International, HSBC, in the presence of senior officials from the two institutions.
The collaboration between ECI and HSBC underlines ECI’s mandate to manage risks associated with trade expansions regionally and internationally by offering a broad range of trade export finance and insurance solutions to UAE businesses in exploring new marketplaces. This partnership will bring focus on areas that include trade credit insurance tools; corporate financing; a broad range of financing solutions; bond support; exchange of industry trends and market insight; Letters of Credit Confirmations; and insightful workshops and forums, among others.
Massimo Falcioni, CEO of ECI, said: “ECI has a well-defined objective to contribute to the sustainable growth and development of the country’s non-oil sectors and enhance the export reach of UAE goods and services. Equipped with cutting-edge industry knowledge, and tailored solutions, we are on the constant lookout for opportunities, that will offer greater scope for UAE businesses in consolidating their presence regionally and internationally. Our collaboration with HSBC is a pivotal step in ?the banking sector as it offers a secure, transparent, and efficient platform for UAE-based businesses to grow and expand.”
Abdulfattah Sharaf, group general manager, chief executive officer, UAE and head of International, HSBC Bank Middle East, said: “The UAE is the Middle East’s leading international trading hub and we see huge potential here, just as we did 73 years ago when we opened the country’s very first bank. We have supported the UAE’s economic development ever since and, as the world’s leading international bank, we look forward to working closely with ECI to help UAE exporters reach more customers around the world.”
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New rules to enhance ease of doing business in Dubai’s DMCC
DMCC – the world’s flagship Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise – has announced a set of new rules and regulations effective from January 2, 2020 to further enhance the ease of setting up and doing business in DMCC.
The new regulations update DMCC’s existing company law framework, providing greater flexibility and ease of operations for businesses registered within DMCC and increasing the remit of their activities. The new regulations also make it easier to set up a company in DMCC.
Key enhancements to the framework include increased flexibility around a company’s Articles of Association; introduction of different share types, allowing businesses to tailor the structure of shareholdings; a new dormant status has been introduced; and an increased ability to transfer company incorporation into DMCC.
“Ease of doing business is at the heart of DMCC’s offering; we enable all businesses to trade efficiently and with confidence. We are confident that these enhancements will attract even more companies to do business in DMCC,” said Ahmad Hamza, Executive Director Free Zone, DMCC.
Following an extensive data gathering and stakeholder engagement period, three of the world’s top law firms were consulted to develop the updated framework in line with international best practices, ensuring DMCC retains its competitive edge.
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DIB shareholders approve noor bank takeover
Shareholders of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) on Wednesday approved the acquisition of its smaller Shariah-compliant rival, Noor Bank, creating one of the world’s largest Islamic banks globally with Dh280 billion in assets.
In addition to positioning Dubai as a major capital of Islamic economy, the merger will also enable the Shariah-compliant bank to compete better at the global level.
As competition bites bottomline in a slowing economy and with low oil prices, banks in the UAE are in a consolidation mode to improve profitability. A Bloomberg reported had earlier said that the UAE leads the GCC banking sector with the highest number of mergers both in terms of value and volume. Currently, six mergers and acquisitions are being negotiated or underway in the UAE banking sector worth $625.25 billion, followed by two M&As in Saudi Arabia worth $256 billion, and one each in Kuwait and Oman, it said in May 2019.
Shareholders also approved increasing DIB’s capital from 6.589 billion shares to 7.24 billion in line with the approved share swap ratio of one new share in DIB for every 5.49 Noor Bank shares. This translates into an issuance of 651.15 million new shares.
In November 2018, DIB’s board had approved the proposed terms of acquisition of Noor Bank. Sovereign wealth fund, Investment Corporation of Dubai, holds a stake in both the banks -28.37 per cent in DIB and 22.85 per cent in Noor Bank.
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“DIB is now the UAE’s biggest Islamic lender with Dh230 billion assets as of September 30, 2019 and, with the acquisition of Noor Bank, we are on track to expand our footprint in the region and beyond. Completion of this deal will provide opportunities for economic growth, ensuring that the UAE’s financial sector remains at the forefront of the Islamic economy,” said Mohammed Al Shaibani, chairman of Dubai Islamic Bank.
“We are confident that this acquisition will build upon the already strong foundations we have established and accelerate our growth in the sector. With a strong track record and a robust platform, the future can only be positive with the additional scale and reach that we will gain as a consequence of this deal,” said Adnan Chilwan, group CEO of Dubai Islamic Bank.
He said that the acquisition will generate significant synergies, leading to improved efficiencies and greater contribution to profitability with a positive impact on shareholder returns.
Total assets of Islamic banks in the UAE stood at Dh565.7 billion at the end of September 2019, a drop of 2.3 per cent year-on-year. This is compared to Dh2.45 trillion assets of conventional banks, which grew by 8.8 per cent year-on-year, the Central Bank said in its third-quarter 2019 report.
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Hotel prices surge in Dubai for new year’s eve
The prices of rooms and suites have surged in Dubai following a significant increase in bookings for New Year’s Eve.
According to Emarat Al Youm, the price of a royal suite in a hotel in Dubai has reached more than Dh 109,000 including fees and taxes. Almost 99 per cent of all rooms have already been booked on New Year’s Eve, especially in City Center, Palm Jumeirah, Sheikh Zayed Road, and JBR areas.
The price of suites that have a view on Jumeirah beach has reached over Dh90,000 during the New Year’s Eve, while the price for rooms of five stars hotels reached Dh28,000.
Dubai has received approximately 13.5 million visitors during the first 10 months of 2019, the report added.
Hotel officials said that most of the reservations were made from international markets, as the visitors want to spend the night in Dubai. The added that the prices increase according to the rise in reservations.
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Nakheel opens 304-room premier inn at Dragon City
Nakheel has announced the opening of its second hotel at Dragon City – a 304-room Premier Inn, which is located a few minutes away from Dragon Mart and its 5,000 shops, restaurants and attractions.
The property was officially opened by Ali Rashid Lootah, chairman of Nakheel, and Alison Brittain, chief executive officer of Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality company and owner of the Premier Inn brand. The eight-storey hotel features a 320-seater restaurant, a Costa Coffee shop, a fully-equipped gym, and meeting facilities. It is the fourth Nakheel hotel to be delivered, following the inauguration of a second hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall. Premier Inn also operates Nakheel’s first hotel at Ibn Battuta, opened in 2016.
Premier Inn Dragon City is part of Nakheel’s long-term vision for the mixed-use community, currently best-known for the Dragon Mart retail and trading hub, where a new shopping complex and 900-space multi-storey car park opened last month. Dragon City’s first hotel, a 251-room ibis Styles, opened in 2016, and its first residential component – a twin-tower apartment complex with 1,142 units – is under construction.
“Today marks another milestone for Nakheel, Dragon City and Dubai as we deliver the fourth hotel in our hospitality project portfolio, and the second at this globally-renowned destination. We are delighted to build on the success of our first hotel here, and to further cement our partnership with Whitbread by adding another Premier Inn to our collection of hospitality developments. We are confident that this new hotel will be a big hit with Dragon City’s 40 million annual visitors, who come from the UAE, GCC and beyond to shop and trade at this world-famous destination,” said Ali Rashid Lootah.
“Having been part of the UAE hospitality landscape for more than a decade, it’s a true testament to the quality of Premier Inn that we are able to open our eighth hotel in the region. Our hotel at Dragon City marks the second in our strategic partnership with Nakheel, following the successful launch of Premier Inn Ibn Battuta Mall in 2016,” added Alison Brittain.
Nakheel’s hospitality portfolio features a diverse range of accommodation, including iconic, luxury projects on Palm Jumeirah, all-inclusive beach resorts at Deira Islands and mid-range hotels attached to the developer’s major shopping malls.