At a cost of $52,150/Dubai resident, emirate gambles on huge airport
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 Posted in Regional News | No Comments »Dubai, one of the seven emirates in the UAE, has a population of 1.6M. However, its government is willing to bet big - $82B big - that its geographic location and timing are right to build the world's largest airport. ...
Dubai to grow $60B city
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 Posted in Regional News | No Comments »The sheikh ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, promised (6/23) to build a new $60B city complete with 800 million square feet including residential, commercial, educational and tourism components. To be developed by Dubai Properties, the Eric Kuhne-inspired ...
SAP in the ME
Friday, June 20th, 2008 Posted in Tech | No Comments »"They've got the money and they're smart enough to know their oil won't last forever," says SAP CEO Henning Kagermann (6/19). ME local investing in tech and innovation spurred the SAP chief's comments according to a recent BusinessWeek post. Kagermann ...
Dubai meets market demand for shariah compliant $250M fund
Thursday, June 19th, 2008 Posted in Islamic Finance | No Comments »Reuters reports (6/19) that a new $250M fund-of-funds has been established in the Caymans to connect investors with shariah compliant investment opportunities. The fund will be managed by Tocqueville Asset Management, Lucas Capital Management, Zweig-DiMenna International Managers, Ospraie Management and ...
Qatar to Bankroll Barclays and More
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 Posted in Markets, SWF | No Comments »Reuters Dubai reports by way of the Financial Times that Qatar's sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is considering backing a share issue by Barclays PLC (NYSE ADR: BCS). The issue could approach US$8 billion. QIA has already ...
Gulf Real Estate Projects Total $2.4 Trillion
Sunday, June 15th, 2008 Posted in Real estate, Regional News | No Comments »The Wall Street Journal recently published "Celebrity Endorsers Help Lure the Rich to Dubai: Brad Pitt Will Design Five-Star Hotel, Resort; Even B-List Makes It." Beyond the talk of celebrities and buried in the latter portion of the article is ...
‘Letters from Abu Dhabi’: A Street-level Gauge of Inflation -MW
Friday, June 13th, 2008 Posted in General | No Comments »Early Friday, MarketWatch published the first of a new series of columns about socioeconomic happenings in the United Arab Emirates. "Letters from Abu Dhabi," by Raymond Beauchemin, deputy foreign editor of The National in Abu Dhabi, is worth the read ...
Subprime? More like Primetime for GE in MENA
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 Posted in Industrial investment | No Comments »General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Energy division announced over $1.5B in deals between Friday, June 6 and Monday, June 9. The first deal was a contract signed with Iraq for $480M to build three power plants and includes two other contracts ...
Abu Dhabi Eyes $800M Stake in Chrysler Building
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 Posted in Real estate, SWF | No Comments »By way of the New York Post, Reuters reports the Abu Dhabi Investment Council is under negotiations to buy a 75% stake in the NYC Chrysler Building, an investment valued at $800M.
As Paulson tours ME, traders see no end soon for regional USD peg
Sunday, June 8th, 2008 Posted in Markets | No Comments »Contrary to what finance sources have suggested to the Wall Street Journal late last month, investors are expecting the ME to organize a currency union by 2010, quashing speculation about a quick end to the USD peg. US Treasury Secretary ...
