UAE GROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
U.A.E. Economy to Expand 3.2% in 2010 With Oil at $85 a Barrel [May 29]
“The United Arab Emirates’ economy may expand as much as 3.2 percent this year with crude oil prices around $85 a barrel, according to Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri. If oil prices are at $75 a barrel, the Arab world’s second- largest economy will grow between 2 and 2.5 percent this year, al-Mansouri said at a press conference in Dubai today. That’s above the International Monetary Fund’s estimate of 1.3 percent for 2010. The U.A.E.’s economic growth slowed last year to 1.3 percent, according to the U.A.E. government’s annual economic report, as credit conditions tightened, global trade slowed and demand for commodities weakened. “Given the state of the global economy, the OPEC-mandated contraction in the oil sector and the problems in Dubai, I’m very surprised the economy showed growth last year,”..” [Complete Report]
Dubai Ruler Launches Arabic Web Address [May 29]
“The Arabic domain name of the website of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has been launched, WAM, the state news agency, reported yesterday. The launch comes after the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority won approval from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to use the domain name in Arabic, placing the UAE among the first four countries in the world to register domain names in an official language that does not use Roman script, WAM said. The site can now be reached through either of the following addresses when typed in Arabic script: “sheikh-mohammed-bin-rashid.emarat” or “mohammed-bin-rashid.emarat”. The site’s address in English is www.sheikhmohammed.co.ae..” [Complete Report]
Samsung Clinches $1.7bn UAE Petchem Contracts [May 29]
“Korea’s largest engineering company Samsung Engineering and its JV partner Maire Tecnimont of Italy won two contracts worth $1.7 billion from Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge) to build petrochemical plants in the emirate. Samsung said as per the contract, the duo will build a $1.25 billion polyolefin plant and a $400 million low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant for Borouge, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Austria’s Borealis. Tecnimont, a reputable global player in the EPC industry, was a contractor for the Borouge 2 project and headed Feed for Borouge 3, said a top Samsung official..” [Complete Report]
