City Abu Dhabi Financial News

NEW DELHI : A record number of World Trade Organization (WTO) members have raised concerns about rising protectionist moves in global trade, propelling the issue to centre stage at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in February, an official aware of the development said. Many developing nations, including India, are set to oppose the European Union’s (EU’s) carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that aims to tax imports of carbon-intensive products such as steel, aluminium, cement, and electricity. The EU is also expected to file a complaint against the US’s Inflation Reduction Act because the $430 billion subsidy to manufacturers of green technology will distort international prices and is against WTO norms.

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has granted financial services permission (FSP) to virtual assets firm M2 to operate a multilateral trading facility from the United Arab Emirates capital.

India and the United Arab Emirates have started settling bilateral trade in their local currencies with India's top refiner making payment in rupees for purchase of a million barrels of oil from the Middle Eastern nation, the Indian government said on Monday.Indian Oil Corp made payment to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), according to a statement issued by Indian embassy in UAE. The transaction comes after one involving the sale of 25 kg gold from a UAE gold exporter to a buyer in India at about 128.4 million rupees ($1.54 million).

Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism has reduced government fees applied to hotel rooms and restaurant in the emirate. The revised fee structure will come into effect from 1 September 2023 . «This revision of fees seeks to further grow the emirate as a tourism and cultural destination while bolstering support for its thriving hospitality sector,» the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, said in a statement.

By Echo Wang and Anirban Sen

SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to acquire the 25% stake in Arm Ltd it does not directly own from Vision Fund 1 (VF1), a $100 billion investment fund it raised in 2017, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially delivering a win for investors who have waited years for strong returns. The discussions come as Softbank is preparing to list the chip designer on Nasdaq next month at a valuation of $60 billion to $70 billion. If the negotiations lead to a deal, the Japanese tech investor would be delivering a major, immediate windfall to VF1 investors, including Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala.

Cube Highways Trust (Cube InvIT) has posted a consolidated income of Rs 781.5 crore for the quarter ended on June 30, 2023. Earning before interest tax depreciation and amortisation was Rs 422.89 crore during the period under review, Cube InvIT said.

NEW DELHI: In a display of naval collaboration, two Indian naval ships, INS Visakhapatnam and INS Trikand, coordinated a bilateral Naval Maritime Partnership Exercise with the UAE Navy at Port Rashid, Dubai on August 8, the Ministry of Defence said. After two days of detailed planning, the two navies conducted the bilateral maritime partnership exercise, aimed to enhance the interoperability and synergy between the two navies by cross-training on tactics, techniques and procedures while developing stronger professional bonds.

Qatar and Etihad have become an unstoppable force in the global aviation industry much because of the location of their home bases in the Gulf. Their geographical positioning allows them to transfer big chunks of passengers between Asia, Africa and Europe. These are also state-owned carriers of energy-producing countries, which makes them ferocious price warriors in transcontinental travel.

New Delhi: India has embarked on an ambitious trajectory to amplify its existing 6% share of natural gas in the energy amalgam to a formidable 15% by 2030, as the government presses forward with a suite of comprehensive measures, said minister of state in the ministry of petroleum & natural gas, Rameswar Teli. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, the minister said, "various steps have been taken by the government to raise the share of natural gas in energy mix to 15% in 2030 from about 6% currently." "These include expansion of National Gas Grid Pipeline, expansion of City Gas Distribution (CGD) network, setting up of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminals, allocation of domestic gas to Compressed Natural Gas (Transport) / Piped Natural Gas (Domestic) CNG(T)/PNG(D) in no cut category, allowing marketing and pricing freedom to gas produced from high pressure/high temperature areas, deep water & ultra-deep water and from coal seams, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiatives to promote Bio-CNG, etc," he added.

Abu Dhabi and Jhajjar, flexibility in existing courses and overall wellness of students are the top focus areas for Indian Institute of Technology Delhi for next year, director Rangan Banerjee told ET. The revision in curriculum will see inclusion of sustainability and communication skills which would most likely have credits as part of the existing courses. «We are still deciding how to incorporate these relevant subjects,» Banerjee said on the sidelines of a pre-convocation press briefing.

long Independence weekend is here: August 12 (Saturday), August 13 (Sunday), August 15 Independence Day (Tuesday), and August 16: Parsi New Year (Restricted Holiday) (Wednesday). You just need to take an off from your work on August 14, Monday, to explore different tourist places.

GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) along with two Canada-based pension funds are in talks to acquire Blackstone Group's 50% stake in two separate commercial portfolios of Panchshil Realty and Salarpuria Sattva Group, said persons with direct knowledge of the development. The deal is estimated to be concluded at an enterprise valuation of over $4.5-$5.0 billion.

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MCCE) is developing a carbon credit system in a preliminary partnership with the Industrial Innovation Group and the Venom Foundation.

Ahead of the IPO, the company has raised Rs 465 crore in the anchor round, which saw participation from marquee foreign and domestic institutional investors, including The government of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Government Pension Fund Global, UTI Mutual Fund, DSP Mutual Fund, SBI Life among others. Concord, which is backed by Quadria Capital Fund and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's Rare Enterprises, is one of the leading global manufacturers of select fermentation-based APIs (F-APIs) across immunosuppressants and oncology with a market share of over 20% by volume in 2022. The IPO is completely an offer for sale of 2.09 crore equity shares up, aggregating up to Rs 1,551 crore.

Concord Biotech IPO: Rare Enterprises-backed Concord Biotech said in an exchange filing that it has raised ₹465 crore from anchor investors, a day ahead of its initial public offer (IPO) opening for bidding. Concord Biotech IPO will open for subscription on Friday, August 4 and close on Tuesday, August 8. The company had fixed the price band at ₹705 to ₹741 per equity share for the proposed initial public offer.

SBFC Finance raised ₹304.43 crore from anchor investors on Wednesday ahead of its initial public offering that will open for public subscription on Thursday. The company has allocated 53.4 million shares at ₹57 apiece to 37 anchor investors.

The oil-rich UAE, set to host COP28 from November to December in the business hub of Dubai, requires official permission for protests but effectively bans demonstrations it deems disruptive. At the upcoming UN climate talks «there will be space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard», it said. The announcement was made in a joint statement with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) released on Tuesday and published by the UAE's official WAM news agency.

carbon tax, on their domestic industry, during WTO ministerial meeting next year, an official said. The four-day 13th ministerial conference (MC) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is scheduled for February 26 next year in Abu Dhabi. MC is the highest decision-making body of WTO. «These issues will come up in the WTO in a big way. Countries like India will oppose these measures in the WTO,» the official said. In the first seven months of this year, the EU has introduced four regulations on climate change and trade. These are carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM); deforestation regulation; including shipping in the EU's emissions trade system; and Foreign subsidies regulation. EU member Germany too has announced a supply chain due diligence act (SCDDA). «This will become a major issue in the MC13. Many member countries have already submitted papers against some of these regulations in the WTO. It looks like discussions will happen on these regulations and a general view will also converge,» the government official, who did not wish to be named, said. Geneva-based 164 member multi-lateral body WTO deals with global exports and import-related norms. Besides, it adjudicates trade disputes between the member countries.

Nonfungible token (NFT) conglomerate Yuga Labs has agreed to acquire the metaverse-building startup Roar Studios as Yuga looks to bolster its Otherside metaverse.

Computer scientist Adel Khelifi, of the University of Abu Dhabi, and archaeologist Mark Altaweel, from University College London, recently announced the development of a Web3-based verification-as-a-service model for determining and recording the authenticity and provenance of cultural artifacts.