There was good and bad news this week for the United Arab Emirates, which has now
overtaken Seychelles to become the world’s most vaccinated nation.
Dubai’s state carrier, Emirates, forecast a busy summer. The city is getting ready to host a big gas conference, an African investor summit and major cricket tournaments -- events forced by Covid-19 to move from their original venues. And sales of Dubai ultra-luxury homes are soaring.
But there are clouds on the horizon. Despite the UAE’s world-leading inoculation program, coronavirus infections remain stubbornly high.
The U.S. raised its travel warning for the country and Saudi Arabia will temporarily prohibit citizens from traveling to the UAE. Restrictions have also been imposed for travel from two other key markets, India and the U.K. The developments are an ominous sign for the delayed Expo 2020, expected to generate billions of dollars in revenue and scheduled for October in Dubai.
Still, Dubai has so far stuck to its open-city policy. Neighbor Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, is trying out facial scanners to detect Covid-19 and is set to restrict public spaces to vaccinated people.
Chart of the Week
Qatar Petroleum has become the biggest emerging-market debt issuer this year after pricing a four-part deal this week. The state energy firm’s $12.5 billion offering will help it boost production and pump more gas.
The Slant
Iran’s president-in-waiting Ebrahim Raisi has his work cut out for him, Bobby Ghosh writes for Bloomberg Opinion. Not only will he have to deal with American missile attacks against Iranian proxy militias, an Israeli drone attack on a centrifuge factory, stalling negotiations with world powers in Vienna and calls for inquiries into his culpability in the country’s 1988 mass execution of political prisoners, there is unrest in the country’s critical energy industry that may well become an existential labor crisis.
Need to Know
OPEC and its allies abandoned oil-supply negotiations after the UAE threatened the unity of the alliance with a surprise opposition to its quota. The impasse risks upsetting the cartel’s management of the oil market’s post-pandemic recovery. Talks will resume July 5.
The hype around Turkish initial public offerings is waning as the market just isn’t going up like it used to. But in the private market, a new unicorn emerged this week as Dream Games reached a $1 billion valuation in a Series B financing round.
Saudi Aramco named Ziad al-Murshed as chief financial officer, replacing Khalid al-Dabbagh, who helped the oil giant through its 2019 initial public offering. The company also appointed former HSBC Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver to its board as part of a reshuffle.
Diplomatic nerves are fraying in Vienna where it looks like a seventh round of talks over Iran’s nuclear program may be indefinitely postponed. Negotiations are being closely watched by energy markets because of the potential flood of Iranian oil that would be released.
The International Holding Co., a group led by the UAE’s influential national security adviser, continued its dizzying rally to become the Gulf nation’s most valuable firm. IHC has holdings ranging from Elon Musk’s Space X to a local fishery company.
Coming Up
- Bank of Israel will announce its rate decision on July 5
- The final offer price for the Al Yah Satellite Communications IPO will be announced this week
- An Etihad-El Al codeshare has gone into effect, and flights are set to start on July 18
Last Word
The UAE, the fifth nation to enter the orbit of Mars, became the first to capture the ghostly glow of the planet’s nightside discrete aurora.
Space technology is a key part of the Gulf state’s plans to reduce its independence on oil. The latest observations “opened a new realm for this mission and actually increased the potential outcome when it comes to research,” said Sarah Al Amiri, UAE minister of state for advanced technology.
"bad" - Google News
July 04, 2021 at 08:00PM
https://ift.tt/3jHRSEY
Middle East Newsletter: UAE has Week That's Both Good and Bad - Bloomberg
"bad" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SpwJRn
https://ift.tt/2z7gkKJ
No comments:
Post a Comment