International Business Opportunities

The Centre of Waste Management in Abu Dhabi is launching an electro-hydraulic underground waste system across the emirate. The new system removes many of the hazards traditionally associated with waste left outside premises and has a lockable receiver mechanism making it inaccessible to anyone who does not possess the key to open the unit. The system will be installed as a pilot project at 31 locations across the emirate.

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The amount of mall retail space in Abu Dhabi will almost double in the next two years, Robert Ziegler, the vice president of the Dubai-based consultancy firm AT Kearney, told The National. The total amount of retail space in the emirate’s shopping centres will grow from about 700,000 square metres to 1.2 million sq metres by 2010, he said.

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Drake and Scull International, which debuted on the Dubai Financial Market yesterday, declined almost 30 per cent as both UAE markets fell, led by real estate and construction companies in Dubai and financials in Abu Dhabi.
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Abu Dhabi-based company agreed in October to buy 70% of industrial services firm
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The Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council has approved three master plans for the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Capital District Concept Plan, Khalifa B Master Plan, and Shahama and Bahia Revitalisation Plan will be unveiled at the 2009 edition of Cityscape Abu Dhabi. The 4,500-hectare Capital District Concept Plan will serve as a second government and economic centre in the capital and would eventually be a sustainable, vibrant, compact, mixed-use city of 370,000 residents. The Capital District will consist of high-density transit-oriented communities, major universities, hospitals and knowledge-based employment sectors, as well as a low-density residential neighbourhood. The communities of Shahama and Bahia along the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway which will be revitalized as per plans that were first unveiled in June last year.

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The Abu Dhabi Polymers Park has said that it is aiming for Dhs3bn of Foreign Direct Investment. The Park is also targetting conversions of up to 2m tonnes. Global consumption of plastic-based products is predicted to grow to 170m tonnes by 2012.

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Harsco Corporation has announced that its Harsco Metals group has secured a new ten-year contract worth more than m from Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Steel. Under the contract, the company is the principal onsite service partner to a new electric arc furnace steel plant entering production with capacity for up to 400,000 tons of steel billets and 250,000 tons of gas based DRI production per year.

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Rohan Marwaha, managing director of Cityscape, recently revealed that sales of floor space are up 40% on last year and forecast that attendance will increase by over a quarter from last year, two of the main measures of success. The show is due to take place from 19-22 April and Marwaha says that 95% of the exhibition stands have already been booked, dismissing predictions of a slowdown in enthusiam, although some property analysts remain unconvinced.

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The UAE Ministry of the Interior has announced that the federal government will be looking to roll out uniform residency visas for property owners across the country, even as the property markets continue to suffer from the economic downturn.

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Abu Dhabi-based Sorouh Real Estate has released details of a number of financing schemes to help would-be buyers invest in the developer’s projects. The initiatives are to be rolled out across units on all of Sorouh’s current developments.

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