Tag Archives: dubai
Dates confirmed for inaugural Dubai Tour
Organisers of the highly anticipated Dubai Tour have confirmed the four-day cycling race will take place between February 5th and 8th 2014.Dubai Sports Council (DSC) has joined forces with Italian firm RCS Sport to stage the competition and it will be the first event of its kind to be held in the UAE.Although the plans still need to be approved by the International Cycling Union, it is fair to assume that some of the world's finest cyclists will be competing in the Gulf next year.RCS Sport certainly has a fantastic pedigree when it comes to laying on prestigious races, as it is the brains behind the Giro d'Italia – cycling's second biggest race (after the Tour de France).Michele Acquarone – chief executive officer at the company – thanked the DSC for its support.”We are proud and pleased with the agreement reached with the DSC for organising the Dubai Tour. This milestone is in line with the strategy of RCS Sport to extend more and more its scope of operations into new international markets,” he remarked.Although it is the youngest race on the world circuit, Mr Acquarone is confident that it will quickly establish itself as the best in the region. Cycling has become increasingly popular across the globe, with events like the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia attracting millions of TV viewers.This is the latest example of how Dubai is steadily attracting more and more world-class sporting events.The city is set to host part of the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in October and November 2013 and the emirate has also staged a leg of golf's European Tour.In addition to this, some of the world's finest tennis players head to the Gulf each year to take part in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.World number one Novak Djokovic emerged victorious in this year's event – overcoming Tomas Berdych in the final – and he was full of praise for the excellent organisation that goes into the tournament. Continue reading
Small Middle Eastern businesses are performing well
Family businesses based in the Middle East performed very well last year, despite the fact the global economy is still far from stable.A new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed that 83 per cent of small enterprises based in this part of the world reported a rise in sales. This was much higher than the global average, which stood at just 65 per cent.Confidence is high among start-up organisations in places like Dubai, with 23 per cent of firms planning “aggressive growth” in the next five years. Only nine per cent thought they would struggle in the near future.PwC's Family Business Survey also showed that women are having a greater influence in smaller companies across the Middle East.The main challenges facing businesses of this nature are family politics, succession planning and the recruitment of skilled staff, the report discovered.That said, Amin Nasser, partner and private clients leader at PwC Middle East, thinks the future is bright for entrepreneurs in the Gulf.”Our survey clearly shows that family businesses in the Middle East will continue growing significantly,” he remarked.”Compared with the rest of the world, family businesses in the Middle East are less fazed by the general economic situation. This has created a strong framework for family businesses to continue targeting ambitious goals, bringing stability to a balanced economy.”The UAE has become a major international corporate hub in the past few decades and a multitude of blue chip companies have set up bases in Dubai.Earlier this year, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum – ruler of Dubai and vice president/prime minister of the UAE – said the city was looking to become the world's leading Islamic business centre.The Islamic finance sector has grown in stature over the years and is now one of the most lucrative industries on the planet. The emirate could set up a central sharia board, which will oversee all Islamic financial products used in Dubai. Continue reading
Dubai rents ‘will continue to rise’
From a property investor's point of view, it is always encouraging to see rental rates increasing in Dubai, as this suggests that demand for accommodation is strong.Landlords in many parts of the city were forced to lower their asking prices when the global economy took a turn for the worse, but it seems that things are now firmly back on track.Farouk Soussa, the chief economist in the Middle East for Citigroup, told the National that increasing rents are something of a trend in Dubai.”Going forward we expect further increases in rent in Dubai as we forecast house prices to rise by 35 per cent this year and rents to be not far off it,” he was quoted as saying.According to the Dubai Statistics Centre, housing costs in April 2013 rose at their fastest pace for more than three years.Dubai certainly appears to be a more profitable market than Abu Dhabi, as figures suggested that rents in the latter fell last month.”The rate of population growth in Abu Dhabi is still short of Dubai and the investment interest in Dubai's property market is higher than Abu Dhabi,” Mr Soussa added.Unsurprisingly, certain parts of Dubai attract more interest from lodgers than others and it seems that more exclusive areas like Dubai Marina are particularly popular.Earlier this year, the Real Estate Regulatory Agency revealed that The Greens is another region that is highly desirable.The cost of renting a studio apartment in this part of town went up by an incredible 22 per cent between the end of 2012 and March 2013, Emirates 24/7 reports.In addition to this, owners of one-bedroom apartments hiked their rents by 15 per cent over the same period, while two-bedroom properties were 28 per cent more expensive.Although there has been a sharp increase in the number of new buildings being erected across the city, experts predict that rising population figures will ensure that rents continue to go upwards in the near future.The First Group can help you find some of the best properties in Dubai Continue reading
