Warner Music Signs Deal with Dubai’s Platinum Records

ADA, a label of the Warner Music Group, inked a global distribution deal with Platinum Records, a Dubai-based record label. This is Warner’s first regional deal which will bring Platinum Records’ physical and digital music to a global audience. The deal first went into effect last December when Platinum Records launched its Arabic catalog and… Continue Reading

Careem Targeting Women to Sign Up and Drive

Careem, the popular ride-hailing app prominent in the Middle East, is hoping to attract as many as 20,000 female drivers by the year 2020. The company already has half a million drivers in 100 cities across the ME, with women drivers in the UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon and Palestine. Despite the fact that… Continue Reading

UAE is Middle East’s Best Country for Global Competitiveness

A report released last week revealed that the United Arab Emirates is the most successful country in the Middle East when it comes to retaining its home-nurtured talent. Overall globally, Switzerland still ranks highest for talent competitiveness according to the 2018 Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI). Ranked second and third are Singapore and the United… Continue Reading

Saudi Oil Still a Bargain Even After Price Rise

January 1st, 2018 marked the day Saudi Arabia raised their price for a barrel in their first baby step to begin taking their economy off energy subsidies, as well as to reduce the amount of oil the Saudis consume. The prices went up substantially to achieve the kingdom’s goals, by 82 percent. The Ministry of… Continue Reading

S&P Appoints New Managing Director

Hadi Melki, former regional business leader at Thomson Reuters, was appointed to head the independent credit ratings provider S&P Global Ratings. He will act as the new managing director and regional head for the company’s Middle East business, which is headquartered at the Dubai International Financial Center. Melki spent 20 years at Thomson Reuters, before… Continue Reading

Oman Air Recognized as Best Airline in ME

The World Travel Awards Middle East 2017 chose Oman Air as the winner of two awards as the best airline in the Middle East. The national carrier of Oman topped the list of “Middle East’s Leading Airline-Business Class” and “Middle East’s Leading Airline- Economy Class.” The ceremony where the awards were announced was held on… Continue Reading

Amazon Web Services Bringing Data Centers to Middle East

The Bahrain government inked a deal with the gargantuan on-line seller Amazon to build three giant data centers by the year 2019. The deal is with a subsidiary of Amazon, Amazon Web Services (AWB), which chose Bahrain to be the location of its first ever Middle East-located data centers. Amazon’s plan is to open a… Continue Reading

Trump Brand Selling Homes in Dubai

Two of President Donald Trump’s sons did the groundwork for increased sales in February when they visited Dubai to open a luxury golf course under the Trump brand. Then in May the President himself visited the Middle East on his first trip outside the US since his election. Upon Trump’s arrival to the region he… Continue Reading

Qatar World’s Third Biggest Spender on Arms Imports

In recent years Qatar has boosted its defense spending drastically going from being included in the top ten countries for the first time in 2015 to coming in third place this year. Only Saudi Arabia and India surpass Qatar as an importer of defense materials from the year 2007 until 2016. From 2005 until 2014… Continue Reading