United Arab Emirates (UAE) News and Discussions

[wjfox]

Wealthy Russians flee to Dubai to avoid sanctions

By Sameer Hashmi
Middle East business correspondent
1 hour ago

Dubai has emerged as a haven for wealthy Russians fleeing the impact of western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Russian billionaires and entrepreneurs have been arriving in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in unprecedented numbers, business leaders told the BBC.

Property purchases in Dubai by Russians surged by 67% in the first three months of 2022, a report said.

The UAE has not put sanctions on Russia or criticised its invasion of Ukraine.

It is also providing visas to non-sanctioned Russians while many Western countries have restricted them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61257448

[caltrek]

Update on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Between India and the UAE
May 2, 2022

https://www.india-briefing.com/news/ind ... 513.html/

Extract:

(Dezan Shera and Associates) The India-UAE CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) is in effect from May 1, 2022. In a symbolic gesture, the commerce secretary BVR Subrahmanyam handed over Certificates of Origin to three exporters from the gems and jewelry sector, whose consignment [expected to reach Dubai by May 1] will attract zero customs duty under the Agreement…

India will not provide any kind of customs duty concessions on 1,157 goods under the treaty – given the sensitivities of India’s domestic industry. The products that are being excluded from the FTA include TVs, picture tubes, soaps, toys, footwear, instant coffee, sharbat, and petroleum waxes…

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was formally unveiled at a press conference held on March 28, 2022 during Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s official visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Articles on this trade agreement that have already been cited in the India Subcontinent Watch Thread are linked here:

UAE and India sign comprehensive econom ... lnews.com)
India, UAE sign free trade deal expecte ... stan Times

[wjfox]

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, immortalised in name of world’s tallest building, dies aged 73

Friday 13 May 2022 19:54, UK

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, has died at the age of 73.

A pro-Western moderniser, he was known for aligning the Gulf State closer to the US and its allies.

He oversaw much of the country's economic growth and bailed out debt-ridden Dubai during its financial crisis more than 10 years ago.

Sheikh Khalifa also helped fund the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, which was named after him.

https://news.sky.com/story/uae-presiden ... 3-12612387

[caltrek]

Amnesty International Urges UAE to Free 10 Inmates Kept Beyond Sentences
May 30, 2022

Introduction:

(Times of Israel) Amnesty International on Monday urged the United Arab Emirates to “immediately” release 10 men who it said were being arbitrarily detained beyond their jail sentences.

They were being kept in detention “on the pretext of ‘counter-extremism counselling,'” according to Amnesty.

The 10 UAE citizens were among 69 nationals arrested in 2012 and jailed in 2013 for up to 15 years on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.
…
Prosecutors said the accused were linked to Al-Islah, a group with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE categorizes as a terrorist organization.

“These men have already spent a decade behind bars for daring to speak out against the Emirati authorities or being perceived as political opposition, and now this injustice is being prolonged past their long-awaited release dates,” Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director Lynn Maalouf said in a statement.

Read more here: https://www.timesofisrael.com/amnesty- ... entences/

[caltrek]

A New Industrial Strategy in the UAE, Egypt and Jordan
May 29, 2022

(The National) Very few countries can lay claim to a GDP not far off $800 billion, a logistical portfolio that contains some of the world’s busiest waterways and ports, a vast young and educated population and natural resources as diverse as oil and gas, gold, silica sand and renewable energy.

Yesterday, three countries in the Middle East, the UAE, Egypt and Jordan, came together as part of a new industrial strategy to pool such assets and create one of the most profitable multilateral frameworks to come out of the region in recent years, further integrating some of the most important alliances in the Middle East.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, said: “Industry is the backbone of large economies and we are confident that the UAE, with what it has from resources, active policies, a will for development and advanced technology and advanced logistical infrastructure, is capable of building a strong economic foundation to benefit from the industrial partnership between the countries of the region.” He stressed that this partnership presents promising opportunities for future generations in the region.

The Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Growth includes a $10bn investment fund, which will help advance prosperity by focusing on priority industrial sectors, such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals and minerals, all of which have been chosen for their growth potential and ability to bolster a cross-border industrial base.

At the announcement of the initiative, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, drew on a number of examples. “In the field of agriculture and food, we have an opportunity to increase the production of wheat and corn in the three countries from 16.5 million tons to about 30 million tonnes annually.”

Read more here: https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion ... nd-jordan/

[caltrek]

The UAE Civil Nuclear Program: Policy Recommendations
by Dr. Tahir Mahmood Azad
June 18, 2022

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has pursued its civil nuclear programme after careful assessments and close consultations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the late 2000s.

The UAE government received massive public support to start its own civil nuclear programme for peaceful use of nuclear technology. Then the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority was nominated as the Nuclear Energy Program Implementation and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) was established as an Abu Dhabi public entity in 2009. ENEC became the possessor and construction licence holder for the Barakah Nuclear Plant.
Under a US $20 billion contract announced in December 2009, Four Korean-designed APR-1400 reactors were being built at Barakah by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). The UAE has established a model of operating its nuclear power programme founded on external services rather than developing domestic expertise. First concrete for Barakah 1 was poured in July 2012, while that for units 2-4 was poured in April 2013, September 2014 and July 2015 (WNN, 2021), respectively.

The UAE has the state of the art civil nuclear programme and it has been highly praised by IAEA Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, during a visit to UAE in 2021. According to Grossi, “the UAE is an important IAEA partner and the first Arabic speaking country to have a fully-fledged nuclear power programme and UAE’s determinations to foster technical scientific skills in its populace through its national peaceful nuclear and space programmes will help further spur economic development, enable the country to meet its ambitions, and inspire innovation in future generations (Madsen, 2021).”

In the Arab world, the UAE has become the first country to acquire civil nuclear power programme for peaceful purposes. ENEC has vigorously commented that the Barakah plant is meaningfully supporting to the nation’s determinations to acquire clean and sustainable energy. The UAE has huge potentials and resources to booster its civil nuclear programme. Nuclear energy is the great source of clean power as it maintains air quality by generating substantial amounts of carbon-free electricity. Additionally, nuclear technology is very useful in agriculture, medical diagnosis and treatment, space exploration and scientific investigation.

Read more here: https://www.eurasiareview.com/18062022 ... nalysis/

caltrek response: While the UAE seems to be taking a relatively responsible approach toward installation of nuclear power facilities, I think reliance on nuclear power is inherently too risky to be encouraged. Not just the risks of catastrophic failure, but also of the ever growing problem of waste disposal.

[caltrek]

Human Rights Groups Urge Biden to Secure Release of U.S. Lawyer Held in UAE
by Brett Wilkins
July 16, 2022

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) As President Joe Biden prepared to meet with the leader of the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, human rights groups urged the U.S. administration to secure the release of an American civil rights attorney arrested in Dubai in a "politically motivated" case.

Asim Ghafoor—a U.S. citizen who previously represented murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and his fiancée Hatice Cengiz—was taken into custody Thursday at Dubai International Airport while en route to Turkey to attend a family wedding, the group Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN)—of which Ghafoor is a board member—said Friday.

"We are outraged at the unjustified detention of our board member and extremely concerned for his health and physical security given the well-documented record of abuse in the UAE, including torture and inhuman treatment," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN, in a statement.

DAWN cited U.S. consular officials who said Ghafoor was taken to the Abu Dhabi Criminal Investigative Division detention facility on charges related to an in absentia conviction for alleged money laundering.

"Detaining Ghafoor on the basis of an in absentia conviction without providing him any information, notice, or opportunity to defend against himself is a flagrant violation of his due process rights," said Whitson. "Whatever trumped-up legal pretext the UAE has cooked up for detaining Ghafoor, it smacks of politically motivated revenge for his association with Khashoggi and DAWN, which has highlighted UAE human rights abuses and urged an end to arms sales to the country."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022 ... eld-uae

[wjfox]

UAE plotted to use COP28 to push for oil and gas deals, leaked notes show

NOVEMBER 27, 2023 1:55 PM CET

The world's top climate summit has become embroiled in a hypocrisy scandal, days before the start of key talks.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) schemed to use its position as host country of the imminent COP28 United Nations climate talks to discuss oil and gas deals with more than a dozen countries, leaked documents published by the BBC show.

Briefing notes prepared by the UAE's COP28 team for meetings with foreign governments during the summit, which starts Thursday in Dubai, include talking points from the Emirati state oil and renewable energy companies, according to documents published Monday by the Centre for Climate Reporting.

Germany, for example, is to be told that the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) — whose CEO, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, is COP28's president — "stand[s] ready to expand LNG supplies to Germany."

The briefing notes for China say that ADNOC is "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG opportunities (Mozambique, Canada, and Australia)."

https://www.politico.eu/article/uae-cop ... -al-jaber/

[weatheriscool]