Saudi Arabia announced the issuance of "On Arrival Tourist Visas" …

UAE News:
Total credit disbursed to micro, small and medium enterprises in the UAE amounted to AED 88.7bn by end-Q1 this year. This accounts for 11% of loans to the corporate sector and 5.8% of total bank credit during the period.
Remittances from the UAE fell by 8% yoy to AED 80.96bn in H1 this year, according to the central bank. Indians (37.2% of total), Pakistanis (10.5%) and Filipinos (7.2%), Egyptians (6.3%) and UK citizens (3.8%) were the top remitters in Q2.
Employment in the UAE private sector increased by 1% in Q2 to 5.1mn compared to Q1’s 0.1% growth. Construction and real estate sector together account for 45.7% of total employment. Interestingly, H1 witnessed an increase in net new work permits issued: growth more than doubled for clerks (121.6% yoy), as well as blue-collar skilled (+549.7%) and unskilled labour (+376.3%) though professionals and technicians work permits declined compared to a year ago. Wages dipped across the board in Q2, with the highest declines among unskilled labour (-19.1% ytd) and managers (-2.3% ytd).
Dubai’s Department of Economic Development issued 2,650 new licenses for various professional, commercial, industrial and tourism activities in August 2019. Real estate, leasing and business services accounted for 43.9% of the new licenses issued.
A new law to regulate the joint ownership of the real estate in Dubai requires developers to submit all necessary documents of jointly owned real estate projects to the Dubai Land Department within 60 days of the completion date. Separately, DLD disclosed a 134% increase in real estate transactions following the creation of the new Higher Committee of Real Estate on September 2. The value of real estate investments crossed AED 56bn this year across 31,000 investments by 23,000 investors.
A new Emiratisation plan has been approved for Dubai: the program which focuses on 12 specific skills, also includes 5 pillars – identifying and analysing the job market, education systems and skills, work programmes, information and vocational guidance and policies and legislation.

MENA News:
Promoting tourism – Saudi Arabia announced the issuance of on-arrival tourist visas. For the first time, visitors from 49 countries will be able to apply for e-visas online or get them on arrival. Foreign women, above 24 years of age, will be allowed to travel without a male and can be dressed in “modest clothing” (easing the strict dress code). Aiming to promote tourism, the General Investment Authority and Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage have agreed on partnerships with regional and global investors worth SAR 100bn+ (USD 26.6bn). By 2030, tourism is estimated to contribute up to 10% of Saudi Arabia’s GDP, versus just 3% now.
Reports that Saudi Aramco, via the banks appointed to handle its IPO, was directly reaching out to sovereign wealth funds (UAE’s ADIA, Mubadala, Bahrain’s Mumtalakat, Singapore’s GIC and others) to invest in the domestic leg of the listing.
It was reported late last week that Saudi Arabia had restored oil production capacity to 11.3mn barrels per day (bpd), a faster than expected recovery after the September 14 attacks. Saudi Arabia’s crude exports fell post-attacks: it averaged 5.875mn bpd in the 10 days since the attacks, down 1.494mn bpd from shipments in the first 13 days of the month, according to tanker-tracking firm Petro-Logistics, reported Reuters.
Saudi Arabia’s exports to China, Japan, India, South Korea and the US together accounted for 50.9% of the total volume of exports in 2018. Exports to these nations grew by 36% to SAR 562.3bn.

Global News:
US-China trade fears (ahead of scheduled talks on October 10-11 already) spooking markets, were overshadowed by a bombshell that the Trump administration was considering plans to stop Chinese companies listing on US exchanges, later refuted, while revelations related to and ahead of Trump impeachment proceedings continue to affect market sentiment across the globe: stocks are mostly down for a second week. In the region, Egypt shares crashed at the start of the past week following anti-government protests, erasing almost all 2019 gains but rebounded later, while other markets remained subdued. Among currencies, GBP slid (after comments from a BoE official that the bank could lower interest rates even if the UK avoids a no-deal Brexit) as did the euro (falling to its lowest since May 2017). Oil prices fell after supply concerns abated on the ahead-of-schedule repairs in Saudi Arabia, and potential Saudi-Houthi ceasefire, while gold prices edged lower. Overall, a very mixed Q3 for assets.

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SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates