UAE Introduces New Tax Law…
UAE announces eInvoicing to simplify tax procedures for businesses in the country.
UAE News:
UAE announces eInvoicing to simplify tax procedures for businesses in the country.
UAE retail operator Lulu Group, expected to list on ADX by the 14th November, forecasts revenues to grow by 8-10% this year, with growth across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In H1, revenues grew by 5.6% to USD 3.9bn, with UAE and Saudi Arabia’s share at 36% and 19% of the total followed closely by Oman (17%).
Dubai announced a new digital platform Ignyte to support and accelerate the growth of startups and entrepreneurs. The platform will help connect startups with mentors, investors and networking opportunities while also enabling investors to receive pitches from startups.
Women account for one-third of new board members in the UAE, disclosed Heidrick & Struggles in its fourth Board Monitor in the UAE. Boards also spent more time versus global counterparts on emerging technologies (e.g. AI: 83% in the UAE vs 71% globally), financial performance & risk (74%) and geopolitical volatility (67%).
MENA News:
The IMF forecasts economic growth in MENA to touch 2.1% this year, revised lower compared to the previous update, due to the ongoing conflicts in the region and oil production cuts. Growth projection for 2025 assumes that the conflicts ease: GCC growth improves to 4.2% in 2025 from 2024’s 1.2%, with non-oil sector growth as the main driver (ranging between 3-4%). Saudi Arabia and UAE are forecast to grow by 1.5% and 4% in 2024 and rise to 4.6% and 5.1% in 2025.
Inflation is starting to ease in the Middle East (14.8% in 2024 from 15% in 2023), partly due to monetary policy tightening and lower energy costs. However, it remains elevated for oil importers (24.7% in 2024 from 22.8% in 2023). Country-specific reasons have kept inflation relatively high in some nations including in Egypt and Lebanon.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Lebanon on the “grey list” of countries: this adds on to existing financial and macroeconomic worries in the country, in addition to the ongoing conflict. Read the article “Time to address Lebanon’s crippling banking crisis” for more on a proposed roadmap to recovery.
At a conference in Paris, around 70 government delegations and 15 international organisations pledged more than USD 800mn (including USD 300mn from the US) to help Lebanon. Another USD 200 mn was set aside for the Lebanese Armed Forces. The aid will be in-kind rather than cash/financial. Earlier in the week, Lebanon’s minister in charge of responding to the crisis disclosed that the country would need USD 250mn a month to cover the basic needs of the displaced population.
The expat workforce in Oman grew to 1,808,672 at the end of September, with the private sector employing 1.42 million persons. Just over 442k persons were employed in the construction sector, with the wholesale & retail trade sector coming in second (273, 537 persons).
GCC sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) completed 126 transactions valued at USD 55bn during January-September 2024: this accounted for 40% of global deals, according to Global SWF. US and UK have attracted USD 18.9bn and USD 9.5bn from the GCC SWFs. Over the past 6 years, almost 84% of FDI inflows into the GCC have been into Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Oman will launch the “Promising Companies Market” this year- that will have lighter disclosure requirements and is expected to enable family businesses to enter the market.
The deputy governor of the Saudi Central Bank revealed that the number of transactions conducted by digital payment systems increased by 16% YoY by the end of Q3 2024. Additionally, the share of electronic payments in the individual sector reached 70% of the total payment transactions – a target planned for 2025.
Around 364,000 Saudi citizens have joined the local employment market for the first time in 2024, according to the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development.
Aramco’s CEO stated at a conference of being “fairly bullish” on Chinese oil demand, on “more demand for jet fuel and naphtha especially for liquid-to-chemical projects”.
Knight Frank forecasts Riyadh’s population to grow to 9.6 mn by 2030 (with 5.5 mn expats) from around 7 mn in 2022. This will increase the demand for new homes, with Saudi citizens demand estimated at 220k units from 2024 to 2030 and 305k units from 2024 to 2034.
Global News:
Markets are dominated by geopolitical and US political developments rather than concerns about macro fundamentals (inflation and/ or growth). Equities markets were mixed last week on concerns about conflicts in the Middle East and a possibility of a close race in the US elections (5th Nov). Asia ex-Japan dropped almost 2% weekly, while S&P 500 was down by 1%. Regional markets were mostly down, with Qatar posting the largest drop (-3.1%); UAE markets, which were open on Friday, reacted positively to a potential resumption of ceasefire talks this week (but ADX closed on a weekly loss of 0.9% vs Dubai’s 0.2% gain). Among currencies, dollar strengthened via-a-vis the JPY, while the euro and the British pound weakened. Oil prices posted a weekly gain (of around 4%) though lower after the Iran attack. Gold prices ended the week higher but have come off the record-high touched on Wednesday (USD 2758.37).
About Business Exchange Bureau:
Business Exchange Bureau (BXB) is a Professional Marketplace for Business Owners to Buy and Sell Businesses, Investments or Business Assets in the UAE.
The BXB vision is clear - to connect great business minds to great investments.
SOURCE:
Nasser Saidi & Associates