Business

Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper Monday in a blaze of fireworks, then added a final flourish: It renamed the half-mile-high tower for the head of neighboring Abu Dhabi, whose billions bailed out Dubai amid last year’s financial crisis. Long known as Burj Dubai — Arabic for “Dubai Tower” — the building rises 2,717 feet … Continued

Fewer Saudis will travel to the United States due to the increased security measures imposed on travellers from 14 countries including the Saudi Arabia, it has been reported. Abdulla Abo Khamseen, executive general manager of Kanoo Travel and a member of the executive committee of the travel industry, told the Saudi Gazette, relatives of some … Continued

Mahmoud Tamimi’s friends call it the ”Dubai syndrome” — the insatiable longing for a city he loves but was forced to leave. Back in Dubai, the 31-year-old had a good job, nice apartment and a $3,700 monthly salary, dozens of times what he’d ever made before. Then, early last year, the Jordanian of Palestinian origin … Continued

Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper Monday, and in a surprise move renamed the gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa in a nod to the leader of neighboring Abu Dhabi — the oil-rich sheikdom which came to its rescue during the financial meltdown. A multimedia presentation witnessed by Dubai’s ruler and … Continued

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, the Saudi banking and finance mogul, retained the top spot on the 2009 Arabian Business Rich List for the world’s 50 richest Arabs, while last year’s number three, Maan Al Sanea, dropped off the list amid his debt woes. The Arab Rich List, which was published Sunday, surveys Arabs … Continued

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum unveiled on Friday a plan to drill 520 exploratory oil and gas wells involving investments of USD two billion in 2010. The plan envisages drilling 36 gas wells in the country’s northern delta coast, the southern governorates of Qena and Aswan, west of the Nile River, and the southern border … Continued

Proven oil reserves in Arab countries topped 672 billion barrels in 2008, making up 57.7 percent of the world’s total reserves, an economic report said. The Unified Arab Economic Report for 2009 said proven oil reserves in Arab countries rose 0.4 percent in 2008. Production, meanwhile, rose 6.2 percent in 2008 to 23.7 million barrels … Continued

Middle East airports will spend $86bn in expansion plans up to 2025, according to the latest research by Frost & Sullivan. The region’s aviation industry has expanded despite the pressures of the global recession and are expected to grow further, the company said on Sunday. Announcing the launch of its latest analysis, Frost & Sullivan … Continued

President Michel Sleiman announced Thursday that American airlines are considering a partnership agreement with Middle East Airlines (MEA) as a first step to resume direct flights between Beirut and the United States and eventually Canada. The issue of MEA and resumption of direct flights between the US and Lebanon was raised during an official visit … Continued