Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City signed a preliminary agreement with Emirates Development Bank to support businesses registered in its free zone and help them with their banking needs.
As part of the agreement, Masdar City will encourage small and medium enterprises and large businesses to do their banking through EDB’s app and open an account, while EDB will offer priority banking for Masdar City customers and give them easy access to finance, the free zone said in a statement on Thursday.
“Through this strategic collaboration, we aim to attract more innovation to the UAE through easy financial processes and continuing to grow exciting cutting-edge technologies and innovation in Masdar City,” said Abdulla Balalaa, executive director of Masdar City.
“This will further underpin Abu Dhabi’s status as an attractive destination for world-class business owners and innovators to incubate, develop and grow industries of the future.”
Masdar City is home to a number of businesses including Siemens Energy, G42 Healthcare and Tabreed, among others. The International Renewable Energy Agency and Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence are also based at Masdar City.
EDB was founded in 2011 through a merger between Emirates Industrial Bank and Real Estate Bank. It aims to provide Dh30 billion ($8.17bn) in financing over the next five years as part of a strategy to support SMEs and the priority industrial sector in the country. The UAE plans to more than double the size of its industrial sector, to Dh300bn by 2031.
The bank will fund industries such as health care, infrastructure, food security and technology, and help to generate 25,000 jobs.
Last year, Masdar City introduced new business packages with licence fees ranging between Dh1,000 ($272.29) and Dh12,000 to attract more companies to set up operations in its free zone and support existing businesses. It also signed a financing deal worth $200 million with First Abu Dhabi Bank to help the free zone acquire more properties through its Green Real Estate Investment Trust.
The proceeds from the transaction will assist Masdar City in bringing more sustainable assets to the market through new developments while expanding its size, it said this week.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The specs
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Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
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500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
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French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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