General Electric’s environmental arm, ecoimagination, expects double-digit growth in its Middle East business as energy and water efficiency moves up high on the agenda of governments.
This region has been growing at a rate of speed that is greater than some of the other regions,” said Deb Frodl, global executive director at ecomagination.
“This is exceeding the global average. Europe can be slow the US has been fairly slow.”
Ecomagination, which has more than 1,000 clean technology patents and 105,000 patents overall, is involved in power generation, water solutions, wind turbines, gas turbines, renewables, Leed lighting among others.
GE this week opened an ecomagination centre in low-carbon Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.
The emirate of Abu Dhabi is targeting to produce 7 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020 as part of plans to meet power demand and increase reliance on clean energy. It has set up the green energy company Masdar, which is building solar power plants in the emirate as well as other solar and wind projects globally.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Date started: 2020
Founders: Khaldoon Bushnaq and Tariq Seksek
Based: Abu Dhabi Global Market
Sector: HealthTech
Number of staff: 100
Funding to date: $15 million
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)