A top Indian businessman is the latest person to be granted a 10-year residence visa in the UAE.
Dr Azad Moopen, founding chairman of the Aster DM Healthcare group, joins two other businessmen who received the visa over the past few days.
He said the special status bestowed upon him and other long-term investors made him feel like an integral part of a country he considers his own.
“It’s like being a citizen here,” said Dr Moopen, who moved to the UAE more than 30 years ago.
“We already have significant involvement here but this makes you feel as if the country is yours.
“I have spent as much time in the UAE as in my motherland, and my children and wife have spent more time in the UAE than in India,” said Dr Moopen, who began his career as a general physician in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
He moved to the UAE in 1987 to work with an Indian doctor at a clinic in Ajman.
Dr Moopen, 65, is now the chairman of a group that operates 24 hospitals, 116 clinics and a chain of pharmacies in the Middle East, India and Asia. Three additional hospitals are set to open in Jebel Ali, Quasis and Muhaisnah in Dubai and a fourth in Sharjah.
He said the long-term visa will encourage others to invest in and commit to the country.
“Dubai is the springboard of our achievements, so this is a fulfilling moment for my wife and me because we feel recognised,” he said.
"We are so proud, happy and thankful to the rulers for conceiving of this special residency status for those who are invested here. This definitely gives an investor more stability when looking at the country. Earlier, when the residency was for two or three years, you know you have to go through the process of getting it again. But this brings more commitment and confidence.”
Dr Moopen and his wife, Naseera Azad, received their visas on Sunday along with their invitation to the wedding reception to celebrate the marriage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and his brothers, Sheikh Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Ahmed this Thursday.
“Receiving the invitation was like icing on the cake,” said Dr Moopen.
BR Shetty, founder of the NMC Healthcare and Finablr, a financial services network, will receive his 10-year residence visa on Sunday.
“I’m very happy to have been identified for this new residency,” said Mr Shetty, who worked as a salesman when he arrived in Dubai in 1973 and now has two companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
“It is a proud moment. This gives great confidence to old-timers like me and it is important for new comers to know that investors are being recognised.”
At the weekend, another Dubai businessman Rizwan Sajan, founder and chairman of the Danube Group, a manufacturing and real estate enterprise, was also granted a 10-year residency visa.
The UAE Cabinet had announced a host of changes to the country’s residency policy last year. These introduced five and 10-year visas for leading professionals, academics and investors.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, recently said 6,800 investors with an estimated net worth of Dh100 billion had been chosen to receive a permanent or 'golden card' residency visa.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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ACC%20T20%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Championship
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
RESULTS
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
