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MidEast Business Weekly Each Friday we explore the world of business in the Middle East, highlighting The Media Line's coverage of everything from finance and real estate to working conditions, aviation and social networking. The MidEast Daily will return on Sunday.
First Ever Debit Card Makes History in Somalia
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Somalia's first ever debit card system has been launched. Dahabshiil, the largest international money transfer business in the Horn of Africa, has launched an "eCash" service that will enable Somalis to pay for goods and services at participating vendors, gas stations, hotels and restaurants. Analysts say providing Somalis with the ability to make and receive electronic payments has the potential to revolutionize the way money is transferred. Dahabshiil's eCash service, initially launched in the breakaway Somaliland region, will provide Somalis with a card they can use to withdraw cash or electronically purchase various goods and services. While the initial launch focuses on larger consumer vendors with electricity and Internet access, Dahabshiil has plans to allow Somalis to use the service to pay Somali tuition fees. The system, which is encrypted and requires both PIN and signature authorizations, will be fully integrated with Dahabshiil's already dominant global remittance system.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=26959
Abu Dhabi to spend $1000000000000 Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is set to invest $1 trillion on various infrastructure projects in the city. The emirate, the world’s forth largest oil producer with some 10 percent of the worlds proven oil reserves, announced plans Monday to boost its infrastructure by building new power plants, a light rail network, new roads and housing. The $1 trillion sum represents approximately 17 percent of the national budget and, as a small comparison, could buy 833 of the newly commissioned USS New York warships or run the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority for 90 years. Over the weekend Abu Dhabi hosted the final race in this year’s Formula 1 season in the newly built Yas Marina circuit, built over three years at an estimated cost of $40 billion.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=26982
Worlds Tallest Hotel to Open in Dubai… Without Drinks There will be no champagne at the grand opening of the world’s tallest hotel in Dubai next month. The Saudi Arabian Rotana Hotels Group plans to open the world’s tallest hotel by mid-December under its “Rayhaan” alcohol free brand in Dubai. The Rose Rayhaan hotel, set to stand 1092 feet and with 481 rooms, will be one of the world’s first major to be completely free of alcohol. Robert O’Hanlon, a Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Partner at Deloitte in the Middle East, said the decision to make the hotel alcohol free was designed to attract more regional clients. “Given the region and the increasing extent to which people from Saudi Arabia and other non-alcoholic jurisdictions are tending to travel it is likely that the need for such hotels will continue to grow,” he told The Media Line. Once opened the hotel will overtake the Burj al Arab as Dubai’s tallest hotel. The Burj al Arab, which boasts seven stars as compared to Rose Rayhaan’s four, is located on a small man-made island outside Dubai and has won numerous design awards.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=26971
Hebrew, Arabic Letters to Feature in Web Addresses Hebrew and Arabic lettering will soon feature in website addresses in Israel and the Arab world, following a decision by the body governing domain names to allow non-Latin letters in Internet addresses. The process of bringing new characters into domain names will begin on November 16, according to the decision by the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and could be in use by the beginning of 2010. The approval, reached Friday after a week of meetings in the South Korean capital Seoul, is set to change Internet usage habits throughout the Middle East. Critics of the new system say the technology will create sub-webs, alienating Internet users who do not speak certain languages. If companies purchase only non-English domain names, large numbers of Internet users could be systematically excluded. ICANN hopes the new policy will make the world wide web more accessible to billions of people worldwide. The move will be the first to stop Latin-letter dominance of the Internet since it was invented 40 years ago.
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=26960
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