Tag: Gulf States

  • UAE decides to grant citizenship to ‘talented and innovative’ people

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has adopted amendments that would allow Gulf state to grant citizenship to investors and other professionals, including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their families, the government said on Saturday.

    “The UAE cabinet, local Emiri courts and executive councils will nominate those eligible for the citizenship under clear criteria set for each category,” Dubai’s ruler and UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum tweeted.

    “The law allows receivers of the UAE passport to keep their existing citizenship,” Sheikh Mohammed added.

    It was unclear if new passport holders would benefit from the public welfare system. The UAE spends billions of dollars each year on free education, healthcare, housing loans and grants for its estimated 1.4 million citizens.

    Foreigners in the UAE usually have renewable visas valid for only a few years tied to employment. The government in recent has made its visa policy more flexible, offering longer residencies for certain types of investors, students and professionals.

    Last year, the government extended its “golden” visa system — that grants 10-year residency in the Gulf state — to certain professionals, specialised degree-holders and others.

  • Saudi Arabia’s energy company ‘Aramco’ worth’s $1.7 trillion after a historic IPO

    Saudi Arabia’s energy company ‘Aramco’ worth’s $1.7 trillion after a historic IPO

    Saudi Arabia has recently turned Aramco (Arabian-American Oil Company) in publicly owned enterprise. By making it a public entity – that investors can buy and sell shares in the stock market.

    Shaybah

    In the Initial Public Offering (IPO) phase, the worth of the company has plunged to $1.88 trillion that break all the records of the recent decades.

    The offering price of Armaco shares were 32 Riyals ($8.53) and people bought the shares of $25.6 billion – eclipsing Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO of 2014.

    Moreover, seconds after the debut on Riyadh’s Tadawul exchange, the price per stock rose to 35.2 riyals. This development further boosted the energy giant’s valuation.

    Haradh Gas Plant (Aramco)

    On the launch ceremony, the Chairman of Aramco Yasir Al-Rumayyan said “Today the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no longer the only shareholder of the company. More than five million shareholders have joined including citizens and residents, in addition to Gulf countries and international investment institutions. The kingdom is immensely proud of this day.”

    It was the strategy of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to overhaul the oil-reliant economy.

    The IPO process had put the energy giant’s value at $1.7 trillion, far ahead of other firms in the trillion-dollar club, including Apple and Microsoft.

    The listing of Aramco, with its huge capital value, boosts the Saudi bourse — known as Tadawul — to the ranks of the world’s top ten.

  • Pakistani driving licences to be valid in UAE

    Pakistani driving licences to be valid in UAE

    Federal Minister for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed has said that an authority will be set up to issue driving licences that will also be valid in the Gulf states.

    Addressing the launching ceremony of an e-billing system for the National Highway Authority (NHA), the minister said that a delegation will leave for Dubai in a week or so for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities on acceptance of Pakistani driving licences in the Gulf states.

    The minister said he read in a news report that the UAE government had inked a similar agreement with another country, Dawn news reported.

    “Obtaining a driving licence in the UAE is a gigantic task, but once the agreement is signed, our drivers holding the local driving licence will have more job opportunities in the Gulf states as they will have no need to get another licence there,” he added.

    He said offices of the driving licence authority will be established all over the country.