Gitexdxb.com site syndication http://www.gitexdxb.com 2008-11-21T02:43:42+01:00 text/html 2008-08-06T12:50:07+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/technology/microsoft-among-the-leading-names-set-for-gitex-technology-week-2008-2 Growth in key vertical industries as well as significant investment by some of the region's fast-growing businesses are creating new opportunities for the world's leading technology companies, such as Microsoft, particularly as the Middle East's economies continue to shine against a backdrop of global economic slowdown.Rapid development in sectors including energy, banking, government services, transport and hospitality are all creating significant 'Greenfield' investments in technology solutions, as companies look to build the infrastructure to support a growing number of customers and employees.In the field of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software alone - solutions designed to manage information regarding a company's interaction with customers and prospective customers - growth rates in investment surged by 40% in 2007, according to international research group Gartner.Major names in the business solutions industry, including Microsoft Dynamics, are looking to capitalise on this global growth with a strong presence at GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK, which runs from 19 - 23 October 2008 at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). text/html 2008-08-06T12:46:04+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/real-estate/azizi-launches-al-massa-one-at-al-furjan-2 Azizi Investments this week launches Almasa One, the second phase of its commercial offering Al Furjan in Dubai. The office tower has 162,452 sq ft of commercial space, in units of 1,250 sq ft and above. Azizi says it is targeting small and medium enterprises or branch locations for larger companies. It will include a 2,500 sq ft conference hall, parking and retail and restaurant facilities. In June, the company launched Almasa Two, claiming it sold out in one day. text/html 2008-08-06T12:43:45+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/energy/oil-falls-to-three-month-low Crude oil prices fell to a three month low as weather forecasters predicted that a storm in the Gulf of Mexico would miss offshore production facilities, according to Bloomberg. Crude oil fell $3.69 to end at $121.41 a barrel in New York, the lowest close since 5 May. text/html 2008-08-06T12:40:51+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/real-estate/i-rise-commercial-real-estate-project-in-dubai-to-maintain-2010-deadline-2 Realty Capital Middle East FZ LLZ has promised to cooperate with Al Naboodah, main contractors for its Dh1 billion ‘i-Rise' project currently under construction in TECOM Site C in Dubai to improve the resources and to ensure on-time delivery of the commercial real estate development despite global shortage of building materials.Marwan Mansour, CEO, Realty Capital, said, We have impressive growth plans which do not leave room for delays to i-Rise. The recent resources augmentation keeps our construction on track and reduces the impact of restricted construction material supplies .Realty Capital Middle East FZ LLC is a strategic real estate partnership between Rasmala Investments, Dubai-based investment bank and Khayyat Investments, UAE-based group with a wide range of national and regional activities. text/html 2008-08-06T12:38:29+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/real-estate/damac-properties-assigns-contract-worth-dh10.72mn-for-lincoln-park-project-in-dubai-2 DAMAC Properties, a leading real estate developer in Dubai, assigns a Dh10.72 million enabling works contract to International Foundation Group for its Lincoln Park project (plots 12, 16 and 25) at Arjan. IFG is Dubai's foremost deep foundation specialists and has completed several developments for DAMAC Properties in the last 2 years. The project is scheduled to be completed by mid 2010.Mr. Peter Riddoch, CEO DAMAC Properties said: Lincoln Park is a mixed Chicago architecture style at Arjan, the master plan development by Mizin, within Dubailand. This white architecture with blue sky as a backdrop, best describes Lincoln Park at Arjan. Arjan is a real estate development within Dubailand that has been designed to suit the lifestyle of high-flying professionals. It is located on Emirates Road, providing easy access to all visitors. The property is just 10 minutes from Dubai International airport and 60 minutes from the UAE Capital city - Abu Dhabi. text/html 2008-08-06T12:31:29+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/technology/cisco-earnings-up-4-percent-beating-forecasts Cisco Systems Inc. said Tuesday that sales would be weaker than analysts had forecast in the next few quarters, but investors who had expected worse were cheered.The world's largest maker of computer networking gear said orders would grow 8 percent in the current quarter, as customers, particularly telecom carriers, pinch their money.Investors had been expecting the weak economy to catch up to the company. It's the dominant player in an industry that has been growing dramatically, but at the same time, its routers and switches are capital investments, the kind that suffer in an economic downturn.Cisco shares were up $1.58, or 7 percent, at $24.25 in extended trading after the release of the results. The stock has slid from the year's high of $27.72 set June 5 as investors prepared for a weak forecast. text/html 2008-08-06T12:29:56+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/business/freddie-mac-swings-to-2q-loss-2 Freddie Mac said Wednesday it swung to a second-quarter loss that was more than three-times larger than Wall Street expected as more homeowners fell behind on their mortgage loans.Including preferred dividends, the company said it lost $821 million, or $1.63 a share, for the quarter that ended June 30, compared with a profit of $729 million, or 96 cents a share, in the year-ago period.Otherwise, the quarterly loss for common-stock shareholders was $1.05 billion, down from a $632 million profit last year.Revenue fell to $1.69 billion from $2.34 billion.Stock analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 53 cents a share on $2.18 billion in revenue.During the quarter, the company set aside $2.5 billion for credit losses as delinquency rate and foreclosures increased — more than double what it had reserved in the first quarter.Freddie's cash cushion against losses also shrunk, falling to $37.1 billion, or $2.7 billion more than the 20 percent surplus required by its federal regulator. text/html 2008-08-06T12:28:39+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/business/xstrata-makes-10-billion-bid-for-lonmin-2 Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata PLC said Wednesday it was making a $10 billion cash offer for Lonmin PLC, the world's No. 3 platinum producer. The move sent Lonmin shares soaring 47.7 percent to 34.25 pounds ($66.92) on the London Stock Exchange, but the company immediately rejected the offer as not high enough. This is an opportunistic and entirely unwelcome attempt to acquire Lonmin at a price which undervalues its unique assets, Lonmin said in a statement.The London-based company urged shareholders not to sell, adding it would make further announcements shortly.Analysts said Lonmin would struggle to fend off a hostile takeover unless another bidder came to the rescue. text/html 2008-07-17T12:24:14+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/uae/etihad-places-firm-orders-for-100-boeing-and-airbus-aircraft-2 Etihad Airways has announced firm orders for 45 Boeing aircraft at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. The list price for the order is more than US $9 billion.The Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the United Arab Emirates has signed contracts for:• 35 B787 aircraft. The engine type is subject to further discussions• 10 B777-300ER aircraft, powered by GE90 enginesThere are also options for a further 25 Boeing 787s and 10 Boeing 777s. In addition, Etihad Airways has agreed purchase rights for a further 10 Boeing 787s and five Boeing 777s. Aircraft deliveries will begin in 2011 and be completed in 2020. text/html 2008-07-17T12:20:41+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/uae/important-it-conference-to-take-place-during-gitex-technology-week-2 With the economic power of the Middle East’s leading businesses reaching historic highs, a major technology forum set for Dubai in October is likely to have a significant impact on the direction of future software and hardware development, according to the event organiser.The GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK Global Conference, one of the region’s largest and most high-profile IT forums, is set to attract senior CIOs from some of the Middle East’s most dynamic business and government organisations, as well as developers from the world’s leading IT companies. text/html 2008-07-14T09:13:11+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/real-estate/rak-govt-makes-escrow-account-mandatory-for-real-estate-firms-in-the-uae-emirate-2 The Ras Al Khaimah government has announced that it has made escrow account (guarantee accounts) of real estate developments mandatory, via a decree issued on July 3, which will help regulate the UAE emirate's property sector.A government statement said: The decree, concerning guarantee accounts of real estate developments in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, makes it mandatory that developers wishing to sell off-plan units in real estate development projects must apply to Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (Rakia) to open a guarantee account in which amounts paid by buyers towards property purchases or by project financing parties will be deposited. Licensed realtors in the UAE emirate should register themselves in the 'register of developers' to be prepared by Rakia. To open the guarantee account, the property developers in the UAE should submit a set of documents including the title deed or affection plan of the plot, copy of the contract executed by the master developer and the sub-developer, conceptual designs and layouts approved by Rakia and trade licence of the real estate firm, among others. text/html 2008-07-14T09:11:38+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/real-estate/nakheel-moves-ahead-with-redevelopment-of-port-rashid-in-dubai-2 Nakheel, one of the world's largest real estate developers, has revealed the latest progress at its most recently launched coastal development in Dubai that includes the completion of stage one of land sales and a major contract award. Revealed as a project in January this year, the redevelopment of Port Rashid has been named Mina Rashid. The redevelopment will build on the culture and heritage of the original port.Nakheel has also announced that Dredging International - Boskalis Westminster Middle East has been awarded the major contract for Mina Rashid. The contract worth Dh2.2 billion will include a sizeable amount of land reclamation including the construction of a breakwater and shore protection. Dubai-based real estate developer has also revealed that the first stage of land sales at Mina Rashid has been completed. Over 20 plots have been sold to local, regional and international developers and will be handed over at the end of this year. text/html 2008-07-14T09:10:40+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/real-estate/ajman-real-estate-sector-witnesses-major-boom-2 The real estate sector of the Northern Emirates industry is witnessing a major boom with property projects worth more than Dh300 billion scheduled for completion by 2011. There is a rise in major hotel projects in Northern Emirates is due to a drastic increase in the number of tourists visiting Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah and is expected to reach more than 5 million a year.Ajman has announced major tourism infrastructure projects earlier in the year totaling Dh5.55 billion including Ajman Museum and Heritage village. Due to rise in real estate developments in the emirate, Ajman government has allocated Dh1.38 billion to develop infrastructure. A major development in the emirate is the Dh3 billion Ajman Marina spread over 14 million sq ft.Al Zorah is another major master development in Ajman. Real estate project worth Dh50 billion, it will cover an area of 10 million sq m on the Ajman coast. The development will also be connected to Dubai via Emirates Road, a separate access to which is being built. text/html 2008-07-14T09:07:28+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/technology/e-mail-public-documents-get-erased-disappea-2 Laws in all but a handful of states give the public access to government e-mail. But what if that e-mail was intentionally deleted or routinely purged?In Hawaii, Gov. Linda Lingle's office allowed e-mails of her top aide to be purged. In North Carolina, Gov. Mike Easley's administration allegedly ordered state workers to delete their e-mail correspondence with his office. And in Missouri, lawsuits claim Gov. Matt Blunt's office deleted e-mails and ordered the destruction of backup e-mail tapes.These and other cases raise concerns that millions of public records in the form of e-mails may be disappearing before anyone outside government can read them.Experts say e-mail archiving systems and better training for state employees will help ensure e-mail is not lost. We're not saying states are trying to do something bad, said Kevin Joerling, a certified records manager with the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, International, a trade group. But they don't understand how important e-mail records can be, and they have to be protected. text/html 2008-07-14T09:04:37+01:00 http://www.gitexdxb.com http://www.gitexdxb.com/business/us-spells-out-fannie-freddie-backstop-plan-2 Scrambling to bolster eroding investor confidence, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department announced steps to brace slumping mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The companies' shares have plunged as losses from their mortgage holdings threatened their financial survival.The plan, unveiled Sunday, is intended to signal the government is prepared to take all necessary steps to prevent the credit market troubles that erupted last year with losses from subprime mortgages from engulfing financial markets.The Fed said it granted the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend to the two companies should such lending prove necessary. They would pay 2.25 percent for any borrowed funds — the same rate given to commercial banks and big Wall Street firms.