Business

1 Sep 2019; MEMO: A delegation of at least 40 businessmen from the United Arab Emirates attended a state-backed trade fair in Syria’s capital, defying US warnings against doing business with the government and associates of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a report by Reuters.

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Sunday reported a 32.7 per cent decline in sales at 1,06,413 units in August.

The company had sold 1,58,189 units in August last year, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement.

Domestic sales declined by 34.3 per cent at 97,061 units last month as against 1,47,700 units in August 2018, it added.

Islamabad, Sep 1 (PTI) The Pakistan government has launched its own mineral water brand to cut costs as part of its austerity drive to solve the cash-strapped nation's financial woes, according to a media report.

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said the bottled water called Safe Drinking Water would be a cheaper alternative to other mineral water brands in the market.

Kochi, Sep 1 (PTI) In the run up to two key UN summits on Climate Change, India has raised the pitch for finance and technology support to developing nations to achieve the Paris Agreement goals of keeping a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was taking decisive steps in achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which is the heart of the 2015 Paris pact.

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said the state of the economy was "deeply worrying" and urged the government to put aside "vendetta politics" and reach out to sane voices and thinking minds to steer the economy out of this "man-made crisis".

The Congress leader said "all-round mismanagement" by the Modi government was responsible for the slowdown.

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Jet fuel price on Sunday was cut by about 1 per cent to a four-month low on softening international oil prices, according to state-owned fuel retailers.

Market-priced or non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) price was however raised by Rs 15.5 per cylinder, oil firms said in a price notification.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept 1 (NNN-NNA) – The fourth China-Arab States Expo is a good opportunity for China and Arab countries, to broaden their cooperation and build a future for their relations, said an Arab business leader.

Praising the existing cooperation in fields like technology, investment, and tourism, between China and Arab states, Khaled Hanafy, secretary general of the Union of Arab Chambers, hoped for “practical steps” in their relations.

ANKARA, Turkey, Sept 1 (NNN-ANADOLU) – The number of companies established by Syrians in Turkey has increased to 10,000, since 2011, when the Syrian civil war started.

Syrian entrepreneurs made a contribution to Turkey’s economy, by feeding at least seven percent of all the Syrians in Turkey, according to a study released by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, an Ankara-based think tank.

Recognising the Syrians’ entrepreneurship, the report said, 59.4 percent of the Syrian business owners have been successful.

31 Aug 2019; MEMO:

Work on Dubai’s Al Maktoum Airport has stopped because the economies of the Gulf states are faltering, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The airport was designed to be one of the world’s biggest, with an annual capacity of more than 250 million passengers.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug 31 (NNN-NNA) – Saroj Kumar Jha, the World Bank regional director for the Middle East, said Friday, that, the World Bank has two billion U.S. dollars, allocated for investments in Lebanon.

“There are great opportunities for growth in Lebanon. We have discussed with President Michel Aoun, the potential of investing in transport, roads, and water projects, in the country,” he said, following his meeting with Aoun.

Kumar also announced that, the World Bank fully supports President Aoun and the Lebanese government, with regard to the approved reforms.