by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Muslim World
Abu Dhabi : The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development signed here on Sunday a $25 million agreement with the Mauritanian Deposit and Development Fund.
The agreement, signed in the presence of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, is aimed at providing support for micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises in Mauritania.
The agreement, signed by Chairman of Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development Hussain Jasim Al Nowais and Director General of the Deposit and Development Fund Jekana Mohammado Yousef, stipulates for the disbursement of the amount in equal installments over the next five years.
After the signing ceremony, Al Nowais said the agreement is a testimony to the strong fraternal ties between the United Arabs Emirates and Mauritania as it provides a financial framework to support the efforts of Mauritanian government towards promoting a culture of entrepreneurship and supporting micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises. The agreement is also aimed at creating new job opportunities to the Mauritanian youth.
For his part, Yousef praised the support provided by the UAE to Mauritania in various fields, especially in the areas of enabling the youth and women to engage in their country’s economic development.
Since its inception in 2007, the Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has become one of the leading institutions aimed at instilling a culture of entrepreneurship and supporting SMEs in the UAE.
The Fund has financed more than 1,400 projects within the country. Its successful experience has been transferred to Egypt, Chechnya, Jordan and Belarus through pioneering financing programs directed toward strengthening government efforts in these countries to achieve sustainable development and build a diversified and stable economy.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates on Saturday signed a $25 million worth agreement to provide support for micro, small and medium enterprises in the Republic of Mali.
Emirates news agency WAM reported that the agreement was signed in Abu Dhabi between the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development and the Malian government represented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the presence of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Mali’s President Ibrahim Ebrahim Boubacar Keita.
Following the signing ceremony, a statement said that the agreement provides for the disbursement of the amount in equal installments over the next five years.
“The agreement is a part of the UAE’s continuing efforts to support micro, small and medium enterprises in the Republic of Mali while also enabling these enterprises in generating business that is in line with the Mali government’s efforts to promote economic development in the country,” said Chairman of Khalifa Fund Hussain Jasim Al Nowais, after signing the agreement with Malian Minister of Economy and Finance Dr. Boubou Cisse.
Al Nowais also explained the importance of joining hands with Mali to allow young people and women the opportunity to achieve their ambitions via creating their own projects that will contribute to developing the Malian national economy as well as the rural and poor areas across the West African nation.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Islamabad : Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have finalised a $6.2 billion support package to help Islamabad address its balance of payments challenge, the media reported on Saturday.
The package involves $3.2 billion worth of oil supplies on deferred payment, besides a $3 billion cash deposit. It is expected to be announced by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his visit to the country starting Sunday, Dawn reported.
According to a government official, the package was finalised on Thursday evening and was similar to that given by Saudi Arabia.
With this, Pakistan would get a total saving of about $7.9 billion on oil and gas imports from the two countries, accounting for more than 60 per cent of annual oil import bill of about $12-13 billion, he said.
This included about $3.2 billion each of oil supplies on deferred payments from the UAE and Saudi Arabia and about $1.5 billion trade finance from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).
The total financing support from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, including the ITFC’s trade finance, would be around $14 billion when cash deposits of $3 billion each from the two countries were also included, the official said.
This is in addition to a deep-conversion oil refinery to be set up by Parco — a joint venture of Pakistan and Abu Dhabi — worth $5-6 billion and an expected petro-chemical complex by Saudi Arabia.
The government also started backchannel discussions with Qatar for some relief in terms of reduction in LNG prices or a relaxed payment schedule, but that was at an early stage, the daily said.
Pakistan has already received $2 billion in cash deposit from Saudi Arabia at an interest rate of 3.18 per cent while the third tranche of $1 billion was due in the first week of February. The Saudi oil facility would also start rolling out this month with an average $274 million per month.
The daily said that with support from Qatar, Pakistan was expecting about $9 billion cushion in total oil and gas import bill.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Dubai : About 18 months after the Arab quartet severed ties with Qatar, “there is still no solution to the spat in sight,” said UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Monday.
Referring to an interview by former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani on FRANCE 24 earlier in the day, Gargash said on his Twitter account that “I agree … that there is no solution to his country’s crisis,” Xinhua reported.
In the interview, Al-Thani, Qatar’s Prime Minister from April 3, 2007 to June 23, 2013, said he was disappointed about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud who he said was “not well advised.”
Gargash said he does not think that Al-Thani was “not in a position to give advice to Riyadh and its leadership.”
On June 5 last year, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, cut diplomatic and economic relations with Qatar.
The four accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the region.
However, Doha has rejected the accusations, calling them “unjustified” and “baseless.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, Muslim World
Hudaydah port
By Aroonim Bhuyan,
New Delhi : The Houthis, the Shia majority armed group allegedly allied to Iran, is using a key port in war-torn Yemen to import arms instead of allowing in aid material, UAE Ambassador to India Ahmed Albanna has said.
“The Houthis now are actually using the port of Hudaydah to import weapons and arms,” Albanna told IANS here.
“Also they are confiscating all the international aid — goods that are sent to Yemen to help the Yemeni people.”
The port of Hudaydah is Yemen’s main lifeline for the import of humanitarian aid.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is part of the Saudi-Arabia led coalition that launched a military intervention in 2015 to influence the outcome of the Yemeni civil war in favour of the internationally-recognised government of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.
The Houthis seized power in Yemen’s capital Sana’a and eastern regions of the country in 2014-15, forcing the Hadi government into exile, from where it requested armed support from its Sunni neighbour Saudi Arabia.
The ensuing civil war plunged the nation into a humanitarian crisis. According to the UN, which has limited access to Yemen, hundreds of thousands of people have fled fighting and as many as eight million people were on the brink of starvation.
Albanna said that the UAE and the Arab coalition will strongly support the work of UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths.
“We continue to support a political solution in Hudaydah,” he stated, describing the Houthis as a minority party that is occupying the city and port of Hudaydah
“They consist of very small percentage of the Yemeni people,” he stated. “This military occupation violates international and humanitarian law.”
According to the Ambassador, the Houthis are positioning themselves in hospitals, schools and municipal buildings and are using human shields to protect their own interests.
“So, the Arab coalition will ensure that there is a halt to those illegal activities,” he said.
“We are very much for the implementation of the UN Resolution 2216.”
Adopted in 2015, the UN Resolution calls on all parties in the embattled country, in particular the Houthis, to immediately and unconditionally end violence and refrain from further unilateral actions that threaten the political transition.
Albanna said that the Arab coalition is working to free the port of Hudaydah so that ships can unload humanitarian aid, medicines, food and other supplies for the needy people in Yemen.
“We, the Arab coalition and the United Arab Emirates, work very closely with the UN organisations, UN agencies such as the WFP (World Food Programme) and the Unicef to make sure that food, shelter, medicine reach the needy people in Yemen,” he said.
“The action that was taken by the Arab coalition in the city of Hudaydah and specifically in the port of Hudaydah I think eventually it will put the pressure on the Houthis to come back to the table of negotiations.”
Albanna said that the Arab coalition’s action will force the Houthis to work out a political solution with the legal government of Hadi that has been elected by the people of Yemen.
Stating that the Arab coalition was interested in bringing back peace in Yemen, he said: “We are interested in restoring the official government in Yemen that has been elected and has been agreed upon by all parties. So, therefore, our actions lately, particularly in the city and port of Hudaydah, eventually will sort out and somehow will ensure that the Houthis abide by international laws and rules.”
(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
—IANS
