News Archives - Page 33 of 101

February 22, 2023

Bahrain energy firm signs deal for AI oil drilling technology

The Bahrain-based Oil and Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) announced a collaboration deal with UAE technology pioneer AIQ to integrate and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and digital solutions into its upstream operations.

Under the collaboration pact, the energy investment specialists will utilise the latest AI technologies provided by AIQ to increase the operational efficiency of Tatweer Petroleum, a subsidiary of nogaholding.

The digitalisation project will use machine learning and data science to enhance existing field architecture to optimise and improve performance, while reducing operational risk.

Group CEO Mark Thomas said through the collaboration with AIQ, nogaholding aims to maximise the value of national resources and venture into new areas of growth and opportunity.

“The fourth industrial revolution has enabled companies to implement big data and AI to enhance operations and efficiency,” he added.

Omar Al Marzooqi, CEO of AIQ, said AIQ is developing breakthrough AI tools and applications that accelerate the sustainable digital transformation of the energy sector.

“We look forward to working with nogaholding to leverage the power of AI and data to unlock value for Tatweer Petroleum,” he said.

AIQ has enabled the development of breakthrough AI solutions across the energy industry, with the company focusing its expertise on critical AI projects across the oil and gas value chain.

AIQ efficiently collects, categorises, and models data allowing for smarter, safer, and more informed decision-making.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/energy/bahrain-energy-firm-signs-deal-for-ai-oil-drilling-technology

February 22, 2023

Gulf Central Banks hike interest rates following Fed’s increase

The UAE Central Bank has raised its benchmark borrowing rate following a similar move by the US Federal Reserve.

CBUAE has decided to raise the Base Rate applicable to the Overnight Deposit Facility (ODF) by 50 basis points – from 3.9% to 4.4%, effective from Thursday, 15 December 2022.

This decision was taken following the US Federal Reserve Board’s announcement on December 14 to increase the Interest on Reserve Balances (IORB) by 50 basis points.

Central banks hike rates
The CBUAE also has decided to maintain the rate applicable to borrowing short-term liquidity from the CBUAE through all standing credit facilities at 50 basis points above the Base Rate.

The Base Rate, which is anchored to the US Federal Reserve’s IORB, signals the general stance of the CBUAE’s monetary policy. It also provides an effective interest rate floor for overnight money market rates.

The central banks of Saudi Arabia (Sama), Bahrain, and Qatar also increased their interest rates following the US Federal Reserve Board’s announcement.

Sama, the Central Bank of Bahrain and QCB upped their interest rates by 50 basis points in statements.

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) had decided to raise the discount rate by 0.50% from 3.00% to 3.50% effective December 7, 2022.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/politics-economics/gulf-central-banks-hike-interest-rates-following-feds-increase

February 22, 2023

Crypto exchange giant Binance launches in Bahrain

Global blockchain services giant Binance has launched binance.bh, a new platform that allows users to access Binance’s range of regulated products and services.

This includes direct top-ups and withdrawals, in local currencies, the company said in an emailed statement on Monday. All users have to do is link their bank accounts with their binance.bh account.

Bahrain’s position as the region’s fintech hub
“As part of the ongoing collaboration between banks and industry and sector leaders, The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) welcomes Binance’s decision to establish a regional headquarters for its Middle East operations in Bahrain. CBB aims to develop a supervisory framework that facilitates innovation and appropriate regulatory controls for encrypted asset trading service providers and their clients, based on global trends and developments in financial services,” Bahrain Central Bank governor Rasheed Al Maraj said.

Bahrain Economic Development Board chief executive Khalid Humaidan also added that Binance’s launch in the country “reaffirms” Bahrain’s position as a crypto assets, blockchain and fintech innovations leader, regionally and globally.

“Bahrainis have become steadfast early adopters of crypto assets, and it is fantastic that Binance can play a part in addressing the local population’s keen interest to be on the cutting edge of financial innovation,” Binance regional head of europe and MENA Richard Teng said.

Binance has placed its focus on compliance and security controls, and is working with regulators to ensure user protection as well as market integrity.

This commitment has “allowed the company to establish a strong foothold in the GCC and contribute to the region’s status as a fast-emerging global crypto asset hub,” the statement added.

SOurce:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/banking-finance/crypto-exchange-giant-binance-launches-in-bahrain

February 22, 2023

Dubai diamond major Evermore eyeing UAE, GCC expansions

Evermore, the popular diamond brand from Dubai-based Siroya ALTR, is eyeing a major expansion in the GCC region, with immediate plans to make foray into Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The company is also finalising further expansion within the UAE, with plans to open at least three more stores in the coming few months.

“We are looking at Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as aggressive markets for our future stores. The former has the largest youth population and Bahrain has an increasingly aware demographic looking for options,” Rohan Siroya, founder of Evermore, told Arabian Business.

“In the next 3-4 months, we hope to have multiple retailers selling the brand in Saudi Arabia,” Siroya said.

Siroya said Evermore is currently present in multiple stores in Bahrain and Muscat but the company now wants to go full steam in some of the GCC markets to expand its presence and size.

On the UAE expansion, Siroya said: “The UAE has been true to its name as a global consumer hot pot. With 6 stores here, we are looking at adding on 3 more in the next six months.”

Evermore is currently present in multiple stores across Dubai, including Bur Dubai, Dubai Mall, and Mirdiff City Centre, besides its flagship store in the Deira Gold Souk.

Evermore GCC and India expansions
Incidentally, Siroya ALTR – a joint venture between well-known UAE-based jewellery brand Siroya and New York-based ALTR created diamonds, is looking to expand in the GCC market in a big way. close on the heels of it making a foray into India, with the opening of the first Evermore store in Pune, Maharashtra.

Siroya said the GCC and India expansions are part of the company’s ambitious global expansion plans to make the Evermore brand a true global brand.

Evermore was first launched in Dubai and London.

“On a 5-year plan, we are looking keenly at 50 stores in the Middle East, and a similar footprint in India,” he said.

Siroya also revealed plans to add more countries to the company’s expansion programme going forward.

“New counters will be added at where we believe the demographic exists to accept this category,” he said.

“Within Siroya we have an existing client base of over 3000 retailers, and we have begun pitching to many potentials and bringing the opportunity to them,” said Evermore founder, the second generation from the Siroya Group, a multi-business entity and a stalwart in UAE’s gold industry.

“This [the group client base] is where we really differentiate from competitors who lack a marketing approach – we handhold and then continue to grow business together,” Siroya said.

He said the second year operations of the JV – Siroya ALTR – will be focused on consolidating the stores.

“We must ensure higher throughput for our partners in terms of sales. We are running new training programmes, CRMS and end-to-end branding projects to do so,” Siroya said.

Evermore, which is into manufacturing of lab-grown diamonds, supplies jewellery ranging from -2 size diamonds up to 10-carat single stones to retailers.

“Our business currently is relatively smaller than the 35-year-old parent business. However, the growth rate is extremely encouraging. We know the consumer preference is shifting rapidly and we are primed for it as retailers look for organised B2B players,” Siroya said.

“Diamonds are a slower-turn, higher-margin business; Gold is a higher-turn, lower-margin business. They differ in that way,” he said.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/retail/dubai-diamond-major-evermore-eyeing-uae-gcc-expansions

January 22, 2023

Proptech to expand Saudi footprint with its innovative business model

Aiming to reimagine the global living experience through its portfolio of tech-enabled branded residences Stella Stays is planning to become the biggest residential hospitality player in the region, said its co-founder and CEO.

Speaking to Arab News in an exclusive interview, Mohannad Zikra said that the Dubai-based proptech startup that is disrupting the global residential real estate sector with its innovative business model will be adding about 2,500 apartments regionally this year of which 50 percent is going to be in Saudi Arabia.

“We’re adding just over 1,200 apartments mainly focused on Riyadh but we’re also planning to launch soon in Jeddah,” he said. “We’re also looking at Dammam and Alkhobar.”

Zikra went on to add that he is eyeing opportunities in projects in the Kingdom where they are creating new cities. The Saudi Downtown Co., a master and lead developer owned by the Public Investment Fund, with 12 projects located in 11 regions across the Kingdom, for instance, is witnessing a lot of growth and Zikra is keen to tap opportunities in such projects.

Having started in 2019 by creating an offering where people can find and rent and move into a place within a few minutes, Stella Stays has rapidly grown its portfolio. It is keen to continue its expansion across major cities in the Middle East and North Africa region, Europe and North America.

Zikra wants to continue to focus on the region over the next 18 months. “We will obviously continue our growth in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey but we’re also looking at Morocco as a huge market for us,” he said. “Then we’re looking at Qatar as a potential market as well after what happened in the World Cup.”

Moving forward, he explained, Stella Stays will be looking at some of the emerging markets that have huge growth opportunities. Particularly countries like India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

“You have Portugal as well that’s introduced the freelance visas,” he informed. “So in the next 24 months, we’ll go to markets like Asia that have huge growth potential and are among the top contenders in gross domestic product growth.”

Staying focused

When Stella Stays started it had some private investors in the UAE but today a lot of what the company is doing is partnering up directly with real estate developers. “When we partner with real estate developers, we’re able to take the buildings and we’re able to rebuild technology that allows us to reach 100-percent occupancy in our buildings within eight weeks,” Zikra informed.

“Hence, we’re able to generate cash flow very quickly from these buildings. And that’s been helping us fund a lot of our growth. So we took a different approach than some of these other startups that are just raising money to raise money.”

Unlike a lot of startups that are struggling because they focused on growing without caring about profitability, Zikra was always clear about building a profitable business from the very outset.

Not surprisingly, Stella Stays is not only profitable but also cash flow positive.

“We’re growing increasingly fast,” said Zikra. “Our average growth rate is about 250 to 300 percent per year since we started in 2019 until 2022.”

Having been successful in utilizing its funds, Zikra is now working with banks as well to help build a strong foundation and grow the team.

Stella Stays is also looking at partnering up with real estate investment trust funds because, according to Zikra, they have often faced difficulties in finding the right real estate investments. His company could be a good match for these funds as it has a successful business model with around 80 percent of its furnished apartments at full capacity at any one time.

By all accounts, there is a lot of demand for such apartments and people are also willing to pay a premium for them.

He added: “By 2024 we are looking at adding around 5,100 units. And for that, we’re starting to look at strategic partners and investors in the region, especially investors that are backed by sovereign investment funds because we’re seeing that there’s a very close relationship between what we’re doing and what we can contribute toward a lot of the government initiatives from a housing perspective.

“You look at Saudi Arabia and Vision 2030, there is a huge plan to grow the population,” Zikra continued. “And with that, they have needs to add over 100,000 homes over the next three years. And this means that these homes are going to have to be rented out. And they’re looking for partners where they can simplify that process.”

This is where a company like Stella Stays comes in. “We want to come in as a professional furnished apartment operator where we can come in and provide that consistency that you get in a hotel and provide that service,” said Zikra.

Branded, tech-enabled experience

“We don’t just take single apartments but we actually work with real estate developers and we take over buildings,” Zikra said.

“When you book a furnished apartment at Stella Stays, you are coming into a fully managed, branded tech-enabled operator, where from the moment you walk into the building, it’s our brand,” he added.

“In all of the apartments that are managed by us we provide that same consistency where you know you’re going to get a clean place and you know there’s going to be 24/7 support for your stay, whether it’s for one night, one week or one month or more.”

To its credit, Stella Stays has digitized the whole guest journey. It has done much the same thing with home rentals that Uber did with ride-hailing. A lot of its guests and residents come to its app or website, see all the different apartments that they have across the different cities, and choose the one they want.

“They can then choose their dates and pay by credit cards or pay by crypto,” explained Zikra.

“Then after that, they receive information for them to check-in. We have smart door locks across all of our units and access. They find the place, they pay for it, they move in, they can request services and all this without having to ever deal with a person.”

He added: “There’s no need to deal with real estate agents, no need to pick up the phone and make calls. Instead, we have completely digitized the experience.”

Way forward

Asked who his competitors were, and pat came Zikra’s reply: “Our competitors today are nothing other than just traditional landlords who own properties and rent them out on Property Finder and all these different marketplaces or these building owners who want to rent out their apartment on their own. That’s what we want to take over.”

“And that’s why more than anything, we’re partnering up with them and saying, listen, we can take over your assets,” he explained. “Just like Amazon’s done with shopping goods, we can do that with furnished apartments.”

He added that they have entered a brand new space that they have termed “residential hospitality.” According to Zikra residential hospitality is the ability to rent a residential apartment in a branded way.

“We want to take over and become the biggest landlord globally with our concept of allowing people to just show up and start living,” he concluded.

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2236641/business-economy

January 22, 2023

Saudi Arabia, MENA growth outlook bright despite challenges, ministers say

The future looks bright for Saudi Arabia and other Middle East and North African economies, but governments in the region must be wary of geopolitical instability and inflation to sustain growth, ministers told the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Alibrahim took part in a panel discussion on how the MENA region can build an inclusive and sustainable economic future for all of its nations.

He said the Kingdom’s economy was beginning to see results from its Vision 2030 agenda, which led to its economy being one of the fastest growing in the world in 2022.

“Our non-oil activities, the private sector essentially, has grown at a very high rate up until the end of Q3. On a cumulative basis it reached 5.9 percent and before that in Q2 it was even higher. That is one of the highest, if not the highest, rates in 11 years,” he said.

“We will continue our plans to diversify the economy. We were very fortunate that we have seen results of Vision 2030 materialize over the last few years, especially in 2022, and Saudi becoming the global growth story.”

That private sector growth, coupled with an increase in foreign direct investment in new and revived sectors like tourism, culture, sport and entertainment, and mining, were set to deliver long-term prosperity to Saudi Arabia, Alibrahim said.

“We have a very strong fiscal position, a very strong and resilient financial system and a monetary system as well, so we continuously assess if this will impact the private sector, which has been growing consistently and we’ve seen even foreign direct investment grow at 250 percent,” he said.

“The private sector in terms of exports has grown around 20 percent and manufacturing has grown more than 20 percent in the last year.”

Alibrahim said the government’s efforts to make the Kingdom an attractive proposition for foreign direct investment would lead to a “co-creation of value” with its partners.

“We started at 0.7 percent (FDI) and we’re still moving forward. We want to move faster but with the introduction of the National Investment Strategy and with the many trillions that are targeted to be attracted, we’re moving forward,” he said.

“We are trying to build the right business environment in terms of transparency, policy predictability an institutional environment that never existed this well before to attract this FDI.”

Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said and Bahrain’s Minister of Sustainable Development Noor Ali Al-Khulaif echoed Alibrahim’s optimism for the region’s economies as they diversify and attract investment, with both highlighting the progress made in their own countries.

But the panelists warned against the threat to growth from looming crises, with geopolitical upheaval and inflation being the most concerning. They also highlighted the need for keeping channels of communication and cooperation open between nations in the region.

“Inflation is one of the things that is a worry not only for Egypt but for all countries … because it is an extra cost on prices to any citizen,” El-Said said.

Al-Khulaif said: “Certainly, the geopolitical situation (is concerning) … but touching on the theme of WEF this year, communication, I’ve seen it a lot this week … this understanding that my own stability and prosperity, really depends on the stability and prosperity of the countries around me.”

“I think there is a huge amount of willingness to communicate and work together toward growth,” she said.

SOurce:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2235626/business-economy

January 22, 2023

Saudi Arabia issues 115 permits for new industrial units with $1bn investments

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources issued 115 industrial licenses with investments worth SR4 billion ($1.06 billion) in August 2022, official data showed.

The data from the ministry revealed that the number of industrial units across the Kingdom reached 10,707, up from 10,685 in July 2022.

In August 2021, the number of industrial facilities across Saudi Arabia was 10,159.

According to the data, 68 factories became operational in August 2022, with an investment volume of SR2.3 billion.

Forty-one licenses were issued to industrial units in the Riyadh region followed by 26 in the Eastern Province and 22 in the Makkah region.

In the Madinah region, eight new factory licenses were issued in August, and it was followed by the Qassim region with seven, four in Asir, three each in Tabuk and Hail regions and one license for a factory in the Jazan region.

SOurce:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2169806/business-economy

January 22, 2023

Technology-based pension reforms needed in Middle East, expert says

Reforms are needed to rapidly modernize pension schemes in the Middle East to reflect the region’s demographics using technology pension products that are modern, contemporary, engaging and efficient to run, according to a UK-based expert.

There are a number of “themes” that flow through pensions within the region, according to Tim Phillips, managing director of Middle East and Asia affairs at Smart — a UK-based finTech company specialized in building technology for pension schemes around the world.

“When you have a number of dynamics — such as people living considerably longer — (they combine) to cause what is referred to as a ‘pensions crisis,’” he told Arab News in an exclusive interview.

Phillips said life expectancy has increased significantly over the last 20 years and continues to do so, with people having fewer children than they used to in previous generations, which results in an aging population.

A large percentage of the workforce in the Middle East has no social insurance umbrella and the size of the working-age population in Arab countries has decreased significantly in the last decade, according to the World Bank, with projections it will fall by more than one-quarter by 2060.

“The percentage of people who are in retirement versus in employment is increasing quite significantly, so that naturally causes quite an issue, because the amount of funding that you need to support the people in retirement has to get drastically higher,” Phillips said.

There are two types of pension provision in the region, he explained; public pension funds, which provide pensions for locals, and are “incredibly generous” and well run in some countries. Expatriate workers tend to receive a “gratuity” or “lump sum” when they leave employment.

“Both of those models are areas where there’s been discussion about reform happening (and) both of those models need to be looked at to reform in some way, and it’s happening around the world, it’s not just in the Middle East,” Phillips said.

Governments and public pension funds across the region are starting to think about how they need to adapt and modernize to provide better systems for workers, and are looking to learn from successful savings reforms implemented in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong.

Phillips, who is also the vice president of the British Pensions Management Institute, stressed that the region is diverse, not just demographically, and that each country needs to be looked at separately.

“In Egypt, I think something like 60 percent of the population is unbanked, so that becomes a completely different challenge to somewhere like the UAE, where everyone’s a lot more familiar with using their mobile apps to do banking,” he said.

Lebanon has a number of issues, not least of which is the significant depreciation of the currency, which is going to cause difficulties across all financial assets that are held in that currency, he added.

Kuwait has one of the largest public pension funds in the world, and in Saudi Arabia and the UAE there is a growing interest in moving toward the defined-contribution model — a pot based on how much is paid in, which is the trend throughout the West, as well as countries like Hong Kong and Singapore, as opposed to the defined benefit model that is based on your salary and period of employment.

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is a good example, Phillips said, as it has set specific targets to achieve in the next few years, including to increase household savings from 6 percent to 10 percent of total household income, which would exceed the target set in the UK.

“I think targets like that are fantastic and that’s where I see the journey going for somewhere like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over that period and, hopefully, in advance to 2030. And I know a lot of companies will want to support that.

“But ultimately, if you have any large program in which you want to be funding a significant retirement income for a large population of people, you’re not going to be able to do that without some sort of technology being at the center of that, it’s not going to be something you can do manually, which may have been (the case) in the past,” Phillips said.

“So the underlying issue, irrespective of demographic changes or differences, is that people need to have an adequate income for their retirement, because if they don’t, in the long run, the state will face a high level of poverty.”

The pension market is very large, he added, but it has been underserved by technology disruptors as it’s “seen as a not very attractive place to go and innovate,” as opposed to creating another challenger bank.

There’s been quite a lot of competition in the banking industry, with complaints that it is “tired and needs disruption,” but “there hasn’t been as much in the pension space, and that’s where Smart has specialized,” Phillips said.

The Middle East is particularly exposed because of its relative lack of occupational pensions provided by employers, or social security provision provided by the state, so people therefore rely on the third pillar, which is personal savings.

“That’s traditionally not been hugely successful, because as people we’re hardwired to not be able to see dangers and risks that are far in the future, so it becomes a bit challenging to solve the pensions crisis by addressing that third pillar, and this is where we see interest in our technology coming.”

Source:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2236651/business-economy

January 22, 2023

Jordanian industrial delegation begins visit to Saudi Arabia

Jordan and Saudi Arabia will discuss ways to expand economic relations and build joint industrial partnerships during a Jordanian delegation’s visit that started on Saturday.

The delegation, led by Amman Chamber of Industry chief Fathi Jaghbir, includes representatives of industrial companies operating in a range of production sectors.
The visit has been organized by the ACI, and will include Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, Jordan’s News Agency reported on Saturday.

In a statement, the ACI said that the delegation’s weeklong visit will include the Makkah Expo for Hotels and Restaurants, which is due to open on Tuesday.

Jaghbir highlighted the importance of strengthening Jordanian-Saudi economic relations and increasing trade exchanges, which totalled $4.2 billion in 2021, in light of the “distinguished, brotherly” bilateral relations in various fields.

“The visit comes as a continuation of the previous successful visit last year, which saw joint business meetings with Saudi businesspeople in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Makkah, during which memoranda of understanding and cooperation were signed between Jordan and Amman chambers of industry and commerce chambers in these Saudi cities.”

He praised the Jordanian Embassy in Riyadh, the Federation of Saudi Chambers, and heads of commerce chambers in Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah for facilitating the visit.

SOurce:https://www.arabnews.com/node/2236486/business-economy

January 13, 2023

EAD uses drones to plant one million mangrove seeds in Abu Dhabi

In a remarkable environmental initiative, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has shown how modern technology can be used for the greater good when it planted nearly one million mangrove seeds…using drones.

This is part of EAD’s plans to work with local, regional and international partners, and establish Abu Dhabi as a global hub for research and innovation in support of the conservation of mangroves and focuses on the importance of mangroves for carbon sequestration to combat climate change.

This is part of the first phase of a project supporting the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative, which was announced in February 2021. The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has a nationwide target to plant 100 million mangroves by 2030.

EAD is the first organisation to utilise drones and plant mangroves at a large-scale utilising ecological principles. The planting of one million seeds follows a successful initial phase implemented by EAD in partnership with ENGIE, the global energy company, and Distant Imagery, a drone engineering solutions company.

This initial phase focused on planting mangroves via drone in 2020 and had a 48 percent success rate. EAD then scaled up the project, with one million mangroves planted via drones at different locations around Al Mirfa, in Al Dhafra Region.

Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of EAD, commented: “Despite the fact that the world’s mangroves are declining due to natural and human challenges they are facing, Abu Dhabi has a different story to tell as the plantation of mangroves has continued in the UAE at large and in Abu Dhabi in particular, in a slow but steady manner.

“A prime example is our latest project of planting one million mangrove seeds via innovative drone technology. This project is one of a number of programmes run by the Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative in support to the UAE’s pledge to plant 100 million mangroves in 2030.

“The success rate for this year’s planting looks great so far and based on the data, we will do a refilling of areas. This project is a continuation of our efforts to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change as mangroves have proven to be very efficient at carbon sequestration, thus reducing the levels of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere.”

The use of drones has several advantages. The environmental footprint of the methodology is low as it removes the need of intense labour, and the need of sapling transportation. It is also cost-effective as it reduces the overall price of mangrove planting, eliminates the need of mangrove nurseries and associated costs, and facilitates reaching remote and difficult areas.

The EAD has been evolving not only its methodology for seed germination and site planting patterns with each round, but also seed dispersal mechanisms and drones so that they can fly longer. The drone is self-designed and engineered to drop seedlings from the air, monitor the growth of mangrove saplings, map the habitat and create 3D imaging.

Mangrove plantation was a personal passion of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of the UAE. Dr Al Dhaheri pointed out how he commenced plantation along the coasts of the islands and mainland using the knowledge of local communities and his foresight.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/culture-society/ead-uses-drones-to-plant-one-million-mangrove-seeds-in-abu-dhabi