OIC to convene emergency meeting to discuss burning of Holy Qur’an in Sweden

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Under invitation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the President of the Islamic Summit, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will convene next week an emergency open meeting for the Executive Committee to discuss the burning of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden.

The meeting will be held in its headquarters in Jeddah and will discuss the consequences of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an in Sweden on the first day of Eid Al-Adha.

The meeting next week is scheduled to discuss the measures to be taken against the heinous act and to adapt a collective position on the necessary course of action.

The OIC had earlier condemned the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an by an extremist at Stockholm Central Mosque in Sweden following the Eid Al-Adha prayer Wednesday.

In a press release Thursday, the General Secretariat condemned the recurrence of these despicable attacks and attempts to violate the sanctity of the Holy Qur’an and other Islamic values, symbols and sanctities.

The OIC reaffirmed the commitment that all states have assumed, under the Charter of the United Nations, to promote, encourage, respect and observe human rights and fundamental freedoms for all peoples universally and without any form of distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The Muslim World League (MWL) too strongly condemned the crime of burning a copy of the Holy Qur’an in Stockholm, Sweden, as the scenes of this disgraceful act provoke Muslims’ sentiments, especially during the blessed Eid Al-Adha.

In a statement by the Secretariat-General of the Muslim World League, Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the WML and the chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars, denounced this absurd and heinous crime, carried out under the protection of the police and under the claim of practicing freedom of expression.

The MWL chief added that the heinous act in reality abuses, among many things, the actual concept of freedom; which calls for respecting and not provoking others under any pretext.

Dr. Al-Issa warned against the dangers of these practices that promote hatred, provoke religious sentiments, and serve only the agendas of extremism.

In Riyadh, the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) has expressed strong condemnation of the burning of a copy of the Holy Qur’an by an extremist in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

In a statement, the KAICIID expressed its deep regret for the support given to the people who did this heinous act in terms of ‘freedom of opinion and expression.’

It reiterated that respect for the beliefs and sanctities of others is a priority, especially as it relates to human rights as approved by UN conventions and recognized by international laws.

Source:https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/633842/SAUDI-ARABIA/OIC-to-convene-emergency-meeting-to-discuss-burning-of-Holy-Quran-in-Sweden

Saudi citizens in France urged to stay away from places of protests

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Saudi Arabia’s embassy in France urged the Saudi citizens residing in the country to keep utmost caution and stay away from places of protests. The embassy called on the Saudi students and their families to follow the instructions of the French authorities in this regard.

This is in the wake of protests and unrest that broke out in a number of suburbs of the French capital Paris, and other regions following the death of a student who was allegedly shot by police during a traffic stop. Curfew was declared in several regions. The unrest began on Tuesday after police shot dead a 17-year-old boy of Algerian descent, named as Nahel M, as he drove away from a traffic stop in the Parisian suburb town of Nanterre.

The Saudi Cultural Attaché in France and Switzerland stressed that all students, scholarship students and their families should take the utmost care and caution and avoid going to places of unrest, with a flare up of tension and clashes in several regions of France.

The attaché called on the citizens to contact its emergency number (+33630243383), as well as to communicate with the embassy in the event of any emergency cases.

Source:https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/633861/SAUDI-ARABIA/Saudi-citizens-in-France-urged-to-stay-away-from-places-of-protests

Lebanon’s industry carries falling national economy on its shoulders

The industrial sector in Lebanon, despite the falling national economy, continues to solider on in order to revive the market and create new business opportunities especially with the increasing demands for Lebanese products.

The sector was one of the few offering hard foreign currency in Lebanon, which is still suffering from the decrease in the value of the national currency in times when the US Dollar was in high demand.

Speaking to KUNA on the issue, Lebanon’s Industry Minister George Boujikian stressed that the steadfastness of the industrial sector was one of the main factors in helping the national economy to “stay afloat”.

The sector is witnessing increasing investments, issuing of permits, and market expansion, which led to the exporting of products to some 110 countries worldwide, added the minister.

The Lebanese industry includes 21 sectors with the manufacturing of food products and furniture leading the way, he revealed.

Boujikian stressed the importance of keeping Lebanese products up to standards to succeed both locally and internationally.

On the Ministry’s plans, the minister indicated that there was a focus on developing three sectors namely the use of Artificial Intelligence, recycling, and cinema production.

Similarly, Vice President of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists Ziad Bekdache affirmed that the era of the Lebanese industrial sector had arrived; revealing that numbers currently exceeded those in 2019 prior to the Lebanese economic crisis.

Locally produced products now were rivaling those products abroad, he claimed, pointing out that factories had increased by 20 to 25 percent with clothing and an assortment of other products exported.

Bekdache said that the prices of locally made products and export ones varied between 30 to 60 percent, noting that due to the high quality of Lebanese products, local consumption had jumped by 60 percent.

The Lebanese Industry exported $4 billion worth of products and produced around $10 million worth of commodities for the local market.

Providing further input, Dr. Marwan Barakat, assistant general manager at Bank Audi, said that the decrease in value for the national currency contributed to the lowering of manufacturing costs especially for industrial and agricultural exports.

Increasing the customs dollar at a rate of Lebanese Pound 15,000 per US dollar had protected the Lebanese industry and encouraged competitiveness against foreign products, he said. — KUNA

Source: https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/629422/World/Mena/Officials-Lebanons-industry-carries-falling-national-economy-on-its-shoulders

Oil-rich UAE to burn waste to make power

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With rubbish piling up in the desert, the United Arab Emirates has found a new way to get rid of its trash — incinerators that will turn it into electricity.

The UAE, one of the world’s top oil NSE -1.70 % exporters, is building the Gulf region’s first waste-to-power plants to ease its chronic trash problem and, at the same time, its reliance on gas-fuelled electricity stations.

Green groups are unconvinced. They say advanced recycling, composting and changing habits amid grossly wasteful rates of consumption would be better for the environment, warning of pollution risks from the greenhouse gas-intensive incinerators too.

But engineer Nouf Wazir, from waste management company Bee’ah, argues they are a way to make use of refuse that cannot be recycled.

“Not everyone knows that waste has value,” said Wazir, a senior engineer on the project. The Sharjah facility is expected to launch this year, burning more than 300,000 tonnes of waste per year to power up to 28,000 homes.

In the neighbouring emirate of Dubai, another plant is being developed at a cost of $1.2 billion, according to Hitachi Zosen Inova, one of the partner companies.

When it is completed in 2024, the Dubai plant will be one of the largest in the world, capable of gobbling up 1.9 million tonnes of waste per year — about 45 percent of the household waste currently produced in the emirate.

As the UAE has mushroomed from a desert outpost to a thriving business hub, waste has multiplied.

So has power use, which has soared 750 percent since 1990 according to the International Energy Agency.

Now with about 10 million people, five times the population of 30 years ago, the wealthy UAE uses more electricity and creates more waste per head than almost any other country.

Authorities put waste production at 1.8 kilos (four pounds) per person per day.

In the UAE, “people consume a lot, and they throw away a lot”, said Riad Bestani, founder of ECOsquare, a Dubai-based consultancy specialising in eco-friendly waste management.

Landfills are strewn across the country. In Dubai alone, six cover an area of about 1.6 million square meters (395 acres), according to the municipality.

In the absence of other solutions, it estimates that landfills will occupy 5.8 million square meters of the emirate by 2041, an area the size of more than 800 football pitches.

Fees for landfills are “pretty much nonexistent, so it’s quite cheap and easy to dump all materials into the desert”, said Emma Barber, director of Dubai-based DGrade, which designs clothes and accessories from recycled plastic bottles.

The UAE has set about diversifying its electricity generation, more than 90 percent of which comes from gas-powered plants.

Last year, the UAE inaugurated the Arab world’s first nuclear plant and, making use of its location in one of the world’s hottest regions, it has significant solar power resources.

In the run-up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which started on Sunday, the UAE said it was targeting carbon neutrality by 2050.

While supporters of the plants say the incinerators carry minimal pollution risks, activists say other approaches would be better for the environment.

According to Janek Vahk of Zero Waste Europe, incinerating rubbish may be “easier” than having space-consuming landfills, but it is far from green.

“The most beneficial for the climate (and) the environment would be recoverage” and composting, Vahk told AFP.

“But this is not really happening because… it’s easier to simply burn it than to separate, sort and recycle.”

The Brussels-based NGO has called for a moratorium on new waste incinerators and the phasing-out of old ones by 2040, warning the electricity they produce is greenhouse-gas intensive — even compared to fossil fuels.

Vahk argues that incineration is “more efficient” in colder Nordic countries when the heat produced is also harnessed, but not in hot deserts.

“If you only produce electricity, the greenhouse gases’ intensity of this energy is very high,” Vahk said, adding that incinerators are also “very expensive to build — and they need to have continuous input to run.”

Rami Shaar, co-founder of Washmen, a Dubai-based start-up that collects customers’ laundry and recycling at the same time, said waste-to-electricity is not “necessarily green energy”.

“It’s a bit of a solution towards not extracting more oil… but it doesn’t solve the full problem,” he said.

Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/uae/oil-rich-uae-to-burn-waste-to-make-power/articleshow/87521153.cms

Egypt’s strategic economic zone to bring more success with more foreign investment

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Egypt’s strategic Suze Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) is poised to see more success as more foreign investment pours in, experts said.

“The industrial and specialized investment parks are one of the mechanisms for luring foreign investment, especially in the industrial field, an essential factor for improving the competitiveness in Egypt,” said Waleed Gaballah, professor of financial and economic jurisdictions at Cairo University.

Allocating industrial parks for certain countries will encourage them to pump investment and create win-win integrated industrial societies, Gaballah, a member of the Egyptian Association for Political Economy, told Xinhua.

He said that Egypt will use foreign investment to create jobs, increase domestic production, and meet its markets’ demands.

Recently, Egypt’s SCZone and the Russian authorities signed a preliminary agreement to expand the Russian industrial park in the zone.

Under the new agreement, the Russian park will be extended, and the first phase of the project will cover an area of 1 million square meters in East Port Said and 500,000 square meters in Ain Sokhna.

The deal with Russia came after SCZone signed on June 20 a framework agreement with a Polish partner to establish a Polish industrial park in Ain Sokhna.

The two deals will bring more to the SCZone, where the Chinese industrial zone TEDA in Ain Sokhna has already yielded fruitful results and is “a model to learn from,” said Gaballah.

Presence in Egypt will also benefit the foreign partners because Egypt is a market of 100 million consumers and a gate for Africa, the professor said.

Also, moving the production process into the SCZone will lower the wages, logistics costs for reaching the consumers and enjoy many other incentives that Egypt could present for investors based on its investment law, he added.

He stressed that the success of the projects will encourage other economies to invest in the SCZone, which will push the development of the area swiftly, noting that the progress of the Chinese industrial zone in Ain Sokhna has encouraged more cooperation between Egypt and China.

Rashad Abdo, an economics professor at Cairo University and head of the Egyptian Forum for Economic and Strategic Studies, also said that building partnerships with other countries by establishing industrial parks has produced positive results.

The partnerships will attract companies to work and invest in the industrial zones. At the same time, Egypt will provide the logistics and infrastructure considered the best in Africa, said Abdo.

Abdo said the SCZone is the most important project to develop the Egyptian economy, noting that Egypt aims to attract more than 250 industrial parks in the SCZone.

Meanwhile, Kareem al-Omda, a professor of the economy with the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, said that Egypt’s desire to establish more industrial parks was to increase foreign direct investment.

Egypt hopes to attract friendly countries to invest in the industry field, which is the most important sector that will bring added value to the Egyptian economy, increase the GDP, provide job opportunities and open new export markets, said Omada.

The expert said the SCZone is a world-class economic zone because of its strategic location, logistic facilities and legislative benefits.

Some countries have faced the saturation of industrial capacity inside their territories. But by moving to other countries like Egypt, the chances for benefits rise, as Egypt has signed a large number of free trade agreements, which can lower the trading cost.

However, Omada also urged the Egyptian authority to pay more attention to anti-pollution measures and infrastructure maintenance.

Heavy vehicles coming in and out of the SCZone have put more pressure on the roads inside the economic zone and nearby highways.

Source:http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2021-08/04/c_1310105703.htm

LOCATION-BASED SERVICES – THE NEXT TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION FOR LEBANON’S RETAIL INDUSTRY

Mobile devices have changed how we work and navigate daily life, which means there’s a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on the growing use of mobile apps. Location-based services mean that retailers can leverage mobile devices and Bluetooth technology to provide offers to customers and prospects, help customers and employees navigate within locations, and locate friends, assets and services.

Deploying location services, however, can present some challenges. IT may have to learn new technologies and processes, as most retailers have little to no experience implementing these types of solutions. And some solutions may require IT to purchase and manage dedicated infrastructure. The good news is that in many cases, organizations already possess the technology needed to deploy location services. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is prevalent on popular iOS and Android devices, and meets the required accuracy and latency demands for multiple use cases. In addition, Wi-Fi is now pervasive in all malls and retail outlets.

Lebanon’s retail industry is a fast adopter of technology. While they have adapted to e-commerce, they’ve equally improved their brick-and-mortar experiences. But until recently, technology hasn’t kept pace with these crucial arms of the retail business. That’s changing with advances in location-based services. Regional retailers are beginning to implement location-based solutions, but need to keep in mind the following key features that address customer experience and operational needs:

Cutting-Edge Analytics

The adoption of smartphones gives retailers an opportunity to leverage their existing Wi-Fi network to extract actionable location data. In-store experiences are dramatically improved through the adoption of the most advanced location-based solutions that allow for an array of analytics. This results in better customer experiences as well as operational effectiveness.

For example, a customer would be frustrated when after joining a loyalty program, he/ she discovers a favorite product is always missing from the aisle. With analytics from your loyalty app, you can focus attention on items your best customers purchase to keep them stocked.

By providing visualizations, dwell times and other metrics, analytics can tell you whether temporary displays are attracting purchases, or are an annoying traffic impediment, so you can take appropriate action. Clearly, the faster an underperforming display gets remediated, the faster sales get made. Longer term, visualizing what works best, in which locations and at what time of year, can help you replicate successes to maximize daily and seasonal sales.

Beyond the personalization and relevance benefits, here’s yet another reason to deploy BLE-enabled location-ready infrastructure: You can rapidly take advantage of new experience innovations already in the pipeline to keep you ahead of your competition.

Personalized Navigation

Map-enabled, indoor, turn-by-turn navigation via a customer’s mobile app is swiftly becoming a competitive differentiator as customers can get easily frustrated when looking for particular retail outlet in a massive mall for example. A frustrating experience could be the ultimate deal-breaker.

Associate Location/ Find-a-Friend

More sophisticated location solutions go further by offering assistance empowerment, also known as location sharing. With this capability, customers can consult your shopping app to visually find nearby associates if they want help. Clicking an associate’s icon enables sending that individual a pre-defined text. If the associate is occupied, they can respond with an availability estimate while also suggesting the consumer continue shopping because the associate can find them.

With location-based services, all employees – including minimally-trained seasonal workers – can quickly assist customers or restock goods, minimizing two perennial productivity drains. When an associate needs help, find-a-friend works the same way for them. Reducing these types of frictions can also significantly lower employee frustration, leading to less turnover and improved brand affinity. Moving forward, location awareness will be key to other innovations, such as deploying bots for shelf scanning.

Asset Tracking

The latest location-based solutions offer specialized sensors for tracking high-value items and inventory, ranging from carts and ladders to POS devices and pallets of goods. Easy-to-use mobile apps ensure that staff can quickly configure asset tags and then locate the physical assets within an indoor location.

Here is an example of how asset tracking is helpful. When customers encounter an empty merchandise slot, they frequently consult an associate and learn the item just arrived. Then, your associate walks the length of the store, where they’re confronted with several possible pallets. Equipping pallets with an asset tracking sensor enables associates to pull up a goods list for each pallet and retrieve the wanted item, rather than returning to the customer a dozen minutes later empty handed.

This is just one way asset tags can assist with personalized and relevant customer service. Others include quickly locating a ladder to get items off of a shelf or finding a cart capable of handling bulky merchandise.

Beyond these applications, location-based services can offer many more benefits. In addition to staying competitive today, deploying such infrastructure will reap rewards as innovations evolve for years to come.

Source:http://www.libc.net/2018/03/15/location-based-services-the-next-technology-evolution-for-lebanons-retail-industry/

Industrial sector hopes to achieve better growth rates in 2018

MUSCAT: Several industrial companies expressed their optimism that this year will see better growth of the industrial sector driven by higher oil prices and the implementation of many infrastructure projects in the Sultanate and other GCC countries.
Last year, industrial companies took a number of initiatives to reduce the impact of cutting government spending in the GCC, one of the main markets for Omani industrial firms.

Industrial companies faced last year many domestic and external challenges, including continued volatility in oil prices.
The political and economic conditions that prevailed in the region and other countries in 2017 limited the growth of revenues and profits of many companies.

Oman Cement said it had worked over the past year to overcome the effects of a significant rise in some key cost elements through good cost management and productivity improvement, and hoped to maintain market share despite continued strong competition, as mentioned in the company’s annual report which will be discussed today in the general assembly annual meeting.
The company plans to distribute 30 per cent of the nominal value of the share, equivalent to 30 baisas per share, which is the same as last year.

Raysut Cement said that it focuses on active markets with improvement in operational processes.
It added that its financial results were affected last year by a number of factors, notably the decline in demand and rising costs resulting from high cost of energy, raw materials, maintenance, increase in income tax and a number of other factors.
On March 13, the company approved a cash dividend of 29 per cent of the par value of 29 baisas. Raysut Cement is the largest industrial company by market value of RO 159.2 million and its share closed at 796 baisas.

The Oman Cables Industry said that in 2017 it maintained its sales volume despite current market conditions, noting that it benefited from 19 per cent higher copper prices than in 2016, which had a positive impact on the value of sales. Copper is the main component of cables.
Al Jazeera Steel Products said that improved oil prices and a commitment to reduce production will contribute to boosting the national economy and stimulating growth, which will stimulate the construction sector. At the same time, the company explained that the main challenges remain. It added that it will continue in 2018 focusing on improving factory uses, strict cost control and increase sustainable margins through diversification of markets and geographical areas.

Al Jazeera Steel Products is one of the leading industrial companies that achieved a good growth in its net profits by 6 per cent to RO 4.8 million in 2017. The company said that 2017 was a good year in terms of sales as it managed to sell and deliver the highest quantities. It added that the achievement was accomplished in a challenging year, starting with relatively high raw material prices followed by periods of volatility as the iron future market in China was affected.

In the Flour Mills sector, Salalah Mills said that the Group’s revenues declined slightly last year to reach RO 57.1 million, compared to RO 57.3 million in 2016. The parent company recorded a net profit of RO 4.1 million, a decrease of 9.6 per cent over 2016, because of completion from flour mills in the UAE, as well as the competition of the new mills in the Sultanate. The Group achieved a net profit of RO 3.9 million, an increase of 11.6 per cent from its level in 2016 due to improved performance of subsidiaries. At the Annual General Meeting (AGM), on March 26, the company plans to distribute 50 per cent cash dividend, or 50 baisas per share.

Source:http://www.omanobserver.om/industrial-sector-hopes-to-achieve-better-growth-rates-in-2018/

United Arab Emirates: PMI reaches multi-year high in December

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The Emirates NDB Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) increased from 57.0 in November to 57.7 in December. As a result, the index moved further above the 50-point threshold that separates expansion from contraction in the non-oil producing private sector, and marked the highest reading in 34 months.

December’s figure was underpinned by an acceleration in new order growth, with new export orders returning to expansion after November’s contraction. Anecdotal evidence suggested that fellow GCC countries were an important source of new foreign business in the month. Output also increased sharply, albeit at a slightly slower rate than in the prior month. As a result of strong economic activity, firms continued to take on staff, although employment and wage growth remained mild overall. On the price front, input prices fell in December, while output prices declined.

According to Khatija Haque, Head of MENA Research at Emirates NBD: “It is likely that the introduction of VAT in January has spurred activity and purchasing in Q4 2017, which is in line with our expectations. Nevertheless, employment and wage growth has been relatively muted, not just in December but for 2017 as a whole”.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast participants expect GDP to expand 2.9% in 2018 and 3.1% in 2019. Panelists expect fixed investment to increase 3.8% in 2018 and 4.3% in 2019.

Technip lands $4.2bn Bahrain refinery contract

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Contract will extend production capacity at the site on Sitra island from a current 267,000 to 360,000 barrels per day.

A consortium led by France-US petroleum services group TechnipFMC has secured a $4.2 billion (3.5 billion euro) contract to extend capacity at Bahrain’s Sitra refinery, the company said Monday.

The contract, awarded by Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), will extend production capacity at the site on Sitra island in the Gulf of Bahrain from a current 267,000 to 360,000 barrels per day, TechnipFMC said.

The refinery exports some 95 percent of its current production, mainly to India and the Far East.

The consortium includes South Korea’s refinery and electrical plants designer Samsung Engineering as well as Spanish petroleum engineering firm Tecnicas Reunidas, TechnipFMC said, adding construction should be completed by 2022.

Nello Uccelletti, head of Onshore Offshore activity at TechnipFMC, hailed the “prestigious” contract as being a “testimonial of the long-term partnership with Bapco and strengthen(ing) our leadership in the refining sector.”

Bahrain was the first Arab Gulf state to produce oil, in 1932, but its reserves have all but dried up and the Sunni Muslim kingdom depends primarily on the Abu Safa field it shares with Saudi Arabia for its own supplies which are pumped via a 230,000 bpd capacity subsea pipeline.

Source:http://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/energy/384864-technip-lands-42bn-bahrain-refinery-contract