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Top oil producers meeting later Thursday intend to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel reportedly said.

The talks between OPEC and other major producers come as oil languishes at near-two decade lows, with Russia and Saudi Arabia’s price war compounding slack demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Through our continuous consultations in the past weeks, I confirm that the intention is to conclude an agreement to cut production by a large amount ranging between 10 million bpd and 15 million bpd,” Fadhel said in an interview with Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai published Thursday.

He said the aim of the huge reduction is to “restore balance to the market and prevent further drops in the prices.”

OPEC, led by leading exporter Saudi Arabia, and other top producers including Russia will meet via video conference later Thursday amid hopes they will agree to cut output to shore up prices.

Fadhel said negotiations were still continuing to secure the participation of a larger number of major producers such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Columbia and Norway.

“There are also very important discussions still ongoing over how to distribute quotas and reductions among the countries,” said the Kuwaiti minister, adding that some progress has been made.

Kuwait, OPEC’s fifth largest producer, boosted its output to over three million bpd amid a price war that sent prices crashing.

Fadhel said he was optimistic about striking a new deal to counter a sharp drop in demand, estimated by some studies at as high as 25 million bpd, or a quarter of global supplies.

Oil prices extended gains Thursday after Russia, the world’s second producer, signalled it was ready to make a big output cut at the OPEC+ meeting.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate rose 4.6 percent to $26.26 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped 2.7 percent to $33.73.

Moscow said Wednesday it is willing to cut output by about 1.6 million barrels a day, Bloomberg News reported.

Another key meeting takes place on Friday, when G20 energy ministers hold talks remotely to discuss steps to steady the market.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/energy/444723-oil-producers-intend-to-cut-10-15-mn-barrels-kuwait

Airlines have been given the green light to operate outbound flights for expatriates from Kuwait.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced on Saturday that the suspension of flights would be lifted in order to accommodate members of the expat community who wished to return to their native countries.

The country announced a complete shutdown of passenger flights from March 13. Since then, only repatriation and deportation flights have departed, including several by Kuwait Airways, Turkish Airlines and EgyptAir.

A statement on the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said: “The DGCA will coordinate with airway companies to schedule the flights for expatriates eager to travel back to their respective home countries.”

Meanwhile, a plane belonging to the Indian Air Force, carrying medical supplies to combat coronavirus, arrived in Kuwait on Saturday.

Kuwait recorded a further 161 cases on Saturday, taking the total number to 1,154. The country has registered just one death to date.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/444902-kuwait-to-resume-outbound-flights-for-expat-repatriation

A second person in Kuwait has died of coronavirus and 66 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,300.

Kuwaiti Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr. Abdullah Al-Sanad said that 26 patients were currently in intensive care.

According to a report on the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), there are currently 1,148 people receiving hospital treatment, while 746 individuals have completed the quarantine period.

It comes as authorities in the Al Ahmadi Municipality in Kuwait revealed 155 stores have been closed for failing to abide by strict guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Ahmadi Governance deputy director for Municipality Affairs, Fahad Al-Shtaili, said over the past month, inspectors had sent out 674 warnings and warrants to shop owners and issued 235 violations, including a formal closure order to 20 stores.

He added that the municipality has cleaned and sterilised 251,427 containers of different sizes, put 25 stickers on neglected cars, and issued ten violations to street vendors.

Al-Shtaili noted that Al Ahmadi Municipality seized seven mobile groceries stores and removed 210 violating desert camps.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/healthcare/445011-coronavirus-kuwait-reports-second-death-as-confirmed-cases-reach-1300

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has received over 50 rent deferral requests from airlines around the world amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, 11 of which have been granted, the leasing firm said in a business update.

Outlining its current position, DAE said it sold or novated 15 aircraft and acquired four more during the first quarter of 2020, ending the quarter with approximately $2.8 billion, the company has announced.

DAE said it also extended leases on 8 aircraft over the course of the quarter.

“In these unprecedented times, DAE has positioned itself to operate calmly and to balance the needs of all our important constituents – employees, customers, bondholders and banks and shareholders,” DAE CEO Firoz Tarapore said in a statement.

Tarapore said while available liquidity stands at $2.8 billion, DAE’s liquidity requirements – for bond maturity and capex requirements over the next 12 months – remain “modest” at $430 million.

Disrupted revenue
With many of the company’s customers experiencing disrupted revenue as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, DAE said it continues to “receive requests for assistance in different shapes and sizes, and we evaluate them on a case-by-case basis”.

To date, DAE has granted 11 rent deferral requests, totalling aggregate rent of approximately 2 percent of annual reported revenue.

It is currently evaluating 42 rent deferral requests, totalling aggregate rent of approximately 16 percent of annual reported revenue, totalling aggregate rent of approximately 16 percent of annual reported revenue.

Additionally, DAE has restarted a bond repurchase programme and repurchased approximately $170 million worth of aircraft in Q1 2020.

DAE’s leasing and engineering division in Dubai serves over 125 airline customers from around the globe. Its leasing division has an owned, managed, committed and mandated to manage a fleet of approximately 410 Airbus, ATR and Boeing aircraft worth $15.5 billion.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/transport/444170-dubais-aviation-leasing-firm-mulls-deferral-requests-amid-covid-19-pandemic

Remote working and virtual collaboration are likely to remain long after the days of lockdowns and once coronavirus is eventually consigned to the history books.

According to Jeff Youssef, partner – Public Sector, at Oliver Wyman, remote working could be adopted more widely in the economic recovery period and even on a sustained basis, as it provides cost efficiencies to businesses in terms of office space and greater time efficiency, removing commuting time.

“These cost benefits will help fundamentally soften the impact of the pandemic on businesses when the economic upturn begins,” he said.

From March 29, government entities moved to a 100 percent remote work system following guidance issued by Dubai Executive Council, while private sector entities must have at least 80 percent of their workforce operating from home.

Youssef added: “When an organisation wants to tackle a complex problem or have an important discussion, the default is to get the relevant people together in the same room. The coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has fundamentally challenged this way of working, from companies imposing travel restrictions on their employees or limiting the size of meetings, to workers self-isolating after returning from affected regions.”

Concerns
However, while the benefits of remote working are obvious, and there is very little choice at the moment on whether to work from home or not, there are concerns over potential isolation and resultant mental health issues.

Nuno Gomes, head of career at Mercer MENAT, told Arabian Business: “Although working from home allows for employees to spend more time with their families, it often becomes difficult to differentiate between working hours and personal time when an employee is spending the entire day in the same location.

“For those who live alone, feelings of isolation may arise – often times resulting in reduced creativity and disengagement from the wider team.”

As a result, she believes most will welcome a return to the office, when allowed to do so.

“The human touch is still vital to many businesses and functions, particularly in the Middle East, which is why I do not see this becoming the norm.

“There will be an increased appreciation for the merits and benefits of remote working, augmenting the effectiveness of humans at work. However, it will not completely replace the need and efficiency of human interaction. The future is human, digitally empowered.”

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/jobs/444156-coronavirus-remote-working-could-be-thing-of-the-future-long-after-covid-19

UAE Exchange, set up by the founder of the embattled hospital operator, defaulted on a loan of about $300 million, to a group that includes Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc and Commercial Bank of Dubai PSC, according to people familiar with the matter. At the same time, it emerged that Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC hired Lazard Ltd. to advise on its more than $1 billion of exposure to the Abu Dhabi-based company.

Underscoring the cash crunch, NMC is braving the market mayhem triggered by the coronavirus pandemic to sell its distribution business, people familiar with the matter said. NMC is seeking as much as $300 million for the unit, they said.

London-listed NMC, founded by Indian entrepreneur Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, has seen its stock plunge before it was suspended from trading amid allegations of fraud.

Its chairman and chief financial officer have resigned since the company revealed more than $4 billion of undisclosed debt, and the company has lost its elite status as a member of the FTSE 100 index.

With a market value of $2.4 billion and total debt of $6.6 billion, NMC and its founder face an investigation by U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.

‘Worst time ever’

“The amounts of billions of dollars at times like these are inexcusable especially if they were used for personal loans instead of being used by the business,” said Mohammed Ali Yasin, chief strategy officer at Al Dhabi Capital Ltd. in Abu Dhabi. “What was disclosed about the debt, undeclared debt of NMC by the majority shareholders is really coming at the worst time ever. At a time of this health crisis, a company like NMC and other hospitals should be blossoming and growing in value.”

NMC started unraveling in December, when short seller Muddy Waters Capital LLC alleged it had overpaid for assets, inflated cash balances and understated debt. The company uncovered evidence of suspected fraud and debt that had been used for unknown purposes. The shares have been suspended since February.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is seeking to recover some of the funds the state-owned lender provided to NMC and financial services firm Finablr Plc, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Representatives for Lazard and ADCB declined to comment.

The bank’s potential $1 billion exposure could wipe out 80% of its estimated profit for 2020 in a worst-case scenario, Citigroup Inc. analysts Rahul Bajaj and Ronit Ghose said in a note on Wednesday. Shares extended losses to the fifth consecutive session. They have dropped the maximum allowed 5% in the past four trading days, and are down 44% this year.

‘Big headache’
Besides Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, other lenders include HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan and Standard Chartered Plc, the people said. Some of the lenders are in talks to set up a committee to discuss ways to recover funds from NMC, according to the people. Representatives for the banks declined to comment.

“The expected write down on NMC will be a big headache for the commercial banks, which lent to them in large volumes, given that they will be negatively impacted by the fallout from lower oil prices,” said Richard Segal, a senior analyst at Manulife Investment in London. “Anecdotal evidence suggests they are also being pressed to extend new credits to priority sectors to relieve the burden on taxpayers.”

Branching out
After establishing NMC, Shetty branched out into financial services, with those interests now rolled into London-listed Finablr. Problems there led to its UAE Exchange unit to default on a foreign-exchange loan of about $300 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company, founded in 1980, became one of the largest remittance operators in the Middle East by mainly catering to Indian expatriate workers in the Gulf.

The United Arab Emirates central bank last month said it is overseeing the UAE Exchange’s operations as Finablr, also the owner of foreign-exchange businesses including Travelex Holdings Ltd., prepares for potential insolvency. The firm has warned that its board couldn’t accurately assess its financial situation and its chief executive officer and chief financial officer have stepped down.

A representative for Finablr referred queries to the UAE central bank, which didn’t immediately respond to emailed queries. Representatives for Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan declined to comment, while representatives for Commercial Bank of Dubai and Shetty didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trading unit
With cash holdings dwindling, NMC is working with an adviser to gauge buyer interest in its NMC Trading unit, according to the people. NMC Trading distributes products including Nestle SA food and beverages, Pfizer Inc. medicine and Unilever Plc personal-care products across the United Arab Emirates.

Deliberations are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty they will result in a transaction, the people said. A representative for NMC declined to comment.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/banking-finance/444185-adcb-is-said-to-tap-lazard-to-advise-on-nmc-finablr-exposure

Ten percent of people who took part in a recent study in the UAE by research agency Kantar, believed that eating excessive non-vegetarian food could cause Covid-19.

The survey was conducted to understand how behaviours and lifestyles are changing in light of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Results showed that between 60 and 70 percent of residents were aware of the ‘touchpoints’ on how Covid-19 spreads and the way to stop it.

Some 72 percent of respondents knew that washing hands frequently with soap and water could help fight the disease, while 60 percent believed that using a tissue when coughing and sneezing was important in containing the virus.

Around 64 percent said avoiding contact with people who are unwell is important, while 67 percent agreed that not touching our faces with unwashed hands is essential to avoid the infection.

When asked on ways people can catch Covid-19, 70 percent of respondents identified close contact with infected persons by means of touch, as well as through cough and sneezes. Around 65 percent agreed that contact with contaminated surfaces could be another culprit.

Amol Ghate – CEO Middle East, Insights Division – Kantar, said: “It’s quite encouraging to see that UAE residents are well-aware of the dos and don’ts of Covid-19. This study was the first among the series that Kantar plans to conduct in order to gauge the public behaviour as the situation unfolds resulting in a constant change in dynamics.”

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/healthcare/444062-survey-reveals-uae-thoughts-on-coronavirus

Russian local search and digital guides company 2GIS has unveiled an interactive map of Dubai that shows the important of social distancing amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

To illustrate the value of social distancing, the company used two models of how a virus spreads in an urban environment. In both cases, sick people transmit the disease to healthy ones, albeit at different speeds.

The first model depicts typical urban life, with no social distancing or other restrictions imposed as people conduct ‘regular’ routines, such as work and family gatherings.

In this model, the number of infected people grows quickly and overwhelms healthcare systems.

The second model – which reflects social distancing – helps avoid high rates of infected.

“This is a model of social interaction in the city. It makes clear why a conscious attitude to a pandemic is everyone’s responsibility and proves that together we can confront the virus,” 2GIS CEO Pavel Mochalkin said.  “Staying at home if possible, self-isolating if you feel unwell, washing your hands more often, keeping a social distance in the office and public places — each decision affects how fast the virus spreads.”

“Social distance today also means taking care of those who may need medical assistance, and it helps to reduce the potential pressure on hospitals,” he added.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/culture-society/444187-coronavirus-interactive-map-shows-benefits-of-social-distancing

Leading technology festival Step has announced its first online event on April 14, featuring Wamda Group executive chairman Fadi Ghandour and Bayt.com CEO Rabea Ataya.

The free event will see the duo speak about how start-ups can survive during times of economic crisis triggered by the spread of Covid-19. They will offer advice on fundraising and investment and discuss growing sectors and talent, as well as the future of work, which has moved remotely to homes.

Staying true to its interactive aspect, the event will enable participants to network online through one-on-one meetings.

Both Ghandour and Ataya have been in the region since the 1990s, with Ghandour having founded logistics firm Aramex, which became the first Arab-based company to be listed on the NASDAQ in 1997. He was also a founding partner of Maktoob.com before it was acquired by Yahoo! for $85m in 2010.

Ghandour then set up Wamda Capital to support regional start-ups by providing them with mentoring and funding, as well as Ruwwad, a non-profit community development organisation founded that works with disenfranchised communities through education, youth volunteerism and grassroots organizing across Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Ataya’s story is also fascinating, having served on the board of Queen Rania’s Foundation, as well as several start-ups, before co-founding InfoFort, a record management company covering the Middle East and Africa.

He then set up Bayt.com in 2000, and grew it into the Middle East’s leading job site, having registered an average of 15,000 professionals every day in 2019 to reach a record of more than 37.7 million resumes.

In March it announced free job postings for employers across the region in an effort to increase the visibility of online work opportunities amid the coronavirus outbreak impacting businesses.

The Step event will begin at 6pm and end towards 8pm.

Source:https://www.arabianbusiness.com/technology/444247-fadi-ghandour-to-headline-first-online-step-event