Following a difficult period for the international shipping market, in 2012 the container route from Shanghai to the Gulf through Dubai saw the second-highest rate of freight growth in the entire Asian region. This was part of an emerging trend of the maturation of GCC-Asia trade. A relationship that was once just based on energy demand is diversifying and the GCC is seen as a viable market for Asian…
In a bid to attract new foreign investment inflows across a host of high-priority sectors, the government of Ras Al Khaimah launched a number of new initiatives for prospective and existing businesses in 2014. The RAK Department of Economic Development (RAK DED) recently announced plans to work with the UAE’s Ministry of Economy (MoE) to improve the emirate’s business environment, with the new…
Although the government of Ras Al Khaimah is not known for frequent bond issuance, it returned to the debt markets in 2015 with the deployment of a $500m sovereign sukuk (Islamic bond). Bonds, both Islamic and conventional, have been increasingly utilised by public and semi-privatised entities in the emirate recently, and despite earlier indications that the government would seek a syndicated loan…
Regulatory changes in the UAE’s banking and insurance industries have picked up in recent years. In the banking sector, new regulations in line with Basel III standards are set to stabilise and protect banks, setting new capital and liquidity standards, while changes to the insurance sector are to limit investment losses in the UAE’s equities markets. Insurance In February 2015 the Insurance…
The rock and cement industry in Ras Al Khaimah helped build the world’s highest skyscraper, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, but is now being monitored by unmanned observation planes. This was announced by Saif Mohammed Al Shara, assistant under-secretary for external audit at the Federal Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) in May 2015. “This technology ushers in a new phase in round-the-clock inspection…
Almost 15 years after it was created, Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone (RAK FTZ) launched a global awareness drive in 2014 to try to entice new businesses. In just over a year, RAK FTZ delegates visited Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Spain, the UK, Brazil, US, Italy, the Philippines, Australia and Japan. This followed a successful year for the zone in 2013, when it signed 2900 new companies,…
As the management of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (RAKI) prepare to celebrate the facility’s 40th anniversary in 2016, they are working to expand its role as a budget airline destination, cargo hub and business centre. The hope is that deals signed in 2014 and 2015 will prove to be significant milestones in the airport’s history. Air Arabia The first of these was with Sharjah-based Air…
The retail landscape in Ras Al Khaimah is set for a period of expansion, renewal and rejuvenation. In 2015 the oldest shopping mall in the emirate announced plans to double in size within 12 months, and new outlets opened in a water-front retail complex in the centre of the city. With these developments, the range of brands, food outlets and entertainment centres is growing, and offering more options…
The real estate rental market provides fascinating insights into Ras Al Khaimah’s evolving relationship with the other emirates. While the price cycle from 2008 to 2014 may have tracked the fortunes of other UAE markets in some respects, in other ways RAK stands apart, with its own identity and offerings. Survey Asteco Property Management’s review of property trends in the UAE from 2008 to 2014…
A factory that will turn used plastic bottles into 100 tonnes a day of fibres to be used for blankets, fleeces and car upholstery opened in Ras Al Khaimah in 2015, following a $100m investment by Asian Fibres, a company that plans to employ 600 staff at its new works. Al Ghail The factory was built at Al Ghail Industrial Park, the larger of two free zones operated by RAK Investment Authority…
