From Foreign Waters

Malaysia’s monarch spoke highly of the relations with the United Arab Emirates especially in the economic sector in an exclusive interview to the state news agency WAM.  He said that the remarkable growth between the two countries when it comes to the trade and tourism and economic development programs show the economic potential they hold. Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, further asserted that UAE has also been one of the most important trading partners of Malaysia.  "The UAE has been one of Malaysia’s main trading partners in this region. In 2019, total trade between Malaysia and the UAE was valued at US$6.426 billion, an increase of 12.5 percent from US$5.709 billion in 2018.” The UAE and Malaysia have shown a lot of pride in their relations. The emirati nation has been Malaysia’s largest export destination and second largest when it comes to import in the West Asia region. This was the first interview that the King had given to any Arab nation.  "Giv

Khalifa bin Zayed, Ruler of Abu Dhabi and his Highness has issued an order to fomra a Supreme Council to look after Financial and Economic affairs. The council has been formed to look after matters related to the finances, investments, petroleum and natural resource affairs in the emirate reveals a report in WAM.  The council will be headed by the Ruler of Abu Dhabi while the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi will be the Vice-Chairman of the council, states the law.  The report also said that the council will also be responsible to organise and approve public policies of Abu Dhabi in addition to other financial requirements. The law also consists of provision to supervise the performance of the related sectors so that it ensures compatibility with other directives or developmental plans approved by the emirate leadership.  It will be working in accordance with the Department of Finance, the Abu Dhabi investment Authority Mubadala, ADNOC, ADQ, and other entities within the scope of the council&

After successful implementation of diplomatic ties between the United Arab Emirates and Israel after the signing of Abraham Accords, key negotiators join a virtual call to discuss further matters between the two as they call the treaty 'diplomatic win’.  The Abraham Accords was the result of expert negotiators coming to terms with the needs and requirements of the two countries and coming up with a proposal that benefits both the parties.  The virtual event was hosted by the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi and deep insight about how the deal was reached came into the knowledge of people. The assistant of the US president, who is also the special representative for the international negotiations, Avi Berkowitz, conducted the meeting along with Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the US and Minister of State, explained how the deal was reached behind the scenes.  Berkowitz said, “There were a lot of countries that were thinking of ways to improve their relationship with Isra

The first batch of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine has arrived in the United Arab Emirates as the nation plans to start its extensive inoculation campaign from Wednesday.  The vaccine arrived in Dubai late on Tuesday promises 95 percent efficacy against the Covid-19 virus. Soon after the arrival, Dubai’s Supreme Committee for zCrisis and Disaster Management announced a "wide and free vaccination campaign against Covid-19 with the Pfizer vaccine,” which will commence immediately.  Dubai has already authorised the use of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the government will soon start the vaccination drive, which is the second vaccine being made available in the UAE after the approval of Sinopharm jab.  https://twitter.com/DXBMediaOffice/status/1341506109627109376?s=20 The decision to approve the vaccine came after relevant tests were made and the vaccine was found to be safe and effective, reported a news agency WAM. The top official responsible for the vaccine safety, Dr Amin Hussein Al-Amiri,

Amid tension between Beijing & Canberra, China is facing power cuts due to a ban on Australian coal Multiple cities in China have been facing power cuts in recent weeks in the aftermath of Beijing's decision to ban coal imports from Australia.  China's National Development and Reform Commission's decision to indefinitely block coal imports from Australia has triggered a shortage of fuel in the country due to which various cities are experiencing power outages, including Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and Guangzhou. In a number of provinces, local governments have imposed restrictions on power usage, asking agencies to cut electricity supply as the growing demand for energy is colliding with a shortage of thermal coal. For instance, China's central and eastern provinces of Hunan and Zhejiang have introduced new electricity restrictions, demanding citizens to ensure orderly use of electricity. While China is scrambling to revive its economy and industrial development, t

The United Arab Emirates has set benchmarks in various spheres this year and now it looks to focus on strengthening the media space of the country as Dubai gears up to host the 19th edition of the Arab Media Forum.  Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the chairman of the Dubai Media Council, said that as the global advancements in the industry are growing, it is important to develop the Arab media sector  so that it gives a strategic boost to the government decision makers and other institutions related to the media sector.  “Since its inception, the Arab Media Forum has championed the drive to develop the Arab media sector by highlighting technological advancements, content development trends and solutions for challenges, and promoting dialogue and exchange of expertise at regional and international levels,” said Al Maktoum.  He spoke about the focus needed to be drawn towards the media sector as the Dubai Press Club prepares for the virtual edition of the Media for

The United Arab Emirates is making an example out of itself as it expands its logistics reach for Covid-19 vaccine reach by partnering with four other logistic companies.  Abu Dhabi has established the largest hub for Covid-19 vaccine distribution, Abu Dhabi Hope Consortium, with an aim to distribute vaccines to every part of the world by the end of this year.  The consortium, which plans to deliver billions of vaccines throughout the world, has partnered with Agility Logistics, Aramex, Hellman worldwide logistics and Kuehne+Nagel, a deal which was confirmed on Thursday.  The partnership will be benefited by providing global access for a potential distribution coverage to almost 80 percent of the world, confirms Abu Dhabi government media office. The Abu Dhabi media office made it official through twitter saying, “Abu Dhabi’s Hope Consortium has engaged four globally leading freight forwarder partners to support in addressing logistical challenges in the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 vacc

The European Parliament has issued a three-day ultimatum till Sunday to EU and UK negotiators to reach a Brexit trade agreement such that it has enough time to ratify the deal. In a joint statement on Thursday, the heads of the Parliament's political groups announced that it is ready to organise an extraordinary plenary session by the end of December in order to ratify a trade deal. However, Brexit negotiators have been warned to reach an agreement by midnight on December 20, Sunday.  They added that if a deal is not reached by then, it could only be ratified in 2021, given that there will not be enough time for the Parliament to debate on the aspects of the agreement.  The decision was taken by the parliament’s conference of presidents after a meeting with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on Thursday morning during when he reported assured that a deal will be possible by Friday. UK and EU negotiators led by Michel Barnier and David Frost are currently in Brussels to

Dubai has been rapidly testing Covid1-19 tests and in a latest response to tackle the virus spread, the emirate has increased its capacity to more than 80,000 tests. The Dubai authorities have also decided to allocate 89 hotels and buildings for the purpose of isolation and quarantine.  The details of the number of tests carried on a per day basis, director general of Dubai Health Authority, Humaid Al Qutami addressed the Arab Conference (ARADO conference), which was being conducted virtually by the Arab Administrative Development Organisation, a non-profit organisation affiliated with the League of Arab States.  He assured that the emirate is taking all the necessary steps to provide protection to the workers in the first line of defense. He said that thermal devices have been installed at all the ports--land, sea, and air--and other Covid-19 laboratory centres.  He took help of certain examples to describe how the authorities have been trying to help people with treatment and other h

During the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the United Arab Emirates chose to implement various measures in order to control the spread of the virus. One of them was training dogs in such a manner that they detect Covid-19 in people.  Now one of the reports has suggested that there is 98 percent correlation between the results of the PCR tests and the trained dogs detecting virus house in the human body.  It was confirmed on Sunday by the Federal Customs Authority and the Higher Colleges of Technology that they have successfully accomplished the first of its kind study where trained dogs will be deployed to detect coronavirus infection.   A joint task force conducted a scientific study where the customs K9 sniffer dogs were required to detect the virus in the human body . The task force included experts, researchers and specialists representing the HCT and the K9 unit in the FCA.  The study was conducted in three phases and it revealed that there is a high rate of accuracy of dogs fr

The United Arab Emirates starts with the phase III trials of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Russia as it now seeks for volunteers who can participate in the trial. The trials as of now will only be conducted in Abu Dhabi .  Russia Covid-19 vaccine called Sputnik V will be reportedly given in two doses to nelly 500 volunteers. It came after Russia began distributing the vaccine on Saturday to the most exposed groups in the country marking the start of the first ever large scale vaccination drive. The trials for the vaccine in Abu Dhabi will be conducted only under the supervision of the Department of Health, Abu Dhabi. It is the official health regulator in Abu Dhabi. The vaccine usage programme in the emirate is being facilitated through the partnership between the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russian’s sovereign wealth fund, and Abu Dhabi-based Aurugulf Health Investment.  This is the second vaccine that is the third phase of clinical trials as the vaccine developed by the ch

As promised during the announcement of normalising ties with Israel, the United Arab Emirates is moving towards improving the situation between Palestine and Israel. The country has called for progress towards efforts at ending the long running conflict between the two parties.  It has called for a commitment from h=its regional and international partners who will collaborate for the efforts to find a solution to the issues of Palestine that deals with realistic aspirations of the Palestinian people.  The ambitions of the UAE came to public knowledge when the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations, Lama Nusseibeh, gave a statement at the general assembly’s meeting where she said, “The Middle East is witnessing many conflicts and crises that have exhausted its people. With the outbreak of Covid-19, existing challenges are exacerbated, making it a priority for the international community to seek permanent solutions to these issues by rethinking previous

The 49th national day celebrations have brought in some big surprises for the people of the United Arab Emirates with the latest announcement of the country smashing as many as five Guinness world records this time.  The country already has a reputation as the most record breaking nation in the gulf region and with the current aim to grab five more such titles for its 49th National Day Celebrations, the nation is trying to expand its reach.  This will take place as Guinness World Record will be witnessing three attempts by the Global Village that will be a part of the 25 world record planned to create this 25th anniversary as a popular attraction.  One of such records that the Emirati nation is aiming to break is using the maximum number of flags to create the largest flag number ever to exist. Apart from this, the country will also come together to make the largest bottle cap sentence which will reportedly consist of 13,434 bottle caps.  People will also be putting together the larges