From Foreign Waters

  The UAE is gearing up to produce the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the country with the aim of boosting global vaccination efforts. Reportedly, China's state-owned Sinopharm CNBG and Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42) have partnered to launch a joint venture to produce at least 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses annually at a new plant being built in the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). With this development, the UAE has become the first country in the Arab region to set up a COVID-19 vaccine production facility. The first indigenous Coronavirus vaccine produced in the UAE under the Sinopharm-G42 joint venture would be called Hayat-Vax, as per a statement issued by the Abu Dhabi-based tech group. "The joint venture is already producing Hayat-Vax with its partner Julphar (Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries) in the UAE with an initial capacity of 2 million doses per month," the G42 statement added. UAE’s vaccination efforts Signific...

As predictably as the US President Donald Trump has become, he has arm twisted his way into getting China back into line. While some time back, US Treasury Department had declared China would be considered a currency manipulator, the department has finally retracted the statement.   This is being done in the wake of Washington and Beijing signing the first phase of their trade agreement. The US has been for months accusing China was devaluing the Yuan, to make its goods cheaper for foreign buyers. Making a media statement US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin has said that, "China has made enforceable commitments to refrain from competitive devaluation, while promoting transparency and accountability.” While in 2015 election campaign, Trump at that time had vowed to label China as a currency manipulator in the wake of declining US manufacturing, he didn’t do so after taking office.   It has been confirmed that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin eventually made the mo...