Big 5 exhibitors eye $2t construction industry

The Big 5, the largest construction and building industry showcase in the Middle East, opened on Monday at the Dubai World Trade Centre with more than 3,100 exhibitors showcasing their products and services targeting region boasting a vibrant construction pipeline of around $2 trillion worth of projects.

The event was inaugurated by Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry.

dmg events, organisers of the four-day event, said the exhibition assumed greater significance as Dubai is driving the new round construction boom in the region.

The value of Dubai's construction projects in the execution and planning stages is expected to reach a record of $390.7 billion this year. A total of 13.7 per cent of these projects, which are valued $53.5 billion, are currently under progress despite the oil slump.

A report estimated that the total spend on infrastructure projects related to Dubai Expo 2020 might reach up to $18 billion, with estimated development costs of the Dubai South area between $8.1 billion and $8.7 billion.

The UAE, one of the world's most attractive construction markets, hosts a robust construction pipeline of more than $700 billion, over one-third of the GCC's pipeline, according to the recent report "Powers of Construction: 2016" by the consultancy Deloitte.

Legoland Dubai's Castle Kingdom and Building Experience joins the Abu Dhabi Midfield Terminal, Al Habtoor City Theatre, Dubai Opera, and NAS Arena are some of the UAE projects that won Tekla Global Building Information Modeling (BIM) Awards for their leading use of 4D digital models that can enhance productivity and collaboration.

"This year has been a seminal moment for GCC construction innovation, and 2017 will see continued momentum with government BIM directives, 3D printing and pre-fabrication, and BIM gaining wider take-up. The UAE's strong showing in international awards demonstrates the country's standing as a global BIM leader," said Paul Wallett, Regional Director of Trimble Solutions Middle East.

The Big 5 is expected to draw 75,000 participants along with national pavilions from all major exporting countries in East and West. This year, the teams from France, Italy and Brazil are in force with their innovative products.

This year's Big 5 edition has several key features including dedicated product sectors, live product demonstration, a one-day Excellence in Construction Summit, a tools demonstration besides a brand new floorplan layout clustered in five product sectors. The five product sectors in which exhibitors are grouped this year are: Building Interiors & Finishes, MEP Services, Building Envelop & Special Construction, Construction Tools & Building Materials, and Smart Building & Design technologies.

Another key highlight of the show is the dmg events' strategic partnership with Dubai Economic Council for the debut "Excellence in Construction Summit" on the sidelines of the expo. Taking place today, the summit will draw 500 industry leaders to discuss current and future trends of the construction sector in Dubai, the GCC region and beyond. Besides this, the giant construction expo will also feature key events such as the FM Expo, PMV Live and Middle East Concrete thus providing complete building solutions.

Source: khaleejtimes

Dubai makes it easier to pass driving tests

The Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA) has unveiled its smart yard initiative, a key phase of testing driver licence applicants. The yard is fitted with sophisticated technological devices and a testing vehicle that gives accurate and credible results.

Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of RTA Licensing Agency, said: "The smart yard is fitted with five surveillance cameras - four of them outside the vehicle to guide the examinee to the locations of the five manoeuvres (movements). The fifth camera is fitted on board the test vehicle to verify the identity of the driver during the test. The vehicle is equipped with more than 20 sensors to help the examinee avoid collision in case of approaching any obstacle.

"The yard is fitted with sensors that automatically transmit images of the test once the vehicle passes through them to a processor that spots mistakes made by the driver. The captured images are then transmitted to an interactive screen in a control tower installed in the testing yard where a staff will retrieve results and use them in the assessment of the examinee.

Advantages of smart yard

> The examiner can monitor more than one examinee at a time, which means reducing the number of examiners by as much as 35 per cent

> It will enable handling more applicants and accordingly reducing the waiting lists

> Complaints of some examinees that their test results are impacted by perceptions of controversial mistakes on the part of examiners can be eliminated

Source: khaleejtimes

Is it a good time to buy gold? Price reaches record low

Gold dropped to its lowest in 5-1/2 months on Friday and was set for a second weekly decline, dragged down as the U.S. dollar soared after comments from the Federal Reserve bolstered expectations U.S. interest rates would rise next month.

Spot gold had fallen 0.6 percent to $1,208.56 an ounce by 0225 GMT, after marking its lowest since May 30 at $1,204.99 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures earlier dropped nearly 1 percent to $1205.0 an ounce. The dollar index hit its highest since April 2003 and was set for its biggest weekly gain in a year after Fed Chair Janet Yellen provided a strong signal that U.S. interest rates would likely increase by year-end.

"Yellen's comments and a stronger dollar have pulled down the entire precious metals complex. Gold will be on a downtrend for now," said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central. "People are speculating that Trump's policies will improve companies and equity markets, and lots of them are going to stocks and currencies. Gold has lost a bit of its safe-haven asset status." The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president has done nothing to change the Fed's plans for a rate increase "relatively soon", Yellen said on Thursday in Congressional testimony.

Gold is highly sensitive to interest rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced. Spot gold may drop towards $1,172 per ounce, as it has broken support at $1,210, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. But Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner said in a note that it was not certain that Trump's economic policy would be "gold negative".SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.61 percent to 920.63 tonnes on Thursday from 926.26 tonnes on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, silver was down 0.53 percent at $16.57 an ounce and platinum fell 1 percent to $921.49. Both metals were set for a second consecutive weekly decline. Palladium fell nearly 2 percent to $712.97 an ounce, but was set to post a third weekly rise.

Source:khaleejtimes

$8 billion budget for Expo 2020 Dubai

The budget for the Expo 2020 Dubai site is estimated to be between $8.1 billion and $8.7 billion, according to the latest BNC report commissioned by The Big 5.

Situated midway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the Expo 2020 site will be served by a world-class road network, a brand-new extension to the Dubai Metro system and three international airports, Expo 2020 organisers announced.

The Al Maktoum International Airport will be expanded in order to handle up to 200 million passengers by 2020, thanks to an investment of approximately $32 billion.

Josine Heijmans, The Big 5 Event Director, said: “The airport is part of the secondary infrastructure that will support the Expo 2020 Dubai. This project is not entirely dependent on hosting the event, but responds to the rise in expected numbers of travellers to Dubai.”

Bringing together more than 180 nations and an international audience of 25 million visitors, the Expo 2020 Dubai is currently under development on a 438-hectare area in the Dubai South district.

According to BNC’s report for The Big 5, $30 million is being allocated to develop the Expo Village at the Dubai Exhibition City in Dubai South. This project, which is currently in the tender phase, consists of a residential development providing full-time housing facilities for participating countries’ staff working on the Expo. After its completion, expected by 2018, pavilion construction activities will start.

The UAE Pavilion will cost approximately $30 million. The 15,000 sqm project will include exhibition areas, an auditorium, food and beverage outlets and VIP lounges.

Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and inspired by a falcon in flight, the UAE Pavilion will be located in Dubai South.

The Big 5 2016 construction event will be held from November 21-24 at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Source: 7days

Air Arabia profits up

Low-cost carrier Air Arabia has recorded a Dhs297 million net profit for the third quarter of 2016 – up 26 per cent compared to Dhs235 million reported in the corresponding period of 2015.

For the three months ending September 30, 2016, the airline carried 2.27 million passengers, a 14 per cent increase compared to Q3 2015.

The airline served over 2.27 million passengers in the third quarter of 2016, a 14 per cent increase compared to 2 million passengers in the same period of last year.

Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Air Arabia said: “The strong third quarter and year to date performance is a reflection of Air Arabia’s commercial and operational strengths supported by the company’s commitment to deliver high value air travel to its customers and return on investments to its shareholders.”

He added: “Despite challenging trading conditions driven by excess capacity in the market, political instability in some markets and the effect of lower oil price in the regional economies, we remain confident about the long-term prospects for the low cost industry in region and our ability to continue with our growth plans while delivering our value-for-money promise to our customer’s everyday”.

The low-cost airline served over 6.3 million passengers in the first nine month of 2016, a 14 per cent year-on-year increase.

Air Arabia completed 13 years last month, maintaining its continuous record of profitability since its first year of operations.

The carrier added five new routes to its global network during the first nine months of 2016 from its operating hubs in the UAE, Morocco and Jordan.

Source:7days

How will Donald Trump’s victory impact finances and investments in UAE?

After the American public voted in Republican nominee Donald Trump as President-elect last week it sent shockwaves through politics and the global financial industries.

With such a surprise result and with any change in political direction creating uncertainty, the result will undoubtedly affect world economies and, ultimately, the investments of residents in the UAE and the Middle East.

Here, Hamzah Shalchi, regional manager at Guardian Wealth Management, reviews the predicted financial impacts.

STOCKS

“In the run-up to the election, when it became clear that the result was no longer a given, markets had begun to react and thus, both stocks and bonds moved lower. How markets will react in the coming weeks is unsure but Barclays predicted that the S&P 500 would nosedive by between 11 to 13 per cent in the event of a Trump victory.”STOCKS

BONDS

“The US benchmark 10-year yield has only recently recovered from the 39 basis points (0.39 per cent) fall inflicted by the Brexit vote. Now experts believe the benchmark could slip at least 10 basis points (0.1 per cent) again, although Trump’s planned tax cuts and infrastructure-spending could, in time, drive them back up.

“Energy industry bonds are likely to rebound after two years of major losses thanks to Trump’s public support for fossil fuels. History tells us that the stock market performs better under a Democratic president.

“Over the past 100 years The Dow Jones Industrial Average has produced average returns of 82.7 per cent under a Democratic president, compared to the 44.8 per cent average returns under a Republican government.”

CURRENCIES

“As Trump continued to gain on Clinton in the election results, the US dollar began to fall against the British pound, euro and Japanese yen and this is expected to continue as uncertainty hits the market over fears about his policies. For example, immediately in the hour following the election results, the US dollar plummeted by around 4 per cent only to recover slightly post-Trump’s victory speech.

“By voting for Trump, the US has essentially taken a giant leap into the unknown and historically such moves have a negative impact on the relative value of currencies. “As the UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar, it is likely to be impacted by the fluctuation against developed currencies such as the British pound and Swiss franc.”

COMMODITIES

“In times of uncertainty, nothing glitters quite like gold. Investors looking for safe-havens often turn to precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum when the value of the dollar falls against other currencies. “Additionally, natural gas prices will fall and oil prices could get a lift.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

“Whether it’s a slight ripple or giant shockwaves, investors can be certain that whatever happens next in the US will impact the whole world. “It is difficult to predict what markets will do next, however, remaining invested through periods of volatility can provide stronger returns than attempting to second guess what will happen.”

Source: 7days

Smart vehicle under trial at Dubai’s Business Bay

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has teamed up with Dubai Properties to carry out trials of smart vehicles across parts of Business Bay.

The trial operation of autonomous vehicles, each capable of lifting 10 persons, is being carried out over a 650m track in Business Bay District.

The step follows the first and second phases of the trial operation of smart vehicles in Dubai World Trade Centre and the Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard.

Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency and chairman of its Smart Vehicles Committee, said responses to questionnaires floated by RTA spurred the trial operation’s third phase.

“Autonomous vehicles have continued to accomplish their success, as proven by the sustained riders satisfaction rating derived from the experience at the Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard between 1 September and 5 October this year, where the overall satisfaction rating clocked 95%,” he said.

“The debut of autonomous vehicles experience in the Dubai World Trade Centre last Ramadan yielded satisfaction rating of 92% according to inputs of two questionnaires conducted by RTA.

“Visitors were lifted over a month from ground car parks to the main restaurants, hotels, and landmarks at the Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard on the route of the vehicle.”

Dubai Media Office reported that Bahrozyan said RTA is considering expanded deployment of autonomous vehicles across Dubai’s metro stations, malls, and tourist spots.

The agency is also working to draft rules and legislations geared at the implementation of Dubai’s smart mobility strategy, he added.

Source: constructionweekonline

Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 12 minutes: It’s happening…

The Hyperloop is no longer just a pipe dream: in fact, if the technology stands up the first system will be in the UAE, possibly within five years…

There’s been speculation for a while, but it’s just been confirmed that the first Hyperloop will be built in the UAE. This means passengers will be able to travel between the emirates at 1,200 kilometres per hour (the max speed of a Boeing 747 is 825 kilometres per hour).

How do we know it’s happening here? Well Hyperloop One, the leading Hyperloop company in the world, has just signed a deal with RTA to intensely study building the first system here (for both passengers and cargo).

So yes, that means a journey from Dubai to Abu Dhabi will take only 12 minutes.

When will it all start? Well they’ve said that they could have an operational system connecting Dubai to the capital by 2021. 

“We are now at a stage where, from a technological point of view, we could have a Hyperloop One system built in the UAE in the next five years. Our agreement with the RTA is the biggest step yet towards achieving this goal,” explained Rob Lloyd, CEO of Hyperloop One.

“Imagine stepping out of your villa in Dubai, into a self-driving vehicle that resembles your living room,and arriving just 48 minutes later at your office in Riyadh. That is what Hyperloop One can deliver,” explained Josh Giegel, Hyperloop One’s President of Engineering. Here’s a vision of the start of that journey happening:

HOW WILL HYPERLOOP WORK?

If a Hyperloop system develops around the world it will change the way we travel says Bjarke Ingels, the founder of BIG, a design firm working on the project:

“Collective commuting with individual freedom at near supersonic speed: we are heading for a future where our mental map of the city is completely reconfigured, as our habitual understanding of distance and proximity – time and space – is warped by this new form of travel.”

 The Hyperloop would likely be a bunch of small pods (rather than one large train) and would be on demand, leaving when you want to leave, and going directly to your chosen station.

The infrastructure will be made up of large tubes that run between destinations, and the pods will hover in these (they’d levitate rather than be on tracks). The environment within the main tube will be controlled so that there will only be a very small amount of air in the environment, creating a suction of sorts, so that the pods move from one end to the other (very, very quickly – kind of like a parcel in a postal shoot). They’re working on plans to run them either underwater or above ground.

Remember the transport pods that will take you from New York to Beijing in just two hours? Or from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in 15 minutes?

The plan shows that Hyperloop One intend to connect the two emirates, which are 150km apart. The map reveals that they are looking into connecting Dubai Airport, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Marina, Al Maktoum Airport, Abu Dhabi Airport and the centre of Abu Dhabi (with offshoots to the major ports too):

Hyperloop One is partnering with the RTA over the next three months, and by the end of that period they say they’ll be able to show the government that their network will reduce congestion in Dubai by 20 per cent and will reduce emissions by a strong 30 per cent.

“I love that we’re working on something that’s cutting edge, and that can hopefully improve people’s lives, give them back more free time,” explained James Coutre, director of Product Engineering at Hyperloop.

Source:whatson

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