News

Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has affirmed the Emirate of Sharjah’s BBB+/A-2 sovereign credit ratings long- and short-term, foreign and local currency, with a stable outlook. The agency also projected a gradual increase in economic growth from 2017 to 2020, supported by growth in the emirate’s construction, tourism and manufacturing sectors. S&P began assigning sovereign credit ratings for ...

Residents and tourists in the UAE are set to enjoy the ultimate desert experience with an AED 15 million (US$ 4.1m) extension to the Al Badayer Oasis project. A premium leisure development form Sharjah Investment and development Authority (Shurooq), Al Badayer Oasis has announced an expansion to its under-construction facility, with the resort expected to pull in hordes of city-dwellers ...

Gama Support Services, a division of global business aviation services company Gama Aviation, has signed commercial agreements with Sharjah Airport Authority for the development and operation of a new private aviation terminal at Sharjah International Airport. Gama Support Services will build and operate a new AED 110 million (US$ 30m) purpose-built, integrated business aviation complex and provide ground handling services ...

Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) has issued 33,149 business licenses during the first half of 2017, consistent with the number of licenses issued during the equivalent periods over the past three years. The department issued 33,192 licenses in H1 2015 and 31,889 licenses during the same period of 2014*. The SEDD statistics exclude those business licenses issued by the emirate’s ...

Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) this week announced a net profit of AED 272.9 million (US$ 74.8m) for the first half of 2017, reporting a 6.2 percent increase on the AED 257.0 million (US$ 70.4m) net profit posted for the same period in 2016. SIB also reported a 10 percent increase in total assets, showing AED 36.9 billion (US$ 10.1b) in ...

Passenger traffic grew by 3 percent at Sharjah International Airport during the last quarter, as the airport handled 2.75 million passengers during April, May and June, compared with 2.66 million during the same period of 2016. Overall, Sharjah handled 5.5 million passengers during the first half of 2017, about 3 percent higher than the first half of 2016. Sharjah handled ...

Sharjah has become the first Arab city to join the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. Holding the inaugural meeting of the city’s age-friendly network committee in May, the initiative falls under the emirate’s 2017-2020 strategic plan. In recent years, Sharjah has put increasing focus on environmental, ecological and societal issues and launched a wide ...

Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) has launched ‘Sharjah Summer’, a two-month campaign aiming to drive entertainment, leisure, retail and tourism sales, underpinned by discounts of up to 50 percent. It is the emirate’s first summer campaign that integrates offers from airlines, hotels, government institutions, travel agencies, shopping centres and other private sector companies. So far, about 30 public ...

Demand for houses in Sharjah has outperformed expectations with villa rental prices increasing by 11.7 percent during the first six months of 2017, according to global property consultancy Cluttons. The company’s Sharjah Property Market Snapshot for Summer 2017 report shows that average villa rents in Sharjah now stand at about AED 112,000 (c. US$ 30,500) per annum and can be ...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has named Sharjah its ‘World Book Capital 2019’, in recognition of the emirate’s initiatives to further reading, literacy and book publishing. The announcement also adds further weight to Sharjah’s efforts to establish a global book publishing hub at its purpose-built ‘Sharjah Publishing City’, which has already received an overwhelming response from ...