Economy

The government of Sharjah has set its 2015 annual budget at AED 17.7 billion (US$ 4.8 b), the highest annual budget that the emirate has ever allocated, 12 percent above Sharjah’s AED 15.4 billion (US$ 4.2 b) 2014 budget. The budget was endorsed by The Sharjah Consultative Council (SCC) on Saturday and approved by His Highness Dr. Shaikh Sultan Bin ...

Sharjah International Airport passenger traffic increased 12 percent in 2014 to 9.5 million passengers, compared with 8.5 million during 2013. The airport has enjoyed accelerated growth over the past three years, achieving 13 percent passenger growth in both 2012 and 2013, in line with its goal of handling 25 million passengers by the year 2025. A total of 70,559 flights ...

The Emirate of Sharjah’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth could reach 13 percent in 2014, according to comments made by Hussain Mohamed Al Mahmoudi, director-general of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to UAE newspaper Khaleej Times. Al Mahmoudi informed the paper that the Chamber expected the emirate’s GDP to reach AED 113 billion (US$30.8 b) this year compared to ...

Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer, COO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) was interviewed by World Finance recently about the emirate’s investment proposition (watch the video). Shurooq was recently named FDI Agency of the Year in the MENA region by The European Magazine’s Global Banking and Finance Awards and will host the 2015 World Forum for Foreign Direct Investment, from 8-10 February.

According to a new report by international real estate consultancy Cluttons, while Sharjah’s office rental market saw no growth during the July, August, September period, rents are expected to rise during the last quarter of the year due to growing demand for A grade office space. Some prime commercial locations saw a lowering of rental costs during the third quarter. ...

The Emirate of Sharjah has updated laws regulating Sharjah’s property market to allow foreign expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates to purchase property in zones authorised by the government. Previously, property could only be sold to UAE nationals, other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals and Arab nationals with a valid UAE resident visa, but not to the many other ...

Tilal Properties, a new joint venture between Sharjah Asset Management and Eskan Real Estate Development, has announced Tilal City, a 25 million square feet mixed-use community strategically located near the Emirates Road (E611), just 10 kilometres from Sharjah’s International Airport. The AED 2 billion (US$ 540 million) real estate development will include some 2,000 residential plots, offices, retail stores, open ...

Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has affirmed the Emirate of Sharjah’s A/A-1 sovereign credit ratings long- and short-term, foreign and local currency, on the basis of Sharjah’s strong economic growth and the government’s solid fiscal management. The rating agency also confirmed that it expected Sharjah’s economic growth to continue. S&P gave its first ever sovereign credit rating for ...

Heads of government departments and authorities are to meet in Sharjah on Sunday to discuss how the emirate can best meet the needs of business investors. Organised by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, the Sharjah Forum will focus ...

Sharjah banks InvestBank (INVESTB), Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) and United Arab Bank (UAB) all announced strong profits for the first nine months of 2014. Investbank reported a six percent increase in net operating profit to AED 373 million (US$101m ), SIB reported a 33.5 percent increase in net profits to AED 295 million (US$ 80m), whilst UAB reported a 20 percent ...