News

The latest report from Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD) shows strong growth in Sharjah’s business sectors with a 13.6 percent increase in new trade licences issued by the department during the first half of this year. SEDD issued 3,183 new licences during the first half of 2015, compared to 2,802 in the same period last year. Overall 33,192 licenses issued ...

Sharjah’s award-winning integrated environmental and waste management company, Bee’ah, has been awarded a five-year waste management and recycling contract for Burj Khalifa in neighbouring Dubai, the tallest tower in the world. The bid award followed a highly competitive tendering process to create a sustainable waste management platform for the Dubai landmark in advance of the upcoming World Expo 2020. Bee’ah ...

The UAE Ministry of Finance has announced that local Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) can now register in the Federal Register of Suppliers free-of-charge in an effort to support Emirati startups. According to the terms, the SMEs must be owned by UAE citizens and must register with the Federal Register during the first two years of their establishment. The Ministry’s ...

A multi-billion dollar development called ‘Sharjah Waterfront City’ on Sharjah’s northeast coast is expected to be announced at the region’s premier real estate event, Cityscape Global, next month. According to a report by Sharjah-based Al Khaleej newspaper, the emirate’s largest master-planned mixed-use development project to-date will cover an area of 60 million square feet along 36 kilometers of waterfront. The ...

Passenger traffic at Sharjah International Airport grew by 6 percent in July, compared with July 2014, while regular passenger numbers continued to grow throughout the first half of 2015*. Last month 837,316 passengers embarked, disembarked or transferred via the airport, compared with 793,260 last year, continuing the year’s strong growth in passenger traffic. Figures for the first half of 2015 ...

Sharjah will stake its claim to the halal travel and tourism market at this year’s World Halal Travel Summit & Exhibition, which takes place in Abu Dhabi from 19-21 October. The world’s halal travel and tourism market is currently estimated to be worth US$135 billion (AED 496b) and is forecast to grow to US$200 billion (AED 735b) by 2020. Sharjah ...

Action Hotels Company has announced it has opened the first Premier Inn hotel in Sharjah, via its partnership with Premier Inn, the United Kingdom’s biggest hotel brand. Premier Inn, which focuses on affordable hotel accommodation, has nearly 700 hotels in the UK and is rated the UK’s Best Value Hotel Chain by YouGov. The new Sharjah property is one of ...

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) plans to invest AED 5 billion (US$ 1.4b) in tourism development projects by the year 2018, in Sharjah city, Sharjah’s east coast and in island resorts. HE Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Shurooq, recently revealed the authority’s multi-billion investment plans in an interview with UAE newspaper Al Ittihad. Shurooq was established by ...

The International Monetory Fund (IMF) has estimated the United Arab Emirates’ average economic growth at 3.6 percent for 2014, and forecasts 3.2 percent in 2015. Despite lower oil prices, sluggish global growth, and volatility regional markets, the UAE remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world with strong non-oil economy growth of 4.8 percent (2014). According to the ...

Global business aviation services company Gama Aviation plc has announced that it has cut basic handling rates for its fixed base operation (FBO) at Sharjah International Airport by 20 percent following a global review of its operations. The reduction in handling rates ensures that the company’s Sharjah hub is highly competitive when compared to similar offerings in Dubai and other ...