Green Green Grass of Home!                                                    05 April 2024

There was an interesting fact, emanating from Property Finder’s Q1 survey, which showed that a marked 40% of property sales in Dubai have gone to home seekers looking to buy villas; 85% of that total were looking for a minimum 3 B/R plus unit, with the five leading locations, at the beginning of 2024, being Dubai Hills Estate, Al Furjan, Arabian Ranches, Palm Jumeirah and Mohammed Bin Rashid City. The four main drivers behind the current surge were:

• 39% of villa buyers were under the age of forty, (cf 31% in the same period in 2023) – an indicator that savvy millennials are seizing the opportunity for long-term investments in spacious villas, as prices continue to head north at double-digit levels
• Property buyers, earning less than US$ 13.6k (AED 50k), account for 47% of villa buyers, compared to 37% a year earlier; more buyers are capitalising on flexible payment plans to upgrade to larger living spaces
• Buying a villa is also a good investment option. Last year, a 5 B/R villa on Palm Jumeirah would give you an unbelievable 41% RoI, while Dubai Hills Estate and Arabian Ranches saw spikes of 38% and 29% respectively
• Buyers are looking for a larger range of amenities and facilities. Property Finder’s three top searches were for a maid’s room, a study area and a private pool

In a bold move to increases Emirati participation, as real estate brokers, in future project launches, the DLD has announced that it will initially encompass nine local developers and seek to allocate between 10% to 15% of units to be sold by Emirati brokers, The nine developers included in the initial phase of a tie up are Emaar, Expo Dubai, Deyaar, Damac, Azizi, MAG, Sobha Realty, Ellington Properties and Al Bait Al Duwaliy Real Estate Development. (In the next phase of the Dubai Real Estate Programme, the DLD said it will seek to establish partnerships with additional developers and real estate brokers to qualify more Emiratis to work in the property sector).This comes under the Dubai Real Estate Programme, unveiled to increase Emiratis’ participation and incentivise their involvement in the market, with the agreement aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of Emirati professionals and supporting their roles in the sector. In 2023, the value of real estate deals jumped 20% on the year and topped US$ 172.6 billion. A recent Knight Frank report noted that, although record a record number of luxury houses were sold last year, Dubai is still ranked towards the bottom end of the most expensive prime markets globally.

After selling out its initial three phases, comprising six hundred villas, Dubai South Properties has launched the fourth phase of its South Bay waterfront development. The master developer had awarded Al Kharafi Construction Company a US$ 408 million contract to build phases 3, 4 and 5. Located on Expo Road, the fourth phase includes one hundred and thirty-eight units, comprising three, four and five-bedroom villas and a limited number of five-to seven-bedroom mansions; completion is slated for Q1 2027. The centrepiece of the scheme is a one-kilometre lagoon that will provide more than three kilometres of a waterfront promenade. The planned amenities include a lake park, beaches, water parks, swimming pools and a clubhouse, as well as cafes and a shopping mall. The Residential District at Dubai South is already home to more than 25k people.

Sobha Group has signed a US$ 123 million land lease agreement with Dubai International City so that it can set up a second furniture factory. On a 84k sq mt land plot, encompassing 50k sq mt built-up area, the factory will manufacture a range of products including sofas, seats, armchairs, chairs, beds, car and airplane seats, assembled and flat-pack cabinets for the local market and for export customers. Another plus for the local industrial sector and ‘Make it In the Emirates’.

There are reports that the UAE government is looking at introducing new commercial licence regulations which could include a ten-year golden licence and a five-year silver licence in a bid to boost business activities in the country. It is expected that their introduction would spur business confidence among investors as well as enhancing the country’s image on the worldwide stage. It is obvious that any such move is a no brainer, if the emirate can attract global businesses to set up a presence here, and a sign that the UAE is open for business. The country has seen the number of companies operating rise to 788k by the end of 2023. The proposal was discussed by the Economic Integration Committee last week during its second meeting of the year, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Economy, Abdulla bin Touq.

On Monday, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has announced that from Monday, 29th Ramadan (8th April 2024) to 3rd Shawwal (or what is corresponding to it in Gregorian calendar) will be a paid holiday for all employees in the private sector across the UAE on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr. This is in line with an earlier announcement for the public sector. The one proviso is that if Eid falls on Tuesday, the private sector will return to work next Friday, 12 April.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UAE Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 57.1 in February from 56.6 in January, while the output sub-index surged to 64.6 from 62.0 in January, the highest figure since June 2019, lifted by new business, stronger client activity and marketing activities. One of the PMI’s largest components, the Output Index, rose to its highest level since June 2019, pointing to a rapid expansion of business activity, as firms look to take full advantage of strong market growth. Mainly because of the Red Sea problems, backlogs of work rose at their fastest pace in nearly four years, with the overall supply chain performance improving at its weakest rate since in nine months. New orders rose at their softest rate for six months, suggesting output growth could also begin to slow, with hiring activity accelerating and employment levels expanding at their fastest rate since May 2023. February saw the strongest price cuts in over three years, with many firms offering discounts to retain market share – and this despite another solid increase in overall input costs, linked to rises in material prices and wages.

The latest Majid Al Futtaim State of the UAE Retail Economy proves to be interesting reading. It posted that 2023 consumer spending surged 13%, despite the jittery state of the global economy. Fashion, general and leisure/entertainment – growing at 31%, 16% and 15% – helped retail spending to increase by 14%; spending in hypermarkets/ supermarkets was up 3%. The report also found that non-retail spending – such as real estate, fuel, government services, airline tickets, transportation and education – increased by 12%. Quarterly spending spiked in Q4, contributing 27% of the annual total, mainly attributable to the Cop28 event. Even though shopping trips were higher on the year, consumers preferred smaller basket sizes, and split their buying between in-store and online, looking for the best deals while limiting the number of products purchased. E-commerce has risen from 5%, in 2019, to 12% in 2023, with about 70% of transactions attributed to mobile phones.

The latest Kearney’s Foreign Direct Investment sees the UAE jumping ten places to eighth and moved one place higher to second, behind China, in its emerging market index.The consultancy noted that the country’s higher ranking “is a clear reflection of its … decisive push towards economic diversification, which [has] firmly cemented the UAE’s position as a magnet for global investment”, and also “reflects growing investor confidence driven by the UAE’s sustained track record of policy reform”. The UAE has also set an ambitious target of attracting US$ 50 billion in foreign investment by 2031, as part of its diversification strategy, which will be helped by it signing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with a number of countries to grow trade and attract more investment. The top three countries heading the index are USA, Canada and China – the latter moving up four places amid the “loosening of capital controls for foreign investors in Shanghai and Beijing”.

Eight years ago, the federal government liberalised fuel prices so that they could be aligned with market rates until the onset of the pandemic which saw prices frozen by the Fuel Price Committee. In March 2021, prices were amended to reflect the movement of the market once again. With prices having fallen every month in the quarter to 31 January, they rose in February and March, and now again in April 2024, (except for diesel). The breakdown in fuel price per litre for April is as follows:

• Super 98: US$ 0.826, to US$ 0.858 in April (up by 4.0%).      YTD from US$ 0.768 – 11.7%

• Special 95: US$ 0.796, to US$ 0.826 in April (up by 3.7%).    YTD from US$ 0.738 – 11.9%

• Diesel: US$ 0.842, from US$ 0.861 in April (up by 2.2%).       YTD from US$ 0.817 – 3.1%

• E-plus 91: US$ 0.777, to US$ 0.807 in April (up by 3.8%).     YTD from US$ 0.719 12.2%

According to latest data from the Central Bank of the UAE, savings deposits in the UAE’s banking sector, excluding interbank deposits, attracted around US$ 6.81 billion (10.2% higher) to reach US$ 73.70 billion at the end of January 2024; savings deposits in banks have been on a consistently upward trajectory in recent years, rising from US$ 41.42 billion at the end of 2018. The local currency, the dirham, accounted for the largest share of savings deposits, (82.1% or US$ 60.50 billion), while the share of foreign currencies amounted to 17.9%, or US$ 13.20 billion. Demand deposits posted a 9.5% rise on the year to US$ 272.75 billion at the end of January 2024. Demand deposits total comprised US$ 196.34 billion in the local currency, accounting for 72.0%, and around US$ 76.51 billion in foreign currencies, accounting for 28.0%. Demand deposits continued to grow in recent years, having risen 73.3% from US$ 157.38 billion.Time deposits rose 30.3% to US$ 217.14 billion at the end of January 2024, with a 30.3% annual increase compared to about US$ 166.67 billion in January 2023, an increase of US$ 50.4 billion.The local currency accounted for the largest share of time deposits, 59.6% or US$ 129.40 billion, while the share of foreign currencies amounted to 40.4% or US$ 87.74billion.

Up and Down news this week from the UAE Central Bank, projecting a 5.2% 2025 GDP growth, whilst revising down this year’s forecast from 5.7% to 4.2% – attributable to a slower recovery in oil production, in light of the Opec+ agreement in November 2023, and a robust, yet declining, growth in the non-oil sector.  In 2025, the oil sector is expected to expand by 6.2%, driven by higher growth in the hydrocarbon sector, with the non-oil sector 4.7% higher. In this day and age, the forecast comes with the usual caveats:

• downside risks due to geopolitical tensions around Red Sea disruptions
• conflicts in Gaza
• war between Russia and Ukraine
• a global slowdown triggered by the need to hold higher interest rates for longer
• the possibility of further Opec+ agreed reductions in oil output

This week, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise signed a US$ 749 million, five-year, dirham denominated, unsecured term loan with Emirates NBD. Financing will be used for general corporate purposes and support the future financing needs of the business. This loan will “also serve to further strengthen DAE’s exceptional liquidity.”

On 01 April, Drake & Scull International’s General Assembly approved the implementation of the capital restructuring of the company and increasing the share capital by US$ 163 million, (AED 600 million), to become about US$ 946 million, (AED 3.470 billion), by issuing 2.4 billion shares at US$ 0.0681 per share (“Capital Increase”). Its chairman, Shafiq Abdelhamid, noted “we have developed a comprehensive capital restructuring plan aimed at avoiding the liquidation of the company, ensuring the best interests of shareholders, ensuring business continuity, in addition to achieving better returns for creditors compared to the returns they could obtain in the event of its liquidation”. Its restructuring strategy aims to rebuild confidence in the company by focusing on its core strengths, such as mechanical and electrical works, as well as the high potential water and environment operations “Passavant”, and Oil and Gas sector. The restructuring plan will be applicable on four “Plan Companies”, as approved by the courts – Drake & Scull International PJSC, Drake & Scull International LLC, Drake & Scull Engineering LLC and Drake & Scull for Contracting Oil & Gas Fields Facilities LLC. Creditors of these four Plan Companies have agreed to a 90% write-off of their claims, while the remaining 10% balance of Plan Creditors, whose total claims:

• exceed US$ 272k will be exchanged by a Mandatory Convertible Sukuk (the “MCS”)
• are between US$ 14k and US$ 272k will have the option to receive cash or MCS
• are less than US$ 14k will receive 10% of their balance in cash

The five-year MCS will be converted into Drake & Scull shares at maturity or earlier date, in case of certain early conversion events, as stipulated in the restructuring plan. It will not be eligible for a fixed profit rate but will be entitled a share of any dividends distribution paid by the company, and, on maturity, will receive 35% of the issued capital of Drake & Scull, subject to some adjustments related to the buyback of the instruments by the company. The MCS will also be eligible to 35% (or the adjusted creditor ownership percentage) of any payments collected by the company, in relation to the settlement of legal claims related to the previous management of the company and the previous auditors with respect to circumstances that arose before 31 December.

On Monday, there was a large single trade on the DFM amounting to 5.7 million Emirates NBD shares at a price of US$ 4.77 (AED 17.5), equating to a total value of around US$ 100 million. Such large transactions, executed outside the order book, do not affect the closing price of the company’s shares or the price index, and they also do not affect the highest and lowest prices executed during the session and over the past fifty-two weeks.

Salik Company PJSC, announced the distribution of cash dividends amounting to US$ 150 million, (equivalent to US$ 0.02 per share), representing 100% of its H2 net profit. Shareholders at Dubai’s exclusive toll gate operator’s AGM also approved the value of cash dividends distributable for the fiscal year 2023, which amounted to US$ 300 million (equivalent to US$ 0.04 per share), representing 100% of 2023 distributable net profit. The meeting also agreed to amend the Articles of Association to add new business activities into Salik’s operations, along with the allocation of a percentage of the company’s forecasted revenues towards the CSR initiatives.

The DFM opened the week on Monday 01 April 16 points (0.4%) lower the previous week, shed 2 points (0.1%) to close the trading week on 4,244 by Friday 05 April 2024. Emaar Properties, US$ 0.05 lower the previous fortnight, gained US$ 0.09, closing on US$ 2.32 by the end of the week. DEWA, Emirates NBD, DIB and DFM started the previous week on US$ 0.66, US$ 4.77, US$ 1.59, and US$ 0.40 and closed on US$ 0.65, US$ 4.78, US$ 1.57 and US$ 0.39. On 05 April, trading was at 112 million shares, with a value of US$ 59 million, compared to 275 million shares, with a value of US$ 418 million, on 29 March 2024. The elongated Eid Al Fitr break will see the local bourse closed all next week, re-opening on 15 April.

By Friday, 05 April 2024, Brent, US$ 4.90 higher (6.0%) the previous three weeks, gained US$ 3.84 (4.4%) to close on US$90.84. Gold, US$ 372 (20.0%) higher the previous five weeks, gained US$ 55 (2.5%) to trade at US$ 2,293 on 05 April 2024.

With increased expectations that the Federal Reserve will post its first-rate hike of 2024 in June, as US inflation levels continues to head down, gold prices rose to a record high on Monday, trading at one stage at US$ 2,257 per oz, as US gold futures gained 1.8% to US$ 2,279. Silver joined the party rising 1.3% to US$ 25.25, with platinum and pallidum climbing 0.5% and 0.7% to US$ 916 and US$ 1,022 respectively. Gold rose even higher on Wednesday, following Fed Chairman, Jerome Powell’s assurance that it could be appropriate to begin lowering borrowing costs “at some point this year”, gold took notice and surged to a record US$ 2,305 on Wednesday; silver touched three-year highs. Gold has also benefitted support from heightened geopolitical risks, including the crises in Gaza, the Red Sea and Ukraine, as well as increased central bank purchasing.

Alaska Air has received a US$ 160 million payment from Boeing to make up for losses the airline has suffered following its January mid-air blowout; the carrier expects further pay-outs from the plane maker and said that the money already paid would address profits lost in H1. This has led to complaints that “Boeing thinks it more urgent and important to pay those whose corporate profits were at stake, but not those whose lives were at stake and nearly lost.” The knock-on impact of Boeing slowing production, as it tries to resolve manufacturing and safety concerns, will surely hit carriers’ revenue and profit figures as they have to cut flights because of slow delivery of new planes. Boeing did not comment but warned earlier this year that it expected to spend at least US$ 4 billion more than expected in the first quarter.

With higher mortgage rates still impacting affordability, the Nationwide posted that UK house price growth was “subdued” in March – 1.6% higher on the year but down 0.2% on the month. Although they are declining slower than many would want, they are still higher than pre-Covid rates. UK’s largest building society noted that affordability pressures on buyers was “weighing down” on activity in the housing market and price growth. It noted that people on the average annual US$ 44.3k wage, purchasing a typical home, will have to pay over 40% of their take home pay – well above the 30% long-run average. February mortgage approvals – at 60.4k – were at their highest monthly level since September 2022, (the disastrous Liz Truss month). Much to the relief of many mortgage-holders, the BoE announced that rate cuts were “on the way”, from its current 5.25% rate.

On its stock trading debut last week, Donald Trump’s social media company was valued at US$ 11 billion, despite having lost nearly US$ 60 million last year on a paltry revenue of some US$ 4 million. In Monday’s trading, and less than a week after it began publicly trading, shares of his social media company have fallen by more than 20%, resulting in the former, (and possible future), president’s net worth losing about US$ 1.0 billion. However, shares of Trump Media, which makes its money exclusively through advertising on Truth Social, are still up nearly 200% YTD. He is suing two co-founders of Trump Media, Wes Moss and Andy Litinsky, claiming they should lose their cumulative 8.6% shares of the company for mismanaging his social media site.

Last week’s blog noted that China’s third largest smartphone maker Xiaomi had launched its first electric vehicle, with pre-orders almost topping 89k vehicles, within twenty-four hours of it starting to take orders on Thursday. By last Monday, the firm was advising buyers it could take twenty-seven weeks to deliver the SU7 Max. The SU7 model is priced at US$ 29.9k, with the Max version at US$ 41.5k.

The 08 March blog – Say No More – posted “There are reports that Bridgepoint, the biggest shareholder, at 40%, in Moto GP’s parent company, Dorna Sports, is in advanced discussions to sell the business for more than US$ 3.80 billion. Over the past eighteen years, Bridgepoint has driven Moto GP to expand internationally, resulting in soaring revenue and a sharp increase in profitability. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owns slightly less than 40%, with the balance held by Dorna’s management. Uniting Moto GP and F1 under common ownership would provide Liberty Media with the opportunity to derive financial and commercial synergies, but any potential competition probe could scupper the deal – Bridgepoint acquired Moto GP’s parent in 2006 from CVC Capital Partners after the latter bought into F1, drawing scrutiny from EU watchdogs”.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of memory chips, smartphones and televisions, expects an almost tenfold surge in Q1 profits, as prices of chips have recovered from a post-pandemic slump and demand for AI-related products booms. The South Korean conglomerate has estimated its Q1 operating profit rose by 931% to US$ 4.9 billion. Estimates are that there had been about a 20% hike in global memory chip prices last year. This week’s earthquake that hit Taiwan, (which is home to several major chipmakers, including TSMC), may also tighten the global supply of chips, which could allow Samsung to raise prices further. On top of that it should benefit from sales of its new flagship Galaxy S24 smartphones, which were launched in January.

Last Monday, it finally happened – Liberty Media announced a takeover of MotoGP’s parent company Doran, valuing the world’s leading motorcycle racing championship at US$ 4.53 billion. Dorna will stay an independently run company, attributed to Liberty Media’s Formula One Group tracking stock, and continue to be based in Madrid, with long-serving Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta remaining in his position. The deal will see Liberty Media acquiring approximately 86% of Dorna, with Dorna management retaining around 14% of its equity. Dorna/MotorGP has an equity value of US$ 3.76 billion and an enterprise value of US$ 4.51 billion.

Amazon Web Services – which accounts for 14% of the tech giant’s total revenue – is to slash hundreds of jobs at its cloud computing business, as its continues to move its strategy with physical stores, Amazon Fresh, which were launched in 2020. The job losses will be mainly in sales, marketing, global services and its physical stores technology team, as it plans to remove its self-checkout system called Just Walk Out from all the stores. It noted that cuts will be at its operations around the world, though the majority of AWS roles are in its home city Seattle, and also confirmed,

“it will continue to hire and grow, especially in core areas of our business”, adding that there are thousands of jobs available and it is working to find internal opportunities for employees whose roles are affected. Its current payroll, which excludes contractors and temps,  comprises more than one and a half million full-time and part-time employees.

The IMF has finally approved an US$ 8.0 billion loan package for Egypt, which adds US$ 5.0 billion to the US$ 3.0 billion forty-six-month Extended Fund Facility signed in December 2022; the government will be able to immediately draw US$ 820 million. This will be a major boost to its economy badly impacted by the Israel-Gaza war but also to a lesser degree by the Russia-Ukraine crisis and tensions in the Red Sea. Last month, the Central Bank of Egypt pushed rates higher and allowed the local currency to freely float, with no interventions from the state. On 06 March, when the news broke, the currency dropped to fifty-two pounds to the greenback – its lowest level in history on official markets. By the end of the month, it had recovered somewhat, trading at 47.35. The IMF acknowledged that the government had taken positive steps to improve the economy, including difficult measures to correct macroeconomic imbalances, to unify the exchange rate, to clear the foreign exchange demand backlog, to attract more foreign direct investment and to tighten monetary and fiscal policies.

Although business activity in its non-oil private sector contracted at the sharpest rate in thirteen months, driven by a worsening foreign exchange crisis and a steep drop in customer sales, two weeks later on 18 March, S&P upgraded Egypt’s credit outlook to positive from stable, citing government moves to improve its currency, attract more foreign direct investment and a growing list of donors pledging to support the economy. One of the major contributors was a consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s holding company, giving ADQ, rights to develop its Mediterranean city of Ras El Hekma, in exchange for US$ 35 billion in cash.

For not having published its annual accounts on time, embattled Chinese property developer Country Garden has seen its share trading suspended, on Tuesday 02 April, by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. With it defaulting on its overseas debt in 2023, the company posted that it needed more time to collect information, as it restructures its debts; because of this debt default, it faces a winding-up petition. The firm commented that “due to the continuous volatility of the industry, the operating environment the Group confronting is becoming increasingly complex”. On the same day, shares in Chinese state-backed property developer China Vanke fell to a record low after it had posted a 50%+ profit slump in its annual profit and told investors that it aimed to boost its cash flow by slashing debt over the next two years. The industry has yet to recover from a 2021 government move to curb the amount big developers could borrow; since then, several large Chinese property developers, including Evergrande and Country Garden, have defaulted on their debts. As the sector accounts for over a third of the country’s economy, the impact has been felt throughout the country and on the global stage.

Over the next decade, some three hundred million people, who are currently aged between fifty and sixty, are set to leave the Chinese workforce, and a major problem facing the Xi Jinping government is how to finance the growing pension pot; the country is heading to an inevitable demographic crisis which will not be helped by a slowing economy and a race against tie to bolster funds to care for the growing number of elderly. In 2020, the UN’s International Labour Organisation estimated the average monthly pension at US$ 23.50. For generations, China has relied on filial piety to fill the gaps in elderly care, but now there fewer offspring for ageing parents to rely on, who have moved away to the cities to benefit from the country’s recent rapid growth; that leaves seniors to fend for themselves or rely on government payments. A problem is that a 2019 estimate, by the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences, forecast that the pension could run out of money by 2035. One option, that would only have a temporary impact, is to raise the age of retirement, in a country that has one of the lowest retirement ages in the world – sixty for men, fifty-five for white-collar women and fifty for working-class women. It appears that more and more older Chinese have had to fend for themselves, with many having to dip into their pensions. Last week, this blog looked at the problems facing Japan, as up to 10% of the population is now over eighty. The difference is that China’s population is ageing fast, and the government has not spent enough money on dealing with this major problem – the Japanese have.

The Indian rupee fell to its lowest level on record against the US dollar and the UAE dirham last Friday, attributable to falling Asian markets and aggressive local dollar demand; the rupee dipped to intra-day low of 22.732 to the dirham, edging higher by the end of the day to close on 22.7316, but still down 0.3% for the day, driven it appears because of the RBI’s “MiA”, and strong dollar bids close to the end of the session. Earlier, it seems that the central bank had sold dollars at 83.38/83.39 to ease the pressure on the rupee. By today, 05 April, it was trading at 83.33.

In 2022, the EU had a trade in goods deficit balance of US$ 470.9 billion, due then mainly to the increased value of energy imports resulting from high prices for energy. However, a marked improvement in 2023 saw the balance move into positive territory, registering a US$ 41.0 billion surplus, because of a 16.0% fall in the value of extra-EU imports, driven mainly by 34.0% declines for ‘energy products’, and a 21.0% drop in ‘manufactured goods classified chiefly by material’ – because of the combined impact of a drop in prices and a drop in volume. Data show that the EU’s internal market continued to take centre stage in EU countries’ trade of goods, with the highest share of intra-EU imports, at 90%, being recorded in Luxembourg, and the highest share of intra-EU exports, at 82%, was registered in Czechia. At the other end of the scale, Ireland has the lowest share of intra-EU imports, at only 39%, mainly because its primary trade partners are the USA and the UK. The Netherlands, as it continues to be the main entry hub for the EU, is the country which imports mostly from outside the EU, and exports mostly inside the EU; Cyprus, on the other hand, is the country exporting mainly outside the EU, while importing mainly from inside the EU.

Last Friday, the Biden administration revised rules to make it harder for China to access US AI chips and chipmaking tools, in an effort to mitigate that country’s growing influence in the sector, citing national security concerns. Its main aim is to halt shipments to China of more advanced AI chips designed by Nvidia NVDA.O et alia. There are also concerns that Beijing efforts to advance its tech sector could also be utilised to help boost China’s military. The new rules clarify restrictions on chip shipments to China, which also apply to laptops containing those chips, with the Commerce Department confirming plans to continue updating its restrictions on technology shipments to China.

As the Dubai economy continues its buoyant trend, it is no surprise to see that there has been an increase in reverse migration, as more former residents are returning to these Gulf shores.  Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, said there is indeed reverse migration to Dubai due to high taxes in Canada, and that “many wealthy expats that leave UAE return later. Tax rates in Canada are much higher than UAE which is probably a factor. Also, the winters in Canada are very long”, and that Dubai is seen as a better alternative. Imran Farooq, CEO of Samana Developers, said the increase in the number of buyers from Canada and the US was “a completely new trend”, and that “now reverse migration trend has started due to the economic slowdown and law and order issues there. Canadians now account for up to 6% of investors in Samana’s projects.” Other drivers in this reverse migration trend also include high taxes, quality of life, public safety issues, soaring rents, rising cost of living and fewer job opportunities in their new home country.  Over recent decades, many, from S Asia, SE Asia and Arab countries, have migrated to Canada, with research showing that those, that have actually lived in the UAE before emigrating to Canada, were more likely to move back to the UAE than those who moved directly to their new home country; such expatriates, whilst retaining their new passports,  are mainly end users in the emirate’s residential property market. All returning to the Green Green Grass of Home!