Topic “UAE” — Exporter Magazine
The country’s minister of economy Sultan Al Mansouri was reported saying the heads of state of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would discuss the monetary union when they hold their annual summit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (Dec7, 2010). 
The opening of the first Burger Fuel outlet in Dubai is the New Zealand company’s second Middle Eastern territory to be opened in 2010, the first being the hugely successful Al Khobar store in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. A joint venture of US firm Parsons and France’s Systra has been awarded a project management consultancy contract for the network while Parsons Brinckerhoff, a unit of UK’s Balfour Beatty, was awarded a preliminary engineering contract for phases one and two of the project, Richard Bowker was quoted saying. Proleads Global, a UAE-based market research company has reported that nearly 1,300 projects valued at more than USD$418 billion (NZD$536 billion) are under construction in the UAE, with an additional 303 projects worth $143 billion in the design, planning or bidding stage. 
The UAE is currently spending USD$800 million (NZD$1.06 billion) per year on building, operating and maintenance of desalination plants which will jump by over 300% to $3.22 billion over the next six years, according to Emirates24/7, citing a new report by Global Water Intelligence. The United Arab Emirates said late last week it won’t implement a proposed ban on Research In Motion Ltd’s BlackBerry services. At Oishii Nippon, a fruit shop that recently opened its doors in Dubai, prices tend to carry a decidedly premium tag, with a piece of melon from Japan costing nearly as much as 40 kilograms of red apples from Chile, according to GulfNews.com. The demand for interior design services in the UAE is expected to surge with an anticipated $14.6 billion (NZD$20.23 billion) in interior design contracts and fitouts to be spent in 2010, according to TradeArabia.com. A recent report from the Institute of Personal Care Science of Australia said that the global cosmetics market is worth US$334 billion (NZ$493 billion) and the global halal cosmetics market is estimated at US$13 billion. 
