RAK Business Magazine, July-Aug., 2020

PUBLISHED BY RAK DED

ISSUE (11) JULY - AUG., 2020

HOW TO CREATE YOUR REMARKABLE PERSONAL

BRAND?

4BOOKS

5 WAYS TO GAIN POPULARITY AND MAKE MONEY ON

SOCIAL MEDIA

TOWARDS THE TOP

RAKEZ INTRODUCES HOLDING COMPANY

PLANNING IS VITAL FOR BUSINESSES DURING COVID-19

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR REOPENING RESTAURANTS, CAFÉS AND GYMS IN RAS AL KHAIMAH

Welcome Back to Ras Al Khaimah!

SET-UP

URGENT NEED TO FOCUS ON CYBER SECURITY TO PROTECT VITAL SECTORS

Sven Otto Littorin

LIFE FINDS A WAY THERE IS A FUTURE AFTER COVID-19

EDITORIAL

PROBE TO MARS AND FUTURE GOVERNMENT

SUPERVISION

SH. Mohamed bin Kayed Al Qasimi EDITOR IN CHIEF Dr. Abdulrahman Alshayeb AlNaqbi Managing Editor Aisha Obaid Alayyan Editors Nathan Hunter Maryam Haji Mohammed Nebras Shafik Abo Zidan

EDITING & DESIGN

Khawla Ibrahim Zina Abboud Zainab Shieha Dareen Abualkheer Maher Safyeldin

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+971 7 222 9995 info@ngmedia.ae Opinions expressed in articles are the writer’s own and do not reflect the view of RAK DED Or RAKBusiness Magazine. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information published, the publisher also disclaims any legal responsibility towards other parties.

I write the editorial for this issue, and we are proud of the arrival of the probe of hope to its orbit, achieving hope in the Arab world by believing in the inherent capabilities in the people of this homeland, and to build and harness it to serve the whole humanity alongside acquiring future science and tools and owning leadership in it, which puts the UAE on the map of space leadership and science, and what this probe will transfer of accurate information and data on the Red Planet will be inspiring for the next fifty years, as the country celebrates its golden jubilee and the launch of the largest workshop for drafting the next fifty years through joint committees at the local and federal levels to formulate the future of Emirates and hand over future generations a comprehensive road map.

The event that preceded the launch of the Probe of Hope, was the formation of a future government with a new structure to accelerate the development process, as announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God bless him, and aims, as His Highness indicated: “Our goal of structural changes today is a government that is faster in decision-making, more up-to-date with changes, and better in seizing opportunities and in dealing with the new stage in our history. A flexible and fast government whose goal is to consolidate the achievements and gains of the country. ” The new structure included merging ministries and agencies, and changing powers and responsibilities.

These structural changes included future aspirations for what the future will be of going to cancel 50% of government service centers and convert them to digital sites within two years, merging about 50% of federal agencies with each other or within ministries, creating positions for new state ministers, and creating executive heads in specialized sectors. These structural changes also included the development of the industrial sector and advanced science through the creation of a ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology with which the Standards and Metrology Authority and State Minister for Advanced Science were merged. Also, The new structure created the position of Minister of State for Digital Economy, Artificial Intelligence and Teleworking Applications as the future work environment in various fields of medicine changed for education and trade, so our leadership sought to be at the forefront of countries in these changes and to form the best model globally as seen by His Highness.

Among the important files for which our leadership has allocated the double effort comes at the top of its priorities the file of food security, where the responsibility of this file was assigned through two ministers: the Minister of State for Food and Water Security to follow up the national food stock and investment in food technology and international relations in this field, and the Minister of Environment in support of farmers and care and development of fish & animal wealth. The other file that was also concerned with the economic file. The amendments included the appointment of 3 ministers within the Ministry of Economy from the Minister of Economy and two State ministers, the first one for entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises, and the second one for foreign trade where the national economy occupies a strategic priority.

The other file that has been given priority is the digital government and information security, as the future governments are digital governments, the new government witnessed the appointment of a president for the digital government in the UAE and its target will be, as His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid pointed to “one digital window for the government, and a comprehensive and complete digital transformation that became an indispensable strategic choice, and economic security for business continuity in any circumstances. Also, this file included the appointment of a Head for cyber security. Our government is digital and protecting it is a strategic requirement for national security.

Our esteemed government did not forget to thank His Excellency Sultan Al-Mansouri, the former Minister of Economy who spent 16 years in government work presenting a summary of his effort, and we were honored by his participation in many events, activities and work teams. On behalf of the economic family of Ras Al Khaimah, we extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to His Excellency for the valuable efforts he provided in the service of the national economy.

Dr. Abdulrahman Alshayeb Al Naqbi RAK DED Director General

RAS AL KHAIMAH DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VISION: PRas Al Khaimah to be the preferred destination for doing business in the region.

MISSION: Planning and organizing economic activities, augmenting investment promotion efforts and the business environment competitiveness to achieve sustainable economic development in the Emirate by relaying on qualified staff and intelligent integrated systems that are hinged on knowledge and innovation to achieve society happiness.

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STRATEGIC GOALS: ֺ Positive Citizenship: Taking responsibility and meeting all customers’ needs and beyond- If possible. (Serve with a Smile) ֺ Institutional Happiness: Continuously strive to win the happiness of our employees, customers, partners, and the community (Make Everyone Happy) ֺ Creativity and Innovation: We want our employees to take initiative with every new, creative and innovative idea. (Be Proactive and Innovative) ֺ Integrity and Transparency: Develop an institutional governance framework and adopt it as an integrated ideology ֺ Sharing Knowledge: One team with unified knowledge we all share (share your knowledge)

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​ RGANIZATIONAL VALUES: O ֺ Promoting diversified and sustainable economic growth by attracting and encouraging investments. ֺ Developing a business environment according to the global competitiveness standards. ֺ Developing functions of business control and protection and consumer protection. ֺ Developing services, enhancing the customer’s experience, and providing an added value ֺ Expand and enhance the institutional efficiency of institutional support services ֺ Boosting the culture of creativity, innovation, knowledge dissemination and institutional excellence

RAK DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

CONGRATULATE

RAS AL KHAIMAH TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

For its tireless efforts to make Ras Al Khaimah the first city in the world to be certified as safe by Bureau Veritas, and the first emirate to receive the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Safe Travels stamp.

We wish the Tourism Authority further progress and prosperity

WE ARE IN RAS ALKHIAMH, AND WE LOVE TO CALL IT HOME

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WHEN WE DO SOMTHING, WE DO IT RIGHT

BY TELLING THEIR STORY AND CREATING AMAZING EXPERIENCES

CONTENTS

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RAKEZ

This type of companies structure allows secured investments where owners can hold shares in different ventures and own assets as a corporate entity.

26 SAFIA AL SHEHHI How to Create Your Remarkable Personal Brand?

The concept of “Personal Brand” has been linked to various sciences, such as Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Marketing and Management.

The growth in cyber-crime has been driven by an increased vulnerability in digital infrastructure now that IT security staff are working remotely.

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UAE RANKED FIRST IN THE ARAB REGION, AND 8TH IN THE WORLD IN THE 2020 UN E-SERVICES INDEX The results confirm that UAE’s global role in implementing the sustainable development goals

Ras Al Khaimah becomes has become the first city in the world to be certified as safe by Bureau Veritas, and the first emirate to receive the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Safe Travels stamp.

Fo ad nc fro re ing e a m i s a in nn gn in F co Cov Bu g w ing Dire ed mp idsin ith A ct era an 19 es Cu hea Inv l D ies wil se st d e a l s D om & estm cre dva req ur er Com en e-L nc uir e a e in si t g s V mu 2/3 w o .

CO it n n . i VI al f ca D- or t19 .

LIFE AFTER COVID19 Urgent Need to Focus on Cyber Security and Adopt AI to Protect Vital Sectors

Crises make us come up with unconventional solutions which ultimately leads to greater successes to overcome obstacles and challenges.

Pl

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27 R resi ove e lie ry

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Introduces Holding Company Set-Up To Back Investors In Diversifying Investments

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SVEN OTTO LITTORIN...

Life Finds a Way There is a future after Covid-19

38

ECONOMIC PANORAMA

Ahmed Mohammed al-Hammadi

RAK Services infrastructure projects go according to timeline ‫ـــــــــ‬

The Public Services Department in Ras Al Khaimah confirmed the continuation of infrastructure projects in accordance with time plans, despite the precautionary measures related to the coronavirus crisis, and strict preventive measures to ensure the safety of workers and maintain their health and prevent the spread of infection.

The projects are proceeding according to the time plan that has been adopted, including road projects and sewage networks, the expansion of mountain valleys, the construction of a lake for Wadi Naqb, the 6 | RAKBUSINESS

maintenance of gardens and corniches, and other projects implemented by the Department, said Ahmed Mohammed al-Hammadi, director general of the department.

He explained that the most important projects that are currently being implemented: the lake project Wadi Naqb, the main road project of Jabal Jess, in addition to the maintenance of road connections in the Area of Wadi Al-Bayh, and the expansion of Wadi Shaha to avoid the damage caused by the flow of valleys in the rainy season.

ECONOMIC PANORAMA NEWS

GROUND STATION OPENS TO TRACK SATELLITE BUILT BY AURAK STUDENTS A ground station that will track and communicate with a satellite built by American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) students has opened on the University’s campus.

The satellite project is a collaboration between the UAE Space Agency, AURAK and Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KUST).

The satellite is scheduled for launch on a Soyuz-2 rocket from Russia in September 2020. When the satellite is in orbit, students will process and analyze the data from the newly opened ground station on the AURAK campus.

The MeznSat Nano-satellite is designed to detect greenhouse gas concentrations from orbit. Using a visible camera as well as a shortwave infrared spectrometer, it will measure

Mohamed Al Mahmoud

the abundance and distribution of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It will also provide information on the concentration of nutrients in the coastal waters of the Arabian Gulf. This will allow more MeznSat is the first student-built scien-

tific satellite in the UAE. The project aims at providing the UAE space industry with qualified well-trained graduates through hands-on experience, while at the same time opening up opportunities for advanced space-oriented research relevant to the UAE.

Microsoft is permanently closing its retail stores

‫ـــــــــ‬ Sharjah Ranked Number 1 in “High Growth Ecosystems” in 2020 Sharjah has ranked the top in high growth activation phase ecosystems in the newly launched Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER), marking a milestone in the emirate’s journey towards becoming a thriving global startup hub.

In line with the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center’s mandate to put Sharjah on the map as an entrepreneurial hub locally and internationally, Sheraa has partnered with Startup Genome, the world’s leading policy advisory and research organization for governments and public-private partnerships, to benchmark Sharjah’s entrepreneurial performance and contribute towards the 2020 GSER, powered by Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

Launched at the Ecosystems Couch Conference on June 25, the GSER is the world’s most comprehensive and widely read research on startups with 250 ecosystems studied, a ranking of the top 30 and 10 runner up global ecosystems, and a top 100 ranking of emerging ecosystems as well as a ranking of high-growth ecosystems based on the Ecosystem Lifecycle Model.

Microsoft recently announced it will permanently close all Microsoft Store locations in the United States and around the world, except for four locations that will be “reimagined” as experience centers that no longer sell products. It will instead focus on its online store at Microsoft.com, where customers can go for support, sales, training and more. Microsoft said its retail team members will help on the website instead of in-store.

Microsoft to continue to support customers online, with retail team members working remotely and at Microsoft corporate locations

RAKBUSINESS | 7

Ras Al Khaimah’s Department of Economic Development sets requirements for reopening restaurants, cafés and gyms in the Emirate Ras Al Khaimah Department of Economic Development (RAKDED) has issued circulars recently outlining a series of requirements and procedures for reopening restaurants, cafés and gyms in the Emirate, each of which will be allowed to resume operations as of Wednesday, June 3, 2020, provided they meet certain requirements. These measures are in line with precautions undertaken to ensure the health and safety of customers while ensuring business continuity and maintaining RAK’s sustainable development.

PREVENTION AND HYGIENE REQUIREMENTS RAKDED Circular No. (18) for the Year 2020 urges all restaurants and cafés to conduct COVID-19 examinations on all employees to ensure they are negative, sending any staff members who have developed respiratory symptoms home and committing them to seek medical attention immediately. Employees are required to wear protective masks and gloves as a precautionary measure, while customers are encouraged to do the same. Staff members and customers with temperatures exceeding 38 degrees Celsius should be denied entry.

The circular called for shisha to be prohibited in the first phase of implementation – a requirement that will be re-evaluated in the future in accordance with the directives of health authorities in UAE. Operational Capacity: Establishments are permitted to welcome customers up to 50% of its maximum capacity. It is necessary to create spacing, interfaces and borders between tables to prevent mixing and crowding, with 2 meters between each table. Only four people are allowed per table. If there is a larger number, the tables that fit the number will be combined and spacing created between seats.

8 | RAKBUSINESS

Serving Food: All food and beverages must be served in disposable, single-use Styrofoam containers, utensils and/or cups. It is advisable to serve food in single-sized portions intended mainly for one customer to avoid sharing plates as much as possible.

Other Solutions: The circular called on restaurants and cafés to encourage e-payment solutions and credit cards to avoid the use of cash, as well as to provide hand sanitization essentials across the entire establishment, including on every table, which should be disinfected immediately after customers leave. Self-service tables and open buffets are to be avoided, and F&B outlets are required to abide by the working hours set for operating food establishments.

PREPARATIONS FOR REOPENING GYMS RAKDED has issued another circular outlining the requirements and procedures for reopening gyms in Ras Al Khaimah.

Prevention and Hygiene Procedures Before Entering the Gym: The circular stresses the need to test all staff at the facility for COVID19 and ensure that each of them wear protective masks and gloves as a precautionary measure to prevent transmission.

After Entering the Gym: Seating and waiting areas must remain closed, while the main hall of the gym and all equipment should be sanitized periodically. Equipment should be placed two meters apart and direct physical contact between gym attendees should be avoided. Moreover, patrons are required to wear masks and gloves whenever possible, and the gym should provide hand sanitizers in all common areas. Facilities are only allowed to utilize up to 50% of their maximum capacity and jacuzzis, swimming pools, massage facilities and saunas must be periodically disinfected.

ECONOMIC PANORAMA NEWS

RAK Transport Authority Signs Agreement with Hala and Careem Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority has entered into an agreement with Hala and Careem to provide the first e-hailing service for taxis and limos in the emirate.

This service will provide customers with a smarter way to travel, giving them access to several benefits, including knowing their rides ETA, fare estimate and route upfront, along with their driver’s details. App booking also enables a host of payment options, with cash, card, or in app payments possible, while riders will automatically collect Reward points for each trip. Hala rides will offer the most affordable option, with the added with the added benefit of no surge pricing during peak hours.

Both Hala and Careem will be launching in a pilot phase in Ras Al Khaimah until the ramp up to a larger fleet of taxis and limos takes place and will be available across the Emirate by mid-August 2020.

Uber’s Middle East business Careem sees ride-hailing recovery by 2021 Careem, a unit of Uber Technologies, expects ride-hailing demand to recover to pre-pandemic levels “sometime” in 2021, encouraged by a better-than-expected pickup as countries started to ease coronavirus-related curbs.

“It’s been a tough couple of months,” Careem Chief Executive Mudassir Sheikha told Reuters lately. “It’s really anyone’s guess. We have planned for a recovery (in ride-hailing) sometime next year but the recovery has begun and the recovery has been faster already than our initial projections.”

He added “I’m actually quite bullish on the rest of the year and the next few years as a result of some of the restrictions that were put on our movement and the growth it led to in the adoption of digital platforms.” Dubai-headquarterd Careem will fast-track plans to add more features to its ‘Super App’ that has expanded to also include some payment services.

Jamal Al Jassmi

Insight...First-of-its-kind E-Learning Platform for Financial Education in MENA Region Insight platform has been completely curated in-house by Emirates Institute for Banking and Financial (EIBFS) to upskill the UAE and GCC nationals in the banking and finance field through a blended format of interactive learning programs. Banking and finance professionals currently have free access to the platform, which offers nearly 100 courses as on date.

Speaking about Insight, Jamal Al Jassmi, General Manager of EIBFS, said: “In early March, we started offering online courses. However, we soon transitioned to building a fully independent, best-in-class platform that would offer over 100 interactive courses to bankers. Our initial readiness allowed our teams to go further in achieving an interactive classroom format even online. With Insight, our focus remains to provide best-in-class education to the region’s banking and finance professionals under all circumstances.”

The courses on the Insight platform span functional skills and soft skills development across the broader categories of fintech, data analytics, corporate banking and management, trade finance, compliance and anti-money laundering, risk management, Islamic banking and business communication, as well as treasury and investments and personal development.

RAKBUSINESS | 9

Sven Otto Littorin, Former Swedish Minister for Employment 10 | RAKBUSINESS

ECONOMIC PANORAMA SPOTLIGHT

Sven Otto Littorin

LIFE FINDS A WAY

THERE IS A FUTURE AFTER COVID-19 Covid-19 has put the world economy on hold and country after country are struggling to get back on track. The world economy is set to contract by almost 5 percent in 2020, unemployment is soaring and uncertainties are everywhere. What can we learn from other crises and where are the best ways forward?

By: Khawla Ibrahim

RAK Business Magazine met with H.E. Sven Otto Littorin, former Swedish Minister of Employment and resident of Ras al Khaimah, to discuss the economy post- Covid-19.

Mr. Littorin has been in the GCC Region on an off for three years, mainly as an advisor on labor market to the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Littorin, what is your take on the current situation?

This is my third major economic crisis in my career. In the early 90’s, Sweden went through a major financial crisis, emanating from a housing bubble that burst.

The economy slipped into recession and the strains were enormous.

My fifth day as a Special Advisor to the Minister for Fiscal and Financial Affairs in 1991, one of the major banks called and said they were out of money. At the same time, overnight interest rates soared towards 500 percent, as the Central Bank tried to maintain a fixed currency exchange rate. It was a complete nightmare. We did survive it, but it took a decade or so to clean up afterwards.

My second crisis was the Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008. I had then been a Minister for Employment for two years and things were looking really good. We had introduced major reforms to the labor market, which had lead to the fastest falling unemployment rate in the entire OECD area. And then the world changed almost overnight and we went into crisis mode again. Luckily

for us, our public finances were in very good shape so we ended up getting out of the mess more or less unscratched. But it did take quite a few years to clean up.

And this time around I can see the effects of this current crisis as we speak.

So how bad is it?

Frankly, we don’t know yet. There are so many unknowns – we don’t know exactly what happens after lockdown, when there are virus suppressants or vaccines ready, we don’t know what parts of the economy will suffer the most, we don’t know where to motors are, which will help the economy to restart properly. And we don’t know what the crisis will have done to human behavior. So there are a lot of unknowns.

Many speak of a U-shaped recovery, where the sharp downturn is followed by a period of weak growth, then followed by recovery. We obviously don’t know for how long this weak growth will last.

What we do know is that due to lockdowns the economy came to a grinding halt, which in turn lead to negative growth, contraction, and people being laid off in unprecedented numbers.

It is easy to be a pessimist when you hear the ILO saying 1.6 billion jobs risk being lost, mainly in already weak economies. The World Bank recently mentioned threedozen countries in the risk of defaulting. So the health

Crises make us come up with unconventional solutions based on innovation, collective thinking and exceptional effort, which ultimately leads to greater successes that enable us to overcome obstacles and challenges and advance different markets

RAKBUSINESS | 11

crisis is followed by an economic crisis, which will be followed by a humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of millions of people risk being pushed under the poverty line – and we all know that poverty is the greatest killer of all.

Is it really that bad?

Well, there are positive signs as well.

Governments and Central Banks around the world have been extremely agile and have surprised everyone with both the scope and size of rescue packages. Trillions of dollars have been poured into the economy to alleviate the situation, both as direct support to ailing companies and citizens, but also to bolster liquidity in the financial system.

And that is sorely needed. In the US alone, almost USD 900 billion worth of corporate bonds mature in 2020, out of which about a quarter is high yield.

U.S. nonfinancial corporate debt of large companies now stands at about $10 trillion dollars, 48% of GDP. But total corporate debt is actually much higher, a whopping $15.5 trillion, 74% of US GDP. In the Eurozone, the situation is even worse: The corporate debt ratio in the euro area increased considerably over the last fifteen years, rising to 109% of the euro area’s GDP by 2Q 2019—but down from a peak of 115% in the first quarter of 2015.

If revenue does not return quickly to the economy, this debt burden will rapidly roll over on the banks and the financial system at large. The risk is very obvious that companies and individuals will start selling off assets to clean up their balance sheets, pushing the economy into a debt deflation spiral, just as in the US in the 1930’s or in Sweden in the 1990’s. Selling off assets will trigger lower prices, triggering yet more selling in a spiral without end. Banks will be left with a mountain of bad debt with underlying assets worth a fraction of their original value, pushing banks into default. This obviously cannot happen.

So what should be done?

I think most countries have done what they should in the short run: trying to help companies survive this supply chock by cutting fees and taxes and 12 | RAKBUSINESS

Ras al Khaimah has more diversified economy with more manufacturing and more SMEs. That makes RAK less vulnerable to economic turmoil and should make it more interesting for investments. In addition it has good infrastructure that is Scalable introducing short term subsidies. But this is like giving CPR to a corpse if the economy continues to be dead. It is therefore essential to get economies back to life again, as soon as possible.

In addition, it is vital to assist people being laid-off by not only making sure they can survive economically, but also by using this time to help them upskill and reskill. Now is the time to upscale or introduce active labor market programs.

Educate the unemployed to be prepared for the jobs that will come, once the crisis is over.

What about Ras al Khaimah?

Ras al Khaimah is fortunate to be one of the more economically diversified emirates, with a base of small and medium sized manufacturing industries. The good news is that SME’s produce at least two thirds of all new jobs globally, and a growing number of jobs world-wide can be found in the gig economy. So having a lot of SME’s makes a country or economy more resilient to crises. Having them in the manufacturing industries is also good, especially in these times. We don’t know yet when travelling will return to normal so having a broader industrial base makes recovery quicker.

I do believe the RAK Gorvernment’s response, with lower fees and special promotions to keep companies alive during the immediate crisis, was good policy. But let’s face it: this crisis is quite a challenge. This is why a recovery plan is absolutely essential.

A recovery plan? What do you mean?

I think any economy needs a Marshall Plan of sorts right now. And it should encompass at least four dimensions: 1. A risk assessment: How bad is it? How

bad can it become?

2. An opportunity assessment: What are our unique selling points? Which sectors of the economy can we use to kick-start the economy? How and with what can we compete internationally?

3. Scenario-based Planning: build scenarios around different alternative ways back to economic growth.

4. Take external help: ask national and international experts to join in. We are all in in together and a lot of people want to help out.

The plan needs to go beyond securing the survival of companies. One area that needs addressing is investments.

My experience from earlier crises is that both companies and households will come out of crises like this in a mood of fear. Fear of losing their jobs, fears of bankruptcy, and of their future. Savings will go up – and investments tend to go down. Therefore, it has to be the government’s priority to invest and increase productivity over time.

More bold approach is to look at business sectors, which with the right investments could flourish given the new economic environment, post Covid-19. I would argue that if RAK has ever thought of expanding into new economic sectors or make very bold investments, this would be the time.

RAK needs to stand out after the crisis.

RAK needs to plan for new investments in old or new business sectors. It needs to look at what infrastructure investments need to be done. It needs to look at how to better attract the business that will slowly start moving post Covid-19. It has to look at the ease of doing business, access to capital, fees and levies and so on.

What about tourism?

Of course there will be behavioral changes, as people will be risk-avert for quite some time. I saw a recent survey in the US stating that 60 percent of Americans stated they will not visit any shopping malls for the coming six months due to the scare of getting infected. I think we will see something similar when it comes to tourism: people will tend to travel shorter distances if at all, due to both perceived risks and for economic reasons.

ECONOMIC PANORAMA SPOTLIGHT

and more family friendly alternative.

This was behind your decision to settle in Ras al Khaimah?

Oh, that easy! Quality of life. Ras al Khaimah is close enough to the hustle and bustle of big cities in region , but without all the concrete and highways.

Prices are more reasonable and I can even find my Swedish crisp bread in the shops here. In addition, it was really easy to set up my company here through RAKEZ.

As humanity escaped from previous crises, this crisis will pass in peace. Policies will adapt, companies and factories will return to production and people will return to their jobs On the other hand: there are millions of people in the Northern Hemisphere who are craving sunshine in the winter.

In my own country, Sweden, almost 60 percent of the population travel abroad each year. That’s 6 million people – and many of them go south in the winter to get some much needed sunshine.

Here I believe the UAE in general and Ras al Khaimah in particular has a golden opportunity. Your Covid-19 response was resolute and you may very well lay claim to having controlled the situation. In addition, this is a safe country, with access to good health care. So getting these sun-deprived northern Europeans to come here should definitely be a priority. I also believe RAK has an added bonus here compared to Dubai; the selling point being that tourists can avoid the risks of a major city, but rather enjoy the beaches, the nature and the sunshine within easy reach. RAK is the healthier

How do you view the future of business in Ras al Khaimah and its competitive?

Ras al Khaimah has a more diversified economy with more manufacturing and more SMEs. That makes RAK less vulnerable to economic turmoil and should make it more interesting for investments. In addition it has good infrastructure that is scalable: the Al Saqr Port and the international airport to mention two such facilities. When it comes to tourism, I think RAK has a golden opportunity right now to attract a lot of people who are looking for sunshine, nice beaches and mountain hikes without having to be cramped up in a big city. In combination with the UAE’s good track record on Coved-19 this should make RAK a very interesting tourism destination. It’s close, sunny and safe.

What will life post-Covid-19 look like?

Will everyone start working remotely now?

I believe the new normal will be fairly similar to the old normal. Human behavior changes slowly. If I look at a major city like Stockholm, out of the 650,000 jobs or so there, at least two thirds are more or less impossible to handle remotely. These are the nurses, policemen, car manufacturers, builders and so on. If the other one third of the work force stay home to work remotely for say one day a week, commuting is reduced by some 3 percent. That’s slightly more than the yearly increase in population. That’s it.

So I think that people will still go to the office or factory for work. What they might not do to the same extent is travel for meetings. Most meetings can be done online, as we have seen over the last few months. But let’s face it: most of us miss the office, we miss having

colleagues around, we miss discussions, creativity, human interaction.

And I believe employers, clients and suppliers miss having us around.

So in the long run, what do you think will happen?

I am always an optimist. As Jeff Goldblum’s character in Jurassic Park used to say: “Life finds a way”.

Humans are resilient and innovative.

When I talk about these things back in Sweden, I remind people that this is Sweden’s eighth financial crisis since the 1880’s. We survived the other seven.

We’ll survive this one too. And if we do it right, we’ll come out of it better positioned than before.

The same goes for the UAE and Ras al Khaimah. You still have the sun and the people. The rest can be influenced, changed and innovated on. Policies will adapt, companies will continue to produce. And people will return.

How long it takes and how painful the process will be is mostly up to us. No little virus can change that!

SVEN OTTO LITTORIN - Nationality: Sweden

- Adviser to the Ministry of Labor and Social Development, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

- Chairman of the Swedish Emirates Business Council.

- The former Swedish Minister of Labor.

-He held the position of Swedish Minister of Employment from 2006-2010.

-Visiting Researcher at Stanford University 2011.

-He held the position of Prime Minister of the European Union during the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in 2009.

- Founded many companies in investment capital, real estate, and others.

Member of the Board of Directors of many companies and organizations.

- Member of the Ras Al Khaimah Center for Arbitration and Commercial Reconciliation.

RAKBUSINESS | 13

INVEST

Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of RAKEZ

RAKEZ INTRODUCES HOLDING COMPANY SET-UP TO BACK INVESTORS IN DIVERSIFYING INVESTMENTS

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Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) has recently introduced holding company set-up, the latest addition to its wide-ranging products and services that supports investors in Ras Al Khaimah.

“The UAE is one of the safest and most attractive investment destinations in the region and there are abundant existing and upcoming opportunities in 14 | RAKBUSINESS

Ras Al Khaimah that global investors can take advantage of. Hence, the addition of the holding structure is a natural progression to our business set-up offerings,” said Ramy Jallad, Group CEO of RAKEZ. “This type of formation allows investors to diversify and manage their investments more efficiently. They can own assets and shares in various companies

INVEST

OPPORTUNITIES

This type of company structure allows secured investments where business owners can hold shares in different ventures and own assets as a corporate entity, and manage business risks

without these investments affecting each other. A holding structure makes entering and exiting ventures transparent.”

RAKEZ holding company formation starts from AED 10,535. Investors can opt to register under the free zone or mainland jurisdiction with benefits including access to a selection of facilities and the eligibility to apply for UAE Residence Visa and a corporate bank account.

Mr Jallad added that the RAKEZ is “continuously exploring other company set-up structures and solutions in an aim to boost the flow of foreign investments to Ras Al Khaimah and the UAE”.

RAKEZ is a powerhouse business and industrial hub established by the Government of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. It currently hosts over 15,000 companies coming from over 100+ countries and operating in more than 50 industries.

RAKEZ offers entrepreneurs, startups, SMEs and manufacturers a wide-range of solutions, including free zone and non-free zone licences, customisable facilities, and first-class services provided in a one-stop shop. Furthermore, RAKEZ has specialised zones that are tailored to specific needs of investors: a Business Zone for commercial and service companies; Al Ghail, Al Hamra and Al Hulaila Industrial Zones for manufacturers and industrialists; and an Academic Zone for educational providers.

A leading economic zone, RAKEZ aims to continue attracting diversified investment opportunities that will contribute to the economic growth of Ras Al Khaimah

8 Key Areas Businesses Must Prepare for The New Normal Government and business leaders must brace themselves for the (next) New Normal and turn challenges into an opportunity if they are to emerge as winners in a post-coronavirus (COVID19) world, recent white paper published by management consulting firms Advisory Group and Consul-T has found.

According to ‘Beyond COVID-19: Adapting to a New Economic and Business Reality’ white paper, companies in the Middle East and globally will operate in a radically different environment defined by lower revenue, changing competitive landscape, new business models, and rising economic protectionism.

Market disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a never before seen boom of mergers and acquisitions.

These disruptions will create a unique opportunity for companies today to gain market share in a VUCA World (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) and transform into agile, resilient, and robust organizations.

Buoyed by historically high growth rates and solid demographic and political structures,The paper outlines a multi-pronged approach encompassing eight main areas to help governments and organizations lead the way to and navigate robust fully the next economic and socials shifts.

Companies and governments with high level of digitalization have a big advantage over organizations that lag behind in technology adoption.

Fully integrated industrial complexes will feel lower impact from the crisis compared to single service or product providers.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are well positioned to adjust to this new economic environment and recover from the COVID19- pandemic Greater emphasis needs to be placed on stakeholder value, even if this is on cost of margins.

Developing Special Economic Zones (SEZ) can help to attract global key players and create synergies in the business community.

Industries such as travel and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), as well as leisure among others, are facing long-term implications on their profitability, while other sectors including retail, e-commerce, the medical sector and IT services will only be confronted with managing shortterm losses and a liquidity shortage.

Boris van Thiel, Owner & CEO, Consul-T, commented: “In these unprecedented times across the world today, government and business leaders must establish strategies for a robust governance and business model, manage uncertainty and risk, and ensure long term business continuity. Market challenges (VUCA World) create disruptions but also an opportunity for companies to emerge stronger from the crisis, build resilience for the future and transform their business. Only those who act today and apply the lessons learnt to their operations will emerge as winners in a post-pandemic world” RAKBUSINESS | 15

LIFE AFTER COVID19 URGENT NEED TO FOCUS ON CYBER SECURITY AND ADOPT AI TO PROTECT VITAL SECTORS Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), has put cyber security under the scanner in its eleventh ‘Life After COVID-19’ report, to acknowledge the surge in cyberattacks worldwide following the outbreak of the pandemic and the growing dependence on digital infrastructures. The consecutive series of reports anticipates the future of vital sectors in the aftermath of the ongoing global coronavirus crisis.

The latest report ‘Life After COVID-19: Cyber Security’ attributes the rise in cyberattacks amid the global outbreak, reported by countries worldwide, to the increased vulnerability of digital infrastructures to opportunistic hackers looking to exploit this digital dependency, even while IT departments and IT security teams continue to work remotely.

The report points out that phishing emails alone have surged by over 600 percent since February 2020, with 16 | RAKBUSINESS

The growth in cyber-crime has been driven by an increased vulnerability in digital infrastructure now that IT security staff are working remotely attackers targeting individuals and institutions through email hacking and suspicious links, seeking to acquire log-in details and financial information, according to Barracuda Networks, a worldwide leader in security, application delivery, and data protection solutions.

An article in Intelligent CIO, a technology intelligence platform aimed at the enterprise IT sector to provide targeted updates and research-driven data, noted that the global pandemic has led to the creation of more than 100,000 new COVID-19 web domains that need

to be treated with caution, although not all of them are malicious.

The report highlights the healthcare sector as among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks in the prevailing landscape during the global health pandemic.

Hospitals, medical centers and public institutions worldwide are the target of, primarily, ransomware attacks. Healthcare professionals require digital infrastructure to treat COVID-19 patients and manage the crisis and cybercriminals are exploiting this necessity, confident that organizations will have no choice but to pay to re-enter their systems. In addition, cybercriminals are also using the health crisis to sell fake medical supplies. Referencing an article disseminated by Law360, a subscription-based legal news service, the report notes that several scams involve individuals or entities impersonating government officials, claiming COVID-19 medical breakthroughs

INVEST

REPORT

In the MENA region, COVID19- has pushed companies to re-assess their cybersecurity system.

Companies and governments who are looking to utilize this technology, however, will need to reassess what cybersecurity means COVID19-, and how much of it needs to be managed by human versus machine

and promoting sales of bogus or non-existent medical products.

Amid the global crisis, the financial and oil sectors are also vulnerable and incurring huge losses from cybercrimes. In the UAE, the report states that the Central Bank of the UAE has warned customers to beware of fraudsters looking to hack into bank accounts. Throughout the MENA region, several oil companies have been targets of phishing emails, purportedly sent on behalf of a real oil and gas company. In most cases, the hackers are looking to acquire personal or sensitive data on individuals and oil production, information they can then sell on the dark web.

However, such break-ins are not limited to governments or organizations. With the global shift to virtual meetings and conferences, video conferencing platforms are also at risk.

With so many people congregating on these platforms for meetings, classes,

appointments, virtual family get-togethers and commercial purposes, some of the leading platforms have lately reported security breaches.

The report points out that online gaming platforms are also increasingly the target of cyberattacks. With a surge in the number of Nintendo accounts created during the work from home and lockdown period, cybercriminals attempt to hack into the network to acquire personal financial information.

In April 2020, Google and Apple both released statements assuring users that their contact-tracing system is encrypted and that the Bluetooth connection used to track locations is too strong for hackers to break through to obtain location and device details.

The report also documents that new technologies are being leveraged continuously to keep cybersecurity platforms up to date and mitigate the risks. Several intelligence agencies worldwide are now exploring the

adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to counter cyber threats. Machine learning is also a powerful solution to analyze data sets and identify patterns and connections in attacks at far greater speed than intelligence officers can do through conventional means.

For the short term, the report predicts that with IT security staff working remotely and unable to detect cyberattacks as efficiently, given that employees are no longer using unified servers when working at home, new measures may need to be urgently put in place.

Government entities may consider implementing AI-based cybersecurity systems to provide ongoing analyses of cyber threats and potential attacks.

In the long term, the report anticipates that as technology advances, cybercriminals and their attacks will become more sophisticated and difficult to combat. Quantum computing will ultimately become a critical factor in cyber security to help analyze and repel attacks within seconds.

Dubai Future Research, an initiative

by Dubai Future Foundation, has issued a series of comprehensive and forward-looking reports that tackle the challenges arising from the emergence of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, positioning itself as a source of insight on the future. The series aims to introduce trends, insights and technology that can support key sectors in Dubai and the wider UAE to navigate and anticipate the future more efficiently, in light of the current health crisis, through highlighting opportunities and providing recommendations for the short- and long-term period RAKBUSINESS | 17

BACK TO WORK

RECOVERY FROM COVID-19 WILL REQUIRE RESILIENCE AS COMPANIES ADVANCE, RETREAT, ADAPT—AND REPEAT AS NECESSARY

By Bao-Viet Lê, Partner, Bain & Company Middle East

Recoveries have always mattered in business. Some of the biggest shifts in market share occur coming out of downturns, when new industry leaders—and new industries—often emerge. Rarely, though, has recovery meant putting people’s lives at risk.

YET THAT’S WHERE WE ARE TODAY. The post–Covid-19 world will accelerate some existing trends and create new ones, and all business models will have to evolve in order to grow and thrive. But there’s no way to accurately predict the coming year, and it’s a dangerous mistake to rely too heavily on forecasts, which must be complemented with highly adaptive and resilient business models.

For leadership teams, the recovery will mean restarting and 18 | RAKBUSINESS

in some cases, reinventing,operations in an unstable world of shifting conditions. The leading companies will be defined by their ability to balance resilience, adaptability and prediction.

Getting back to work away from home is the first step in recovery once companies have taken critical actions to protect the business. The return to work also sets the stage for retooling the business for a different future. But this recovery won’t follow a straight line, so executives should get used to thinking about it dynamically. The plan of action for recovery should be: advance, retreat, adapt, repeat.

The companies that can protect their people and build the most experience with real agility will create a competitive advantage and accelerate faster out of the downturn.

READING THE SIGNS Even as Covid-19 commands the world’s undivided attention, much is unknown about the novel coronavirus, its pathology and its future. That makes it difficult to rely on experts, and impossible to become one yourself.

At the same time, economic pressure to restart operations is acute. We continue to update the data, but as of late May, unemployment was reaching historic levels in labor markets around the world, while retail sales and manufacturing output were experiencing steep, often record-setting, declines.

Around the world, a majority of workers express enthusiasm or relief about the prospect of returning to their normal workplaces, along with confidence in their employers’ efforts to protect their safety.

Back to work: A question of demand and supply Willing workers are a critical component of the recovery, but companies can’t just turn the lights back on and hand out

INVEST MARKETS

masks at the door to a returning workforce. For most executives, the task at hand is less like restarting a business than like starting a business.

Only by first understanding the demand side of the equation can executives gauge their workforce needs and the urgency of returning different groups of workers to their jobs and work sites. This starts with evaluating customer demand by product or service and geography, and assessing the abilities of suppliers and distributors to support that demand.

And that number will be radically different today than it would have been before Covid-19 thrust us into a forced experiment in working more efficiently and effectively. Nor will the number of employees returning to work grow in a steady upward line.

Companies must return people to work in phases, aiming to increase their numbers over time, but equally ready to shrink them—perhaps drastically—when setbacks occur.

With the crisis breaking apart business systems, setting up Agile teams is the most effective and scalable way to adjust and build resiliency into fluid operational environments.

Local teams, guided by nonnegotiable safety requirements, will learn and respond to conditions on the ground, continuously adapting, putting solutions in place and reporting successes to leaders who can scale them across the business.

Companies will constantly adjust priorities and resources between the teams that are advancing and those suddenly forced to retreat. This is the very definition of Agile.

THE WORKFORCE YOU NEED Tracking real demand provides companies with a rational way to determine how many people need to return to work and where. But understanding the workforce they need—and who needs to return to a work site—is just the beginning of the recovery challenge. The top question every company faces is how to keep those employees safe in a constantly changing environment and how to mitigate the risks they face if they return to work.

This assumes, not incidentally, that they can get there. Even if stay-at-home orders are lifted, workers may face impossible childcare or commuting choices if schools remain closed or transportation is limited or unavailable in their communities.

Likewise, companies have little ability to mitigate virus risk in the community where their workers live. Cities aren’t likely to progress continuously toward recovery. A local outbreak that returns a city or country to an earlier phase may force an entire wave of a workforce to retreat despite the best of workplace protections. Here again, companies that respond with resilience and agility—advancing one wave in a city or different part of the world even while withdrawing another wave from an affected community—will accelerate most quickly through the recovery.

What does this all look like on the ground? For companies, returning employees physically to work means identifying and mitigating workplace risk. And they must do so in ways that build trust among employees.

A retail store clerk may have hundreds of different contacts with customers throughout a day and touch thousands of items that customers have touched. By contrast, a factory worker on a line may handle many components and surfaces but have very few, if any, physical interactions with coworkers.

Offices can dramatically reduce social contact by continuing work-from-home policies for all but essential personnel, but even these seemingly more controlled environments have pockets of high risk that must be addressed—elevators, for example, have quickly emerged as major chokepoints for office buildings.

MITIGATING INDIVIDUAL WORKER RISK With the exception of testing, companies have already adopted the safety measures they view as most important, including personal protective equipment, physical distancing and disinfectant sprays and wipes.

Although all of these risk-mitigation responses have the goal of protecting individual employees, many are fraught with legal and ethical questions. Screening and testing workers will be essential, and most workers will likely find that first line of defense comforting. Yet it will also raise complex privacy issues. While the coronavirus discriminates among its victims, there are no employment laws that allow the same in the name of safety. For example, older men returning to their jobs may be at greater risk than, say, young women. Likewise, the virus itself has created a new class of recovered workers who could be more immune, and at lower risk, than their coworkers.

Screening customers presumes that they’ll be treated differently—even potentially denied service—if they appear to have symptoms of Covid-19. Lawmakers are unlikely to move quickly enough to clear up the thorny questions that will arise. Companies will need to collaborate closely on these issues with their unions and will need swift and risk-weighted support from their general counsel and chief human resources officer.

Leading the movement back to work Ultimately, though, returning to work is a moment of truth for leaders and will be defined by trust. For employees, trust starts with both being safe and feeling safe, perception will be important along with the mitigation of real risks. In workplaces that include customers, this will be equally true for them.

Trust is also essential for returning to work. Make no mistake: The safety of workers and the future of the business requires that some rules be strictly enforced from the top down, with no exceptions, for the foreseeable future.

But as soon as it’s practical, leaders can empower their frontline managers to deal with local issues as they arise. This requires that workers get the training and psychological support they need to embrace, maintain and self-enforce safe behavior at all times. And companies can reinforce that trust and build agility by developing feedback loops to quickly deliver best practices developed on the front lines in one workplace to the rest of the organization. These feedback loops also demonstrate to employees that they are heard and play a critical role in reducing risk for their fellow workers.

Going back to work is necessary for recovery, and also moves the company closer to retooling for a new normal. With the future in mind, returning to work does not mean returning to the old ways of doing things. Most companies won’t fundamentally change direction because of Covid-19, but the crisis has dramatically accelerated the speed at which they are traveling and how they navigate the journey. That may be the definition of a silver lining RAKBUSINESS | 19

BUSINESS

Edward Gallagher, Managing Director of Integrated Services, Serco Middle Eas

Equipping nationals with the skills of tomorrow

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Never before has building a next generation workforce, equipped with the right skills and the right tools for success been so critical. As the world emerges from lockdown, businesses, governments and citizens will have to adapt to changes in the way we work, live and play. Ensuring that the workforce is, in turn, educated and trained to provide and meet the expectations of the ‘new customer’ is vital to delivery of world-class customer-orientated service.

Whilst utilising the latest technology and innovations plays into the user experience, so too does the human

20 | RAKBUSINESS

element of those delivering these frontline services. In short, we need an excellent workforce to deliver an excellent citizen service. Nationals - as part of the UAE and KSA nationalisation agenda - have a huge part to play.

What we are seeing here is the emergence of a new workforce, and it is one that has to adapt to the new needs and wants of its country’s citizens. It is this workforce that presents a clear opportunity for nationals to accelerate their careers, and support and thrive in the country that their families have lived and grown up in.

EQUIPPING NATIONALS WITH THE RIGHT SKILLS

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Whilst the DNA of what makes a great employee will still remain (excellent work ethic, positive attitude and skills related to the specific role), in this post-COVID world, the talent that will thrive are those who have built up new skills along the way Now more than ever there is a focus on communication. Ensuring that we build a future national workforce that has the right skills to communicate effectively across the board is key – from face to face, incorporating new normals of social distancing and face masks, through to sophisticated use of available technology to communicate with people remotely.

This is especially important with the fundamental makeup of the workforce changing.

The pandemic has also taught us the need evolve and to embrace change in order to thrive. It has instilled in us a need to adapt to changing circumstances, and this in turn helps us find solutions to problems by putting the user front and centre of everything and thinking differently. We should not underestimate the opportunity this provides us to build a workforce whose founding principles are based on innovating and adapting to the new needs and wants of its customers or citizens (in respect of government services).

The important role that technology plays also highlights the need for a tech-savvy, digital ready future workforce. Robotics and AI are innovating how we live, work and play and employees need to align to that mindset, because this plays a significant role in automation and really enhancing the overall citizen experience.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR WORKING HAND IN HAND The talent of the immediate tomorrow will have a direct impact on the delivery of the citizen experience. As governments focus on making efficiencies and cost savings, it is the duty of the private sector to support when it comes to developing the skills of nationals. This in turn supports the growth of the economy and the nationalisation agenda as outlined by the govern-

ment of the UAE and KSA. We are knocking at the doors of the biggest regional universities so that we can start our assessments, to recruit and find the brightest talent that we can support on their career journey of tomorrow. To that end, we are already looking forward to welcoming a new cadre of graduates to our team in September. As a multinational organisation, we are committed to ensuring that Emirati and Saudi talent is equipped with robust training programmes delivered to international standards, and that key skills are learnt and underpinned by the right mentorship to enable those to thrive.

PROMOTING GENDER DIVERSITY The visions of the leading Middle East nations outline the important role that women are playing when it comes to delivering against their ambitions. Therefore

supporting gender diversity is key, and the private sector has an important role to deliver back to governments a fully skilled, ambitious and gender diverse nationalised workforce.

Being prepared for the challenges that our society will face requires knowledge of future skills among the workforce of GCC nationals. Despite the challenges that the regional and global economies will be bracing for in the months ahead, we should not be deterred from our mission.

A new generation of nationals is ready to make an impact in the private sector by serving their countries; our priority is to play our role in helping to bring that into fruition. Ultimately, to do this, in a world of automation, robotics and other innovative forms of technology that will transform our society, we must adopt a growth mindset

PLATFORM, HUBB, LAUNCHES GLOBALLY Hubb’s business model injects a fresh approach to the market, differentiating itself to other commerce platforms with e-commerce giants across the globe charging businesses a commission fee between 20 – 50% to appear on their platforms – a model that has been criticized widely in the wake of COVID-19 as SMEs struggle to turn a profit. Hubb’s new approach offers a sustainable service, particularly for SMEs and start-up businesses who can use the platform to have full ownership without having to share profit with mediators.

Hubb is a one-stop destination for a range of services including food delivery, property, manufacturing, motoring, travel, job searches and much more, via a ‘master app’ with 36 different industries.

With more than 3,345,889 subscription sign-ups already worldwide, Hubb aims to give consumers global access to services in their given language, no matter where they are. Through the platform, consumers can search for services on the other side of the world – removing distance barriers and allowing them to access unfamiliar markets in an easy and user-friendly way.

RAKBUSINESS | 21

RAS AL KHAIMAH

FOREIGN TRADE INDICATORS 2015-2019 Over the past three decades there have been structural changes in the foreign trade accompanied by an openness that has facilitated the global movement of trade and capital. Subsequently, roles and functions have changed.

Several countries have played prominent role in international trade, including developing Asian countries, while the role and influence of some advanced countries have declined.

Ras Al-Khaimah Center for Statistics and Studies

As for the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, unfortunately, they did not take advantage of the enormous possibilities provided by international trade to develop and diversify their production bases and stimulate their economic growth.

Instead, they have deteriorated and been preoccupied with concerns unrelated to their economic futures and social stability. This was due to many reasons resulting in a drop in their World Bank’s ‘doing business’ ranking.

On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates and a limited number of countries were able to adopt successful policies in trade and development.

They made progress on the ease of doing business index, attracted capital, and became a prominent commercial center in the region. Ras Al Khaimah is following in the state’s footsteps.

In this report, we try to present the importance of foreign trade in the economy of the State and the Emirate and monitor the movement of imports and exports over the past five years. This report also tries to determine the degree to which the local economy depends on import and its degree of exposure to the world.

requirements of development. These include: Advanced technology, programs and knowledge, the requirements of capital production and intermediate goods, and raw materials. The aim is to boost the Emirate’s economy, making it able to keep pace with the technological progress which the country is witnessing.

In this context, foreign trade plays a pivotal role in changing the structure of economic sectors. It enables them to diversify production and sources of income whilst raising growth rates.

During the period 2015-2019, the value of the Emirate’s foreign trade increased by 12.7% with an annual growth rate of 3.2 %. This enabled the Emirate to raise its contribution to approximately 1% of all the non-oil foreign trade of the state in 2019, including 0.5% of imports, 3.3% of non-oil exports, and 1.3% of total non-oil exports. See Table (1).

A: RAS AL KHAIMAH CONTRIBUTION TO THE STATE’S FOREIGN TRADE: The Government of Ras AL Khaimah seeks to maximize exports and create additional resources to be invested to develop, diversify and renew existing production capacities, in addition to creating job opportunities to reduce unemployment.

Through imports, they also endeavor to meet the

Ref: Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority - Ras Al Khaimah Center for Statistics and Studies

22 | RAKBUSINESS

Table (1) : Ras AL Khaimah Contribution to the State’s Trade 2015 - 2019 (billion dirhams)

State

Emirate

Contribution Rate %

Imports

977.9

4.9

0.5

952.1

4.9

0.5

Non-oil exports

382.5

4.9

1.3

240.2

7.9

3.3

Re-export

495.2

2.8

0.6

513.3

1.5

0.3

Total exports

877.7

7.7

0.9

753.5

9.4

1.3

Total Foreign Trade

1855.6

12.6

0.7

1705.6

14.2

0.8

2015*

Years Details

State

Emirate

Contribution Rate %

2019*

*According to the general system.

B: RAS AL KHAIMAH FOREIGN TRADE STRUCTURE 2015- 2019: a. Development of export structure: Over the period 2015 - 2019, following the positive changes in the structure of the export of commodities, foreign trade in Ras Al Khaimah achieved a growth rate of 3.2%. The foreign trade total value increased to AED 9323.2 million in 2019. This compares to AED 7730.0 million in 2015. There was an annual growth rate of 5.2%.

The reason behind this increase is the hike in the value of non-oil exports. It exhib-

BUSINESS STATISTICS STUDY

ited an upward trend throughout the period with an annual growth rate greater than 15%.

On the contrary, the re-export value showed a downward trend. It was particularly sharp in some years, including 2017 in comparison with 2016. It kept falling till the end of the period with a negative annual growth rate of about 9% for the whole period. See Table (2)-Figure (1).

Table (2) : Foreign Trade Development in Ras AL Khaimah 2015 - 2019 (AED million) Details

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Growth rate

Import value (million dirhams)

4887.5

4928.9

5411.5

5343.2

4867.8

0.1

Merchandise exports value

7853.8

7671.0

5871.1

5589.5

4901.5

15.1

Re-exports value

1469.4

1712.5

2189.7

2940.3

2828.5

(12)

Total merchandise exports value

9323.2

9383.5

8060.8

8529.8

7730.0

5.2

Trade balance

4435.7

4454.6

2649.3

3186.6

2862.2

13.7

Total foreign trade

14210.7

14312.4

13472.3

13873.0

12597.8

3.2

Source: Ras Al Khaimah Center for Statistics and Studies

Figure (1) : Foreign Trade Traffic in Ras Al-Khaimah 2015-2019 (AED million)

Ref: Designed based on Table (2)

b. Development of import structure: As for the relative importance of imports in the total foreign trade of Ras AL Khaimah, they represented, on average, about 37% for the entire period. See Table (2) - Figure (1) During the period 2015-2017, positive developments were witnessed in imports.

They achieved an annual growth rate of 5.6%, but they declined by 9% in the two years after 2017. Nevertheless, the imports managed a slight annual growth rate of 0.1% in the period 2015-2019.

C: COMMODITY STRUCTURE OF FOREIGN TRADE 2019: Table (3) commodity structure of Ras Al Khaimah foreign trade for 2019 shows the following facts: 1. The Emirate’s imports of food, vegetables, beverages and tobacco decreased in comparison to exports, which constitute approximately 50% of these commodities.

2. The high percentage of exports of food, animal products, beverages, and tobacco in commodity trading reflects the ability to innovate and take advantage of local capabilities to activate the Emirate’s trade, diversify its sources of income, and achieve a trade surplus.

3. There is an increase at a rate of 44% in the import, export and re-export of metal

products, of ordinary metals and their manufacture, and of transportation equipment showing a very similar trend, which indicates the strength of external demand for these goods in the Ras AL Khaimah trade.

4. The sum of items (1) and (2) of Table (3) represents 92% of the total exports and 55% of re-export. This reflects the concentration of Ras AL Khaimah on exports of these types of commodities. It also reflects the high demand for them in general and in neighboring markets in particular.

In addition, they comprise 56% of total imports.

5. The sum of items (3) and (4) of Table (3) represents almost 16% of imports. These are mostly raw and intermediate materials used in manufacturing. They represent only 2.1%of total commodity exports. This reflects the strength of this type of industry in Ras AL Khaimah and the Emirate’s role in meeting domestic demand.

6. Item (5) mostly comprises finished goods imported to meet domestic demand. They make up approximately 21% of total imports, while they do not exceed 2.2% of exports. They are also play a role in the re-export field at 21% of the total.

D: THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF FOREIGN TRADE 2019: The geographical distribution data of Ras Al Khaimah foreign trade as per the main groups of countries reveals the extensive trade relations Ras Al Khaimah has with the world, including 6 continental groupings and more than 168 countries.

Asia is at the top of these relations. It figures predominantly in exports and re-exports with high contributions of 65.6% and 68.2% respectively. Asia accounted for more than two thirds two-thirds of exports and of re-exports in 2019.

Some Arab countries are excluded as they are located in Africa. It was followed by Non-Arab African countries, 11.7%, Europe, 10.7%, and America, 6.2%.

As for imports, non-Arab Asian countries constituted 44%. If the share of the GCC states (5% of the Emirate’s imports) were added, the rate would approach 50% of the total imports. They are followed by Europe, America, and Non-Arab African countries at 26%, 11% and 9% respectively.

China, 18%, India, 8.6% and Japan, 7.4%, featured heavily in Ras AL Khaimah’s imports from non-Arab Asian countries. Note that imports from the American markets amounted to 9.3 %.

See Table (4).

It is worth noting that Ras AL Khaimah – GCC countries trade relationship was strong and positive.

The Sultanate of Oman is the primary trading partner with 18% of Ras Al Khaimah total commodity exports, followed by Kuwait, 12.4%, Saudi Arabia, 4.2 %, then the Kingdom of Bahrain 3.6 %.

RAKBUSINESS | 23

Ras AL Khaimah imports from the Sultanate of Oman reached 42.6% of the total imports from the GCC countries whilst Saudi Arabia reached 31.3%. This was followed by Kuwait and Bahrain. Ras AL Khaimah also exports 16.4% and 2% of its total exports to Iraq and Russia, respectively.

Ras Al Khaimah is making great efforts in increasing exports and re-exports in order to diversify its sources of income, boost investment, and achieve economic sustainability.

Table (3) : Commodity Structure of Ras AL Khaimah Foreign Trade in 2019 (AED million) Re-export

Details

%

Value

Non-oil Exports

Imports

%

%

Value

Value

Plant products, food, drinks and tobacco

11.0

161.1

47.0

3688.7

12.3

601.1

Metal, ordinary metals products and transport equipment

43.5

639.0

45.3

3558.4

43.5

2127.0

Chemical and plastics products and rubber products

8.7

128.1

2.0

157.1

13.6

664.1

Wood pulp, paper waste, and cardboard

0.2

2.8

0.1

8.1

2.3

113.9

Recording devices and accessories, optical, photographic and medical devices, musical instruments and accessories

21.4

314.0

2.2

175.6

20.7

1012.0

Others

15.0

224.4

3.4

265.9

7.6

369.4

Total

85.0

1245.0

96.6

7587.9

92.4

4518.1

Ref: World Trade Report 2019, Ras AL Khaimah Center for Statistics and Studies.

Table (4): Foreign Trade According to the Main Groups of Countries - 2019 (AED Million) Trade type Continental group

%

Re-export

%

Exports

%

Imports

GCC countries

59.1

868.2

38.2

3000.1

4.9

240.2

Other Arab countries

16.3

240.0

20.7

1627.3

3.6

174.0

Asian-non-Arab countries

9.1

134.2

27.4

2148.2

44.1

2153.8

African non-Arab countries

7.0

103.3

4.7

372.5

8.9

437.0

European countries

4.6

67.1

6.1

482.1

26.0

1269.3

American countries

3.9

56.6

2.3

177.8

11.3

553.5

Others

0.003

.04

0.6

45.8

1.2

59.7

The World

100.0

1469.4

100.0

7853.7

100.0

4887.5

Ref: World Trade Report 2019, Ras AL Khaimah Center for Statistics and Studies.

E: INDICATORS OF THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY’S DEPENDENCE ON IMPORTS The degree of dependence of domestic economy on foreign trade indicator measures the importance of imported goods in the local economy, which is measured mathematically by the Average Propensity to Import.

The dependence on imports increases by increasing the specialization of the economy in producing goods and services, by enlarging the volume of economic activity and income, or by increasing spending on consumption. In all cases, the increases in production, income, or spending on consumption tend to lead to an increase in the volume of imports.

Accordingly, the Average Propensity to Import was 14.5% in 2015, 15.2% in 2016, and 15 % in 2017. It did not change much in 2018 and 2019.

The degree of import response to the income increase can be measured by the elasticity of internal demand for imports. The elasticity is affected by the type of imports. It increases by increasing imports of consumer and luxury goods, and vice versa, in the case of increasing imports of raw materials and basic products.

The elasticity of domestic demand for imports, or the extent to which the growth in imports responds to growth in GDP, was estimated at 5.8 in 2015. This means that the GDP increase of 1% in 2015 led, according to the data, to an increase of 5.8 % in total imports for the same year.

However, the opposite may sometimes happen. We believe this is somewhat 24 | RAKBUSINESS

explained by the high negative growth rates in imports over a course of some years. These rates would not normally be possible in the economy of an emirate or a country where the GDP is growing. Nonetheless, it may be possible in Ras Al Khaimah whose economy is slightly dependent on the neighboring local markets in providing a part of its consumer and production needs. This is evident by the generally low value of its imports.

F: THE TRADE BALANCE AND ECONOMIC EXPOSURE OF RAS AL KHAIMAH: Ras Al Khaimah economic indicators show an openness to the world, in addition to a positive trade balance. Table (2) above illustrates many important indicators, including: At an annual growth rate of 13.7%, Ras Al Khaimah’s trade balance was increasingly positive during the period 2015-2019. This was largely thanks to the increase in the value of non-oil exports, which had an annual growth rate of 5.2% for the same period, whilst there was only a slight increase in the value of imports, which has an annual growth rate of 0.1%.

The trade balance surplus approached the total value of imports in some years, especially in 2018 and 2019.

The continuous rise in exports indicates the economic openness of Ras Al Khaimah to the world through foreign trade. This is manifested by a high economic exposure indicator, which reached an average of 38% during the period 2015-2017. This rate may not have changed significantly in the following years.

With regard to the decrease in the value of imports, we believe that it should be attributed to the great domestic capabilities that make it possible for Ras Al Khaimah to meet its market requirements in production and consumption internally.

CONCLUSION The foreign trade of any country not only affects the economic productivity of every sector within that country, but also achieve the balance between supply and demand for goods and services as well as maintaining price stability and inflation rates. It thus maintains the stability of the country’s currency and economy.

Trade has challenges, whether it is seen as a way to implement sustainable development goals or otherwise. These include weak infrastructure, the distance between trading partners, high production costs, protectionism, transportation, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to deal flexibly with foreign trade and use mechanisms that make it an effective tool in the economy of Ras Al Khaimah and the state, bearing in mind the major role of the Private Sector and its productive capabilities.

BUSINESS STATISTICS STUDY

RAKBUSINESS | 25

Entrepreneurs

Safia Al Shehhi

As we are witnessing a massive revolution in social media, and as geographical boundaries have faded, bringing the whole world within hailing distance, the term personal brand has again come into prominence.

Every human being has their own unique capabilities, skills and behaviours which create their special mark in life. In a world crowded with thousands of images, situations, actions, and reactions, it is necessary for people interested in leaving their mark and influencing the course of events to share their own skills with others. They have to market themselves well to let the world know about their own unique 26 | RAKBUSINESS

abilities. Thus, they boost their competitiveness in the labour market.

There are many ways in which you can create a striking personal brand, but first you must understand the true meaning of this term.

RAK Business magazine met Safia Al-Shehhi, the distinguished Emirati Media Professional, who, thanks to her hard work, has become one of the most prominent personal brands in the UAE media world.

Al-Shehhi is the best person to talk about the concept of personal branding and how you can build and use your own brand to create better opportunities over the course of your life.

ENTREPRENEURS INSPIRATIONAL EXPERIENCES

SAFIA AL SHEHHI

HOW TO CREATE YOUR REMARKABLE PERSONAL BRAND Interview: Maryam Haji Mohammed

The concept of a personal brand has been widespread recently.

What is a personal brand?

Personal Branding is a relatively recent term. It was first introduced in 1937 by Napoleon Hill in his book, “Think and Grow Rich”. In this book, Hill identified every single detail we need to know in our journey towards building our personality, in developing our skills, and in benefiting from our experiences to achieve happiness and moral and material wealth to which each of us looks forward.

Personal branding is a set of strategic steps that an individual follows to create a specific social, economic, familial and moral position. This can be accomplished by creating and maintaining a positive impression based on a variety of characteristics, values, expertise, experiences, skills and behaviours aimed at impacting the target group and keeping them coming back for more.

It is worth noting that the concept of personal branding is associated with various sciences, the most prominent of which are psychology, sociology, economics, marketing, and management. It is also connected to different concepts such as fame, reputation management and impression management.

How can a person build a distinct personal identity? Is that related to a business identity?

The most notable characteristic of a personal brand is the strategy that a person develops based on their own self-understanding, capabilities, and environment. The need for knowing and developing ourselves is an urgent need at all times, but global and personal crises are among the most important moments that can be transformed into golden opportunities. Through these times, we discover our personalities and the methods of building and developing them.

Afterwards, we can invest this knowledge to benefit ourselves and others alike.

At an advanced stage of building a personal brand, that brand could turn into a business brand itself. We, at that point, have to market our talents and abilities to be brands ourselves. Hence, marketing, advertising, financial management and commercial planning will be included in the personal brand structure.

Oprah Winfrey, Ford, Andrew Carnegie are all examples of renowned personal brands. There are other examples.

Does a person need to possess certain skills in order to build a successful personal and business brand? For instance, a second language, an academic degree, a position, or fame?

The first goal of building a personal brand is to create better opportunities in business and life. Therefore, individuals need to possess many skills related to formulating goals, planning, strategic thinking, marketing, reputation management and communication. However, powerful personal branding does not necessarily mean fame and money, but rather the added value it brings.

What are the ways by which we can promote our ideas and projects?

First of all, it is necessary to be aware of what we have and what our environment needs, and to set the right values and goals. We need to understand the target audience, study its demands, design the visual identity, and determine the skills and experiences that will benefit the community and the environment. It is also necessary to manage your reputation online and offline, follow up on development and education, and adopt innovative tools to showcase your creative ideas and qualitative achievements.

The concept of “Personal Brand” has been linked to various sciences, such as Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Marketing and Management, as well as contacting different concepts such as impression, reputation management With the development of social media, and the emergence of new concepts in this field, can we consider the number of ‘followers’ and ‘likes’ an indication of success and excellence?

It is important to enhance your presence and care about your electronic accounts. Eighty percent of your brand lies in appearing on the Internet and publishing effective, professional content at occupational, personal and social levels.

This fosters the impression in others that you are an expert who adds value in your field.

RAKBUSINESS | 27

ENTREPRENEURS INSPIRATIONAL EXPERIENCES

As for the number of ‘followers’ and ‘likes’, this element represents only a small part of the process, but it is unreliable in accurately measuring the success of a personal brand. The things that count are the added value, the public impact achieved, the audience’s loyalty, the widespread positive impressions, and the demand from companies and other brands to cooperate and build relationships with your brand.

Finally, it is important to have a continuous presence and maintain a clear and consistent style.

One of the most important pieces of advice we receive is to avoid “copy & paste”, but often people try to copy a successful and famous persons and follow their example? Is this imitation to be rejected in building a personal brand?

Progress is a result of interconnected and successive human experiences.

It is certainly possible to benefit and learn from the experiences of others, especially in social networks.

It is important to choose people from the same field and follow persons who add value to that field and society. It is also important to avoid pretence and to preserve your own authenticity.

Nonetheless, it is also important for a human being to have their own distinctive personality, rather than slavishly imitating others. He or she has to create, in a credible and transparent manner, an image of their own that he or she wishes to present to others. It is necessary to express your true and authentic self without pretence or imitation.

You always recommend the practice of writing things down daily. Does writing help a person in successful planning for self-creation and individuation?

Writing things down daily and continuously in various forms is considered essential for self-development and continuous learning.

Accordingly, I recommend writing for many reasons, including pursuing our personal development, learning from experience through reflection, documenting the learning experience to become a future reference, generating and harvesting creative ideas, facing and solving problems, planning and following up on achieving goals, counting achievements, and reminding oneself of ones blessings. Another 28 | RAKBUSINESS

reason is healing through writing (writing therapy), especially in times of tension and crises.

After all, each one of us has a story which deserves to be shared with others to develop an emotional bond that brings us closer together. Writing and publishing is both a link with others and an effective factor in marketing your personal brand.

In 2016, you were honored by the UAE Pioneers Awards as the Best Media Personality Encouraging Reading. Do you consider reading necessary for those who seek to be icons or develop a unique identity?

One of the most important reasons behind people’s success in the world, especially successful leaders, businessmen, and innovative and creative people, is dedicating time for self-learning.

Reading in all its forms is considered one of the best methods of self-learning, and it is important that each of us seeks to develop and be distinguished in our chosen field. For this reason, I advise every human being eager for excellence

and progress to devote at least thirty minutes a day to reading in their field of specialization.

What would be your final words of advice for acquiring a brilliant business and personal brand?

The personal brand is inevitably part of the individual anyway. Building that brand is a cumulative process because you never stop developing.

People should spend significant time in their lives developing themselves and augmenting their skills, especially in a rapidly changing world.

We need to understand the fact that every person is distinguished and gifted in something very special. There is something that he or she, and only he or she, can do. All that has to be done is to define and improve it so that you can use it to create and seize the appropriate opportunities.

The personal brand is fundamental to our characters in the workplace, family, and society in general. It is also our moral responsibility towards ourselves, and the only way to control the course of our lives. Therefore I say, You Are Your Brand, whether you like it or not!

ENTREPRENEURS LEGAL OPINION

READING IN FEDERAL DECREE-LAW ON FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) & THE CABINET RESOLUTION ON DETERMINING THE POSITIVE LIST 2/3

CONSULTANT IHAB AL-KONI Judge and Legal Advisor, Department of Economic Development, Ras Al Khaimah

Procedures for Establishing an FDI Project: The FDI Decree-Law listed the conditions and procedures for licensing FDI projects in Article (10), and the Ministry of Economy issued the foreign investor manual, which is a practical guide to the requirements and procedures, as follows: The foreign investor shall apply for approval to license his FDI project to the competent authority in the local government, which is here Ras Al Khaimah Department of Economic Development under the provisions of Law No. 8 of 2016 regarding the regulation of economic activities in Ras Al Khaimah.

Once the investor meets all the conditions and procedures, his license application shall be approved within a maximum period of five (5) business days, according to the following steps: - Identify the nature of activity from the positive list.

- Determine an available legal form (L.L.C, PrJSC, or one-person company) - Specify the capital no less than the minimum specified in the positive list for each activity.

- Reserve a trading name accompanied by the legal form and the words “Foreign Direct Investment” or what it refers to.

- Obtain the prior external approval from

the activity licensing authority, which is the federal or local authority concerned with licensing the economic activity and establishing the legal form according to its jurisdiction, for example, and a private joint-stock company needs the approval of the Ministry of Economy.

- Obtain the approval of the activity organizing authorities; for example, health sector activities need the support of the Ministry of Health.

- Foreign investors are required to join the Emiratisation Partners Club at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and provide proof of their membership.

- Foreign investors will get the approval and receive the license from the competent authority once fees are paid.

- Open a bank account in the name of the company (under-establishment corporate account) and deposit at least 20% of the capital.

- Register the license with the Ministry of Economy, pay the due fees, join the Chamber of Commerce, and then notify the start of the business.

Business Activity Concerned-Bodies Established by the FDI Decree-Law: The first of these activities is the Foreign Direct Investment Unit, which was created under an Emiri Decree to operate under the Ministry of Economy with a set of functions.

Among these functions is establishing a database of foreign investment projects in the State. The competent authorities in each emirate shall provide the Investment Unit with data on licensed investment projects following the provisions of this Decree-Law, and foreign investment companies licensed as per this Law shall be registered in the Register of Foreign Direct Investment.

The second body is the “Foreign Direct Investment Committee,” which shall be established by a resolution of the Cabinet. It shall be chaired by the Ministry of Economy and include representatives of the competent authorities as members. The Committee shall be responsible for studying and submitting recommendations to the Cabinet on the positive list of the economic sectors and activities permitted to be carried out through an FDI project. It shall add some industries and businesses that are not allowed in foreign direct investment to the negative list referred to in Article 7/2 and shall be concerned with the competent authorities’ applications regarding licensing projects which are not included in the positive list. The Committee shall also consider achieving a better return and added value to the national economy.

Cabinet Resolution No. 16 of 2020 Regarding Determination of the Positive List of Economic Sectors and Activities Eligible for Foreign Direct Investment and Percentage of their Ownership: The Cabinet Resolution is based on Article (7) of the Federal Law by Decree No. (19) of 2018 Regarding Foreign Direct Investment. According to (Para 3 – Para 5) of Article (7), the Council of Ministers shall, upon the proposal of the Minister of Economy and the recommendation of the FDI Committee, issue a resolution specifying a Positive List. The declaration shall include the legal form of the foreign direct investment project, the percentage of ownership by the foreign investor, whether 100% or lower percentage, the minimum share capital of the foreign investment company, any restrictions and conditions relating to that including the minimum rate of nationals employed, available incentives to the foreign direct investment project. The resolution may exclude foreign investment companies from specific provisions of the Companies Law and the federal laws of the State as shall be consistent with the nature of foreign direct investment projects To be continued....

RAKBUSINESS | 29

PLANNING AHEAD & COMMUNICATING WITH CUSTOMERS IS VITAL FOR BUSINESSES DURING COVID-19 If there’s one thing people can all agree on, it’s that this is a time of unpredictability and uncertainty for everyone, not least the hospitality and F&B industries.

Following Boris Johnson’s recent unveiling of a conditional plan for “reopening society” in the UK, instead of receiving clarity, businesses are even more at a loss as to what the immediate future holds for them – a situation shared by many across the globe.

Despite this uncertainty and even though many businesses are temporarily closed or operating on a delivery/takeaway-only basis, the importance of actively communicating with customers during the pandemic and planning ahead for various contingencies should not be underestimated right now.

COMMUNICATION IS VITAL A recent Kantar survey on consumer media habits revealed a 61% increase in social media engagement during COVID19, compared to normal usage figures, which is a huge indicator of the importance of communicating with target 30 | RAKBUSINESS

audiences at the moment. Whether a business is hosting cooking tutorials on IGTV and Q&As on Facebook Live, or reposting fun user-generated content – communicating with an online audience is key when it comes to keeping a brand top of mind during these difficult times.

open rates for retail emails have risen by 40% during COVID-19. Therefore, if you’re not already keeping in touch with your customers via email, now is the time to build a database, build engagement and build up the conversation about your business,” she adds.

“By effectively marketing your brand now, with the future in mind, you’ll give your business the best chance of attracting new customers and, subsequently, thriving when this crisis subsides,” says Georgie Woollams, Managing Director of Dubai-based integrated communications agency Katch International, explains.

“Incorporate targeted campaigns, roll out geofencing, strengthen your SEO, and invest in SEM and YouTube advertising as part of your updated marketing strategy. Moreover, don’t forget to tap into traditional PR, such as feature articles in local and regional media publications,” she says.

“Additionally, you should consider the value of email newsletters as a powerful marketing tool. A data report found that

PREPARING FOR THE NEW NORMAL As with most things in life, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. It’s vital that businessowners consistently evolve their approaches and plan ahead to ensure their businesses are equipped to deal with ongoing developments in this escalating situation. No matter when a business gets the go-ahead to reopen properly, management needs to be prepared for a new kind of normal.

Reduced restaurant/bar capacities and social distancing are the norm for the foreseeable future, which means delivery and takeaway will remain vital components to F&B businesses’ strategies.

“Upgrade your delivery and takeaway services, not just to deal with current circumstances, but to give your business

ENTREPRENEURS SELF DEVELOPMENT

a fighting chance after restrictions have been completely lifted. For many customers, even when they can finally dine out, social distancing rules will lessen the appeal of doing so. Consequently, they’ll still choose to stay at home, and you need to make sure your business stands out for its delivery and takeaway options, along with flawless health and safety practices for dine-in customers,” advises Ms. Woollams.

STAYCATIONS According to the CabinBookers 2020 UK Holiday Survey, staycations could be set to boom once lockdown restrictions are lifted entirely, with 90% of the people surveyed saying they were planning a staycation-style holiday after the pandemic. As a result, businesses across the hospitality sector should be upping their games when it comes to marketing and communications, to target a locked down audience longing for a post-pandemic holiday.

International travel restrictions could be in place long into 2021, which gives businesses ample opportunity to unleash creative and engaging marketing campaigns, containing aspirational imagery and messaging that leverages people’s need for escapism.

“Show a united front! Team up with other local businesses and take advantage of each other’s strengths to boost tourism and commerce in your region through collaborative F&B, hospitality, retail and activity packages or initiatives. By working together, you can establish your business and others as integral fixtures of a wider staycation destination – one that keeps consumers coming back year after year,” Ms. Woolams states.

“Reach out to fellow businessowners in your area and arrange a call or Zoom session, to brainstorm ideas for strategic partnerships, joint marketing campaigns, events, festivals and other initiatives that could lead to industry-wide recovery and growth. Regardless of the approach you decide to take or campaign you choose to roll out, make sure it’s backed by a strong, engaging and creative communications strategy that gives consumers peace of mind and assures them that each and every business in the area prioritises visitors’ health and safety,” she concludes

BOOKS TOWARDS THE TOP

1

2

3

4

THE 48 LAWS OF POWER, BY ROBERT GREENE In The 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene contends that since you can’t opt out of the game of power, you’re better off becoming a master player by learning the rules and strategies practiced since ancient times.

He’s codified 48 laws of power based on examples and writings going back 3,000 years of people who’ve excelled or failed at wielding power, with glorious or bloody results. Greene argues that following the 48 laws will generally increase your power, while failing to follow them will decrease it, or worse. He provides details on how to practice the laws, plus examples and analysis.

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE BY DALE CARNEGIE: You can go after the job you want—and get it! You can take the job you have—and improve it!You can take any situation—and make it work for you! Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. Dale Carnegie’s first book is a timeless bestseller, packed with rock-solid advice that has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie’s principles endure, and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.

Learn six ways to make people like you, twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, nine ways to change people without arousing resentment, and much more!

THINK AND GROW RICH BY NAPOLEON HILL Think and Grow Rich has been called the “Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature.” It was the first book to boldly ask, “What makes a winner?” The man who asked and listened for the answer, Napoleon Hill, is now counted in the top ranks of the world’s winners himself.

The most famous of all teachers of success spent “a fortune and the better part of a lifetime of effort” to produce the “Law of Success” philosophy that forms the basis of his books and that is so powerfully summarized in this one.

CREATE YOUR OWN FUTURE, BY: BRIAN TRACY Create Your Own Future is a powerful book on self-empowerment that offers a wealth of ideas readers can apply immediately to take complete control of their personal and work lives. Intended for anyone who wants to make more money and get more satisfaction from life, the book offers twelve principles for success and real-world action plans that help you reach your goals.

Author Brian Tracy is one of the most renowned and successful self-help authors and speakers in the world; Create Your Own Future presents all his accumulated experience in making success happen for others. Now, it can make success happen for you.

RAKBUSINESS | 31

5

WAYS TO GAIN POPULARITY AND MAKE MONEY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

IMAD EDDINE OUBIRI BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXPERT 32 | RAKBUSINESS

١ 1 PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS If you have some services that you are good at or have launched a good product that can be popular in the market, social media platforms are the best way to start promoting these services or that product. It does not matter if you have a small number of followers at the beginning, there are many ways to increase the number of your followers on social media platforms, which we will address in detail in our next article: (Refinement of your Visual Identity and Branding). Bloggers’ popularity has become a trump card that contributes to the fame and sale of their own services or products, or the products and services of companies who support and sponsor them because of their popularity and remarkable presence online. It has also been proven through analyzes and investigations that someone is more likely to buy a product or to acquire a service from their favorite blogger.

Maybe your chance to start now!

2 ADS Online ads have become very popular, knowing that you do not need to have millions of followers to start advertising a service or a product. You can imagine a 70-year-old blogger who has 17,000 followers and most of them are retirees who have no interest in profitability and surfing the net - this is if we assume that these people have an interest in going online at all - But what about a businessman who has a blog with 17,000 followers - the same number of followers - And what he publishes is read in scrutiny by serious readers of 25 to 40 years of age, who are passionate and avid, and who have a purchasing power to buy products and services that may be announced through this blog! You have every chance to become one of these famous bloggers! And as we have already indicated, you do not need to have thousands followers to start ground-breaking social media platforms, launching and advertising services and products. The number of followers doesn’t matter at first, just try to venture this immersive experience!

ENTREPRENEURS SKILLS AND TALENTS

4

APPS FOR MORE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS

At a time when most of business is moving towards launching via online platforms, it was necessary to improve the images your product, Here are four photo editing applications that will definitely help you:

PICSART ... Offering more than 3000 tools with a wide range of distinctive effects that enable you to edit photos by cutting, merging, adding text, adding distinctive backgrounds and frames, or even merging ready-made graphics and stickers. It also allows editing video.

3 GETTING COMMISSIONS FROM SALES It is a great way to earn additional income through social media channels that you can achieve by helping to sell the products or services of a third party.

For example, helping to sell an apartment or obtaining a special concession for commercial brokerage that authorizes you to distribute and sell certain products or services and obtain a percentage on sales profits. Wonderful isn’t it? However, it is worth noting here that some countries and economic authorities may restrict these activities to reduce speculation in the market through the requirements of obtaining a license to practice such activities.

Therefore, it is advisable you verify that you can engage in any of these activities on social media platforms, and consult the competent authorities in this regard before embarking onto this experience.

4 SCIENTIFIC, EDUCATIONAL, TRAINING PRODUCTS AND COMPETITIONS! You can offer and sell your own products, whether scientific, educa-

tional and training contents, tips and guidelines, videotaping courses, or competitions. Topics can be varied according to your choice, skills, and knowledge, whether it is sports, art, health, fashion, language teaching or other fields. The choice is yours and the opportunities are limitless!

5 GIFTS AND GIVEAWAYS You don’t have anything to offer?

In any case, you can always offer something for free, be it part of the knowledge you can share or an actual small gift, no matter how it is!

Your personal blog is still unknown?

Don’t worry, there is always room for improvement and an opportunity to increase the number of followers.

Your personal blog has already popula?

Hurry up and don’t miss an opportunity to anchor your presence and attract more followers by distributing gifts, no matter how symbolic they might be! That is part of your investment in social media outlets and channels that will bring you short-term or long-term return and profits!

EYEEM ..Allows you to edit, view, share and sell photos if you like, provides many tools, filters and patterns for editing photos, all for free, and it also provides you with communication with a photographers who provide you with professional advice.

VSCO... Provides many filters, editing tools and features that help create some powerful effects on your photos and use advanced editing tools such as HSL and video editing. The free version enables you to ten image adjustment presets in addition to adjusting the white balance, ISO.

PIC COLLAGE ... Allows you edit photos and videos, create free cards, draw and write on photos, gives you hundreds of ready-made templates and layouts, and has thousands of exclusive stickers and backgrounds for photo editing.

RAKBUSINESS | 33

TECHNOLOGY

Nidal Abou Zaki, Managing Director, Orient Planet Group

UAE ranked first in the Arab region, and 8th in the world in the 2020 UN E-Services Index

‫ـــــــــ‬

The United Arab Emirates has been ranked first in the GCC, Arab region, and Western Asia, and 8th globally in the Online Service Index (OSI), issued by the United Nations within the E-Government Development Index (EGDI).

The UAE is also ranked 4th in Asia in this indicator, advanced one rank in the E-participation Index as well as progressing from 17th (2018) to the 16th position.

According to the same survey, the UAE is ranked 7th in Telecommunication Infrastructure Index in the ICT Infrastructure Index (TII).

34 | RAKBUSINESS

In its current edition, the survey focused on the role of countries in serving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially “Leaving no one behind” and the role of digital transformation programs in narrowing the gap between segments of society in various fields. The survey addressed government programmes around the world in engaging customers in developing services, policies and programs for everyone’s benefit.

The UAE has been ranked 21st globally in the overall index, which consists the sub-indicators: Online

TECHNOLOGY STUDIES

The results confirm that UAE’s global role in implementing the sustainable development goals, as it has been among the first countries to establish a specialised platform for this purpose in cooperation with the United Nations and relevant international bodies Service Index, OSI; Human Capital Index, HCI; and Telecommunication Infrastructure Index, TII; in addition to the E-participation Index, EPI, that falls within the online services.

With this result, the UAE assured its leading position on the Arab level in digital transformation key indicators, which reflects its global position and leadership in adopting the principles of the future government that are based on embracing advanced technologies, and particularly ICT technologies, and using them to provide customers with easy and interactive government services.

After the UAE, Bahrain has been ranked second in the GCC in EGDI, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 3rd, Kuwait 4th, and Oman 5th.

The survey highlighted distinguished UAE experiences in interacting with customers, and emphasised the ‘Rammas’ Application launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), which is a virtual employee that uses Artificial Intelligence to respond in English and Arabic, where a question can be directed to “Rammas” verbally to get the answer immediately.

Mansoori, Head of the UAE Digital Government and TRA Director-General, said, “Despite the intensity of competition between countries, with these results, the UAE maintains its position among the most advanced countries in digital transformation. We realise that the more we advance, the more difficult the competition will be, but under the directives of our wise leadership and with our national competencies and accumulated experiences in this field, we are determined to place the UAE among the best countries in the world, and we will achieve our aim through cooperation and working as one team”

UAE MEDIA: COVID-19 PROMPTS INDUSTRY FOR RAPID DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Hattlan Media, the leading public relations and media consultancy services company, commissioned the first-of-its-kind industry survey in the UAE, gathering insights from media professionals and journalists from Arab and international organizations.

Regarding the shift towards digitization, 84.2% of the managers in the media sector and 82.6% of freelancers who participated in the survey believe that now is the right time for adopting and expediting digitization, especially in light of the isolation caused by the pandemic. Still 18% of total respondents see that it is still early to take this step. In terms of the general impact on the working team performance, 52.8% of respondents affirmed that the current situation did not significantly affect them or the team’s work mechanism, while 47.2% felt otherwise.

98% ARE EAGER TO RETURN TO THE BIG SCREEN EXPERIENCE VOX Cinemas, the dedicated cinema arm of Majid Al Futtaim, revealed findings of a new survey which demonstrate that the cinema industry in the MENA region will bounce back as an overwhelming 98% of respondents intend to return to movie theatres soon after reopening. The research was conducted in waves between

April to May 2020 by Majid Al Futtaim’s Happiness Lab — its proprietary market research online community in the UAE — and surveyed 1,240 respondents during the temporary closures of cinema, leisure and entertainment experiences.

After dining out at a restaurant or café, going to the cinema was the second-most missed activity during restrictions and 75% of respondents stated they are eager to resume their cinema-going habit within just four weeks of reopening.

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Dreamscape, Magic Planet, Little Explorers and iFly Dubai reopened in Dubai Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, is pleased to announce that Dreamscape, the immersive VR destination at Mall of the Emirates, Magic Planet, Little Explorers and iFly Dubai reopened in Dubai in compliance with the recent ruling by the Dubai Economy.

All brands have undertaken extensive precautionary measures and put in place an all-encompassing sanitisation and physical distancing plan.

During the temporary closures, Majid Al Futtaim also conducted extensive research to identify the top safety measures that would make guests feel comfortable about returning to its entertainment concepts and used the findings to proactively reimagine the guest experience.

Dawex Awarded as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

BenQ offers Effortless Wireless Projection & Video Conferencing Capabilities BenQ, the global No.1 DLP projector brand for Eleven years and global leaders in display technology, announces its range of android based wireless smart projectors for the SMB segment to amplify the efficiency of virtual meetings and wireless presentations.

Their latest E600 Standard Throw and E800 Short Throw series come with BenQ Smart Systems that enable these smart projectors to facilitate meetings with the inclusion of useful business apps. With multiple lumen options and short-throw projectors giving screen size up to 120” screen size & standard throw projectors giving screen size up to 180” screen size provides various options to a buyer.

These projectors allow users to search on the Firefox browser or remotely access another computer to view files or troubleshoot via TeamViewer.

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Dawex, the leading data exchange technology company and the operator of the largest data marketplace, recently announced being awarded as “Technology Pioneer” by the World Economic Forum and joining the World Economic Forum Global Innovators Community. Dawex will contribute to the Data Policy platform, a work group leading the Forum’s approach to data policy and data governance. The aim is to help define and implement forward-looking, interoperable, and trustworthy data policies to fuel innovation and accelerate responsible use of data in the new globally integrated data economy Onboarded on a two-year program, Tech Pioneers are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society. With this nomination, Dawex joins policymakers and private sector leaders to help define the global agenda on key issues.

As a “Tech Pioneer”, Dawex joins the ranks of prestigious past recipients that have since become household names such as Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Palantir Technologies, Spotify, TransferWise or Twitter.

TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

The all-new BMW 4 Series Coupé The latest generation of the sporty two-seater for the premium midsize segment underscores its distinctive character profile with both a vehicle concept focused squarely on delivering dynamic driving pleasure and the clear differentiation of the coupé from the new BMW 3 Series. This is the next chapter in a coupé tradition shaped by numerous legendary BMW models. Market launch from October 2020.

Sales begin with five model variants; the BMW M440i xDrive Coupé. The sporting flagship is powered by a 275 kW/374 hp six-cylinder in-line petrol engine. Range also includes two four-cylinder petrol engines and a four-cylinder diesel unit. Two six-cylinder in-line diesel engines will join the line-up in March 2021.

All model variants now with standard eight-speed Steptronic transmission. Optional eight-speed Steptronic Sport transmission with new Sprint function for instantaneous and dynamic acceleration manoeuvres.

MG Motor Expands its Middle East Network MG Motor continues to expand its rapidly growing Middle East network with its partnership with MG Motor Jordan (MESC). The official announcement comes after MG Motor’s exclusive distributor in Jordan initially commenced operations from its exceptional showroom at Mecca St. 139, Amman, in the second half of last year.

Following this ‘soft opening’, Jordan’s car buyers have increasingly been able to enjoy the British-born brand’s award-winning line-up of products and services for themselves. MG Motor Middle East’s regional office delivers best-in-class customer care to MG owners across the region. Customers have access to a dedicated team of MG sales and aftersales experts, as well as MG’s best-in-region manufacturer warranty of six years or 200,000km.

Amazon launches home services with fixed upfront prices in UAE Amazon Home Services, a new marketplace for on-demand professional services, has launched in the UAE. According to Amazon, over 70 professional services will be now available on Amazon. ae, including home cleaning and improvement services, AC cleaning, mobile repair, pet grooming, car washing and furniture assembly, as well as home disinfection and furniture cleaning.

The service also offers professional installation and assembly services when buying eligible products on Amazon.ae, such as TVs, treadmills, desks and office chairs.

“We are pleased to announce the launch of Amazon Home Services as a simple way for customers to book services from handpicked, locally-based service providers with the same ease as purchasing products on Amazon.ae,” said Ronaldo Mouchawar, VP of Amazon Middle East and North Africa.

Amazon Home Services will be available through both the Amazon app and via mobile and desktop browsers. ccording to Amazon’s website, the services are currently available in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. Amazon UAE already has a large customer base that it serves on a regular basis and could sell these services to.

Appointments can be booked by searching for a desired services using the search bar or by visiting amazon.ae/services.

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TOURISM

Ras Al Khaimah becomes first city to receive double hygiene certification Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) today confirmed that the city has been certified as a safe destination by Bureau Veritas, the global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, as it completes its ‘Safeguard Assurance’ program. It is first city in the world to receive both the Bureau Veritas Safeguard Assurance Label and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp which recognize the heightened safety standards, training and hygiene protocols in place across the Emirate.

Through a strategic partnership with Bureau Veritas,

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the Authority has led the way in implementing stringent health, safety and hygiene measures across all Ras Al Khaimah hotels to mitigate any possible risks for employees and guests and providing complete confidence in the destination. Through an ongoing series of independent audits of all its hotels in the Emirate, the partnership was designed to further validate the measures and processes already in place, and takes RAKTDA’s ‘Stay Safe’ Hotel Certification Program to the next level. In addition, the close to 50,000 sqft Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Center is follow-

TOURISM NEWS

Ras Al Khaimah has become the first city in the world to be certified as safe by Bureau Veritas, and the first emirate to receive the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Safe Travels stamp. ing the detailed protocols developed by Bureau Veritas’ global health, safety and hygiene specialists and will become the first certified MICE (meeting, incentive, convention & event) facility in the region.

Adding to the global validation, Ras Al Khaimah is the first Emirate in UAE to receive the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp, the world’s first ever global safety and hygiene stamp for the travel and tourism industry, designed specifically to address COVID-19 and similar outbreaks. The protocols were developed in collaboration with WTTC members (including RAKTDA), leading industry associations and international organizations and covers operational and staff preparedness, ensuring a safe experience, re-building trust and confidence and implementing enabling policies. They also follow the current guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and will continue to be updated as new information about COVID-19 becomes available.

Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, comments, “As travel starts to resume, our role as a tourism development authority is to ensure that robust measures are in place to protect the health and safety of our visitors and provide the peace of mind they need for a truly well-deserved holiday. We are immensely proud to be the first destination in the world to be certified as safe by Bureau Veritas and receive the WTTC safe travels stamp and believe it will go a long way to restore confidence and bring tourists back to Ras Al Khaimah. It also validates the huge efforts of our hospitality partners who are focused on delivering the highest global safety standards, today and every day, as we navigate this new normal for the industry”

Welcome Back to Ras Al Khaimah!

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Confinement couldn’t keep us apart for long. we’ve come back stronger, safer and re-energized!

Experience one of the hidden gems of the United Arab Emirates - Ras Al Khaimah - as it re-opens its doors to visitors, offering unforgettable memories to those who seek thrills, serenity or are just looking to forge a deeper connection with nature.

Ras Al Khaimah boasts spectacular mountain views, epic historic sites, terracotta dunes, and a breath-taking coastline, making it the perfect destination for active adventurers, cultural explorers and leisure seekers looking for the ideal Summer destination to explore with their families and friends.

With one of the largest, most comprehensive sterilization programs in place destination-wide, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) has partnered with Bureau Veritas, a global leader in testing, inspection and certification to amplify its Stay Safe Certification program.

RAKTDA’s ongoing ‘Shortcation’ Campaign, running until the 31st of August, offers guests staying for three nights or more at participating four and fivestar hotels, two complementary passes to attractions including those on the Jais Adventure Peak and the Suwaidi Peal Farm, to introduce them to the Emirate’s rich culture and adventure offerings. Children aged 12 and under can relish complimentary dining and hospitality, encouraging UAE based families to delve into Ras Al Khaimah’s diverse appeal. Guests staying three nights or more can also enter The Grand Summer Raffle, with exciting weekly prizes up for grabs as well as the grand prize of a Mercedes-Benz C-Class 2020 in partnership with Gargash Enterprises.

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MAURITIUS TOURISM

ROMOTION AUTHORITY REVEALED PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES TO RESUME TOURISM After the COVID19 Scenario, things are going back to normalcy in the beautiful island of Mauritius, as the health authorities and the government succeeded to overcome the pandemic and beating the virus. And to further keep Mauritius’ guests safe as well as the public, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) revealed precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of the visitors and workers in the tourism sector.

The sanitary measures were taken to ensure the safe resumption of activities in the tourism sector, this includes measures taken for all enterprises and activities involved in the tourism sector, with strict guidelines for hotels, restaurants, shops and shopping malls, eco-tourism, golf courses and for tourist guides, as well as measures for nautical activities and commercial pleasure crafts.

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Whilst using transportation, vehicles are sanitized after each of the passenger’s use, the driver is wearing a protective mask and the number of passengers is limited to maintain the social distancing.

During the hotel stay, there is a strict protocol followed by the staff and the employees to maintain a high standard level of cleanliness and hygiene, including the concentration of Water disinfectant in the pools and spas within the limits recommended according to international norms and standards.

Dishwashing and laundry equipment, Air conditioners are regularly cleaned and disinfected using high standard tools and materials. Hand sanitizers, social distancing is applicable in the hotel shared areas as well as thermal guns to check the temperature of workers and visitors prior to entering the hotel premises.

As for swimming pools, the number of users is limited at the same time, while maintaining social distancing between each set of sunbeds, and all workers are regularly using face masks and sanitizers.

For restaurants’ dining area, tables are set to ensure the social distancing between the guests, buffet service is serviced by hotel/restaurant employees wearing protective equipment.

Digital menus will be used more often, while the level of hygiene is increased to a high level of standards. The same protocol of cleanliness and hygiene is applicable in the kitchen and among the staff.

All open areas and other activities, including nautical activities, are following the same above guidelines to ensure o ensure that tourists enjoy everything around and leave the worries behind, as Mauritius is coming back, in a healthier, safer, and better way.

TOURISM MY DESTINATION

HANAMI Bring Unforgettable Tokyo Street-Food Vibes Back to Dubai Skyline As Dubai’s lockdown restrictions continue to be eased and the city’s hospitality scene comes back to life, HANAMI – Dubai’s newest Japanese restaurant and bar – has officially reopened and is ready to reignite diners’ appetites, at Andaz Dubai The Palm.

Guests can look forward to delicious sharing-style street-food dishes and an inspired beverage selection, complemented by 360° skyline views, while enjoying the peace of mind of knowing that extensive safety precautions are being taken to ensure their health and wellbeing comes first.

In addition to temperature checks, a maximum of four people per elevator and complimentary hand sanitisers on arrival, guests will have a contactless ordering experience at their fingertips through HANAMI’s digital menu.

For reservations: +971 4581 4037 or hanami.andazdubaithepalm@andaz.com

Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah

Suite Staycation Exclusive Offer for UAE nationals and residents.

Broaden Your Culinary & Social Horizons this Month at BOMBAY BOROUGH Whether you’re planning to hop on board the Bombay Borough Express for the all-new Express Lunch, or hoping to catch some Bombay Prohibition-ending vibes with daily Happy Hours on the full bar– Bombay Borough serves up the very best of new India in truly exciting ways, every day of the week.

Ideally located at DIFC Gate Village 3, the recently opened Bombay Borough offers guests a carefully curated selection of India’s unique ingredients, spices and flavours, reinvented. From small bites to large feasts, Bombay Borough’s eclectic menu comes with a twist and enables armchair travellers to embark on a culinary adventure that serves up the very best of India, in a way they have never experienced before.

For reservations: +971 043271555 or email difc@bombayborough.ae

Available exclusively for UAE residents, the suite staycation offer will allow guests the opportunity to book a King Junior Suite with a balcony and sea view for the price of a King Classic Room, with a stay period until 30 September 2020. Only 20 Junior Suites per day will be available for reservation, for booking over the phone, email or via the property website.

The beautifully-appointed Junior Suites are exquisite in design and generous in size, spanning 84sqm of opulent space. The suites boast a lavish lounge with views across the Arabian sea and a luxurious bedroom with an oversized dressing room and onsuite black marble bathroom. In addition to the extended space, the suites also offer added benefits that include premium amenitites.

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