Good morning, friends. We hope it’s not just us who’s already in vacation mode on the final full workweek of Ramadan — and just three sleeps away from a long, nine-day Eid holiday.

#1- Yes, it’s official. We’re all off next week: Monday, 8 April, to Friday, 12 April, will be a paid holiday for all employees in the private sector in observance of Eid Al Fitr, according to a UAE government statement. Federal government employees will also have the week off until Monday, 15 April, the government announced earlier this week.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:39pm in Dubai and 6:42pm in Abu Dhabi, and you have until 4:54am to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of Fajr in Abu Dhabi, and until 4:50am in Dubai.

We have two big stories here at home: Abu Dhabi’s non-oil economy grew 9.1% in 2023, driven by construction and manufacturing growth. Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund has consolidated three global pharma assets to create a larger life sciences firm.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

The UAE’s PMI figures will be out tomorrow morning. The non-oil sector expanded at its fastest pace in five years in February, turning in the highest output growth rate since June 2019. We’ll have the full rundown in Thursday’s edition.

ALSO HAPPENING IN OUR CORNER OF THE WORLD-White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan is due in Saudi today to meet with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohamed bin Salman, Axios reports in an exclusive out early this morning. Sullivan will be joined by Brett McGurk, the top White House Middle East envoy, and senior energy advisor Amos Hochstein

On the agenda: “A potential mega-deal that would include Saudi normalization with Israel” as part of a series of agreements that would include a US-Saudi defense pact, the news outlet reports. A nuclear agreement could also be part of it.

IN CONTEXT- Saudi officials have made clear that there will be no normalization without an agreement with the US and Israel on an irreversible commitment on the recognition of a viable Palestinian state.

The over / under: “Many in the White House think the Saudi mega-deal is a pipe dream, citing the war in Gaza, Netanyahu’s dependence on his radical right-wing coalition partners, and US domestic politics,” writes Axios.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS-

#1- Fintech startups based in the MENA region, Central and Eastern Europe, and Africa can now apply to the Visa Everywhere Initiative, an open innovation competition and platform for fintech startups to showcase their payment and commerce solutions and gain exposure to Visa’s banking, merchant, VC, and government partners, according to a press release (pdf). The top startup will compete in the global finale against other top competitors from Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and North America at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco on 19 October. Applications are open until 6 May, and the virtual competition will be held on 17 July.

#2- Adjusted truck hours in Dubai: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has amended truck ban hours on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, according to a statement. Starting from 28 April, trucks will be restricted from the road from 6:30-8:30am, 1-3pm, and 5:30-8pm.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Abu Dhabi-backed CYVN Holdings is eyeing a stake in UK luxury sports car brand McLaren, Bloomberg reports, citing people who have knowledge of the matter. Bloomberg previously reported that the British carmaker’s controlling shareholder, Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding, is looking to onboard additional investors with capital and technological expertise to help fund growth. There is no certainty that the Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm will follow through with the transaction, with deliberations still at an early stage, the sources add.

CYVN likes cars for investment: The holding company pledged a USD 2.2 bn equity investment in Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio back in December 2023, aiming to create a smart mobility platform.

#2– Voluntary carbon credits markets, including the UAE’s Carbon Alliance, are expected to play a “pivotal role” in global decarbonization efforts and slashing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, according to a report (pdf) published by the International Energy Forum (IEF). The report highlighted the role of the alliance as it “underscores the significance of carbon markets in achieving net-zero goals” and looks to support private and public sector decarbonization initiatives.

The IEF named the alliance along with several other national carbon markets, including Saudi Arabia’s Regional Voluntary Carbon Market Company, China’s Emission Trading System and India’s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme and Green Credit Program, which “when designed well, facilitate the transfer of capital and technologies to the most impactful emission reduction activities, achieving important co-benefits,” the report reads.

WAR WATCH-

UAE to deliver tailored aid packages for children and women: The UAE is set to dispatch aid packages to cater to the needs of women and children in Gaza as part of the Gallant Knight 3 humanitarian operation, Wam reports. The aid packages will be delivered through airdrop operations or aid convoys entering through the Rafah Border Crossing.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The number of new commercial licenses registered in the UAE increased 4.3% y-o-y during 1Q 2024 to 834.5k, Al Bayan reports, citing data from the National Economic Register. Dubai led the pack with 59% of all licenses (a total of nearly 492k). Some 80% of these came from the economic department, primarily from limited liability companies (149.2k), followed by sole proprietorships (91.7k), individual companies (87.2k), and civil companies (64.8k).

Abu Dhabi + Sharjah: Licenses registered In Abu Dhabi accounted for 22.1% of the national total, reaching about 158k, while a total of 98.8k licenses were registered in Sharjah, accounting for 11.7% of the country’s total tally.

#2- Dubai reeled in foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth AED 122.7 bn between 2020 and 2023, with a total of 3,282 new projects attracted during the period, according to Al Khaleej data. The emirate secured the largest share of FDI capital inflows in the UAE in 2023 (81%), with 25 bn collected. It also ranked first in the region and third globally for FDI projects in 2022, with new projects accounting for nearly half of Dubai’s total FDI inflows.

OIL WATCH-

#1- Oil production by Opec countries dropped in March on the back of lower output from Iraq and Nigeria, a Reuters survey showed yesterday. The group saw production down 50k barrels per day (bpd) to 26.4 mn bpd last month. Iraq had pledged to slash output last month after it pumped above OPEC’s target, while Nigeria’s output was down as exports dropped. Saudi, Kuwait and UAE maintained output close to voluntary curbs that will remain in effect through June 2024.

Keep an eye out for an Opec+ panel tomorrow. The panel will review production by oil-exporting members and isn’t expected to result in any changes to output policy ahead of next Opec+ meeting scheduled for Saturday, 1 June 2024.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

#1- The UK and US have inked what policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic are positioning as a “landmark” AI agreement, formally laying out how they will work together to assess risks from AI models. Calling AI “the defining technology of our generation,” US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the agreement will help keep “AI safe both now and in the future.”

Is joint regulation next? That’s the dream of AI doomers — and the nightmare of AI boomers, who are chafing at US, UK and EU regulators having recently taken a much more hands-on approach to Big Tech than at any point in the past three decades.

Read for yourself: Check out the announcement of the US-UK AI agreement, or go deeper with Time (it interviewed Michelle Donelan, the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology) or the Financial Times.

SPEAKING OF REGULATION- Microsoft will start selling Teams separately from Office as it worries about antitrust legislation, Reuters notes. The regulators began looking into Teams when it set out in 2020 to kill Slack, the popular workplace messaging app.

#2- Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in Syria yesterday, killing seven Iranian military advisors.

AND- Tens of thousands of Israelis turned out to protest Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend and call for new elections. It was the “largest anti-government protest since the war in Gaza began,” Semafor notes.

SIGN OF THE TIMES- How Gen Z is becoming the toolbelt generation, in the Wall Street Journal, which notes that in the United States, “more young workers are going into trades as disenchantment with the college track continues, and rising pay and new technologies shine up plumbing and electrical jobs.”

But Gen X did it first: Go read Matthew Crawford ’s Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The government-organized AI summit Machines Can See is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 17 April at the Museum of the Future in Dubai. The one-day event will discuss the use of AI to transform urban systems and services, outlook on AI investments, and explore the risks of AI.

Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference will take place between 23 and 25 April at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The event will gather hundreds of cybersecurity firms, government officials, and cyber experts from 130 countries. You can book your ticket here.

Token2049 is taking place from 18-19 April at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The event is set to bring together over 10k attendees from more than 5k companies, featuring over 200 speakers and more than 150 exhibitors. Flare Network’s co-founder and CEO of Flare Labs, Hugo Philio is set to speak at the event on 18 April, according to a statement posted on X.

Carpet and flooring industry event Domotex Middle East 2024 is scheduled on 23-25 April at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The event brings together industry leaders like Merinos, Oriental Weavers, Solomon Carpets, and Al Abdullatif, as well as brands like Azim Silk.

The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is set to take place from 29 April to 5 May at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), with Egypt as the guest of honor and Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz as the focus personality.

The Arabian Travel Market is taking place from 6-9 May at DWTC Dubai under the theme Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship. The event will focus on issues relating to entrepreneurial strategies designed to accelerate innovation, increase revenues, and improve sustainability.

Tickets now available for World Judo Championships:The Abu Dhabi World Championships Seniors 2024 Individuals and Mixed Teams will be held at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi between 19-24 May, with tickets now on sale to the general public, Wam reports.

Adnec Group opened registration for the International Exhibition for National Security & Resilience 2024, scheduled from 21-23 May at Adnec Centre Abu Dhabi, Wam reports. The event focuses on national security, cybersecurity, and civil protection.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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