Category: UAE News

According to the budget, the UAE estimates growth in revenues in the fiscal year 2023 will reach 11 percent with a growth rate of 3.9 percent in expenditures….reports Asian Lite News

The UAE Cabinet, chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, approved the federal budget 2023-2026 with a total estimated expenditure of Dh252.3 billion and estimated revenues Dh255.7 billion.

“The Federal Budget is a major driver of the government’s development ambitions and plans,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

He added, “We discussed the UAE-Egypt bilateral relations… Our countries maintain close ties thanks to my brother the President of the UAE and the Egyptian President… We directed to organise a celebration on the 50th anniversary of UAE- Egypt ties.”

Sheikh Mohammed said, “We reviewed the UAE Railway Programme… the largest infrastructure project in the UAE, linking 11 cities, 7 logistics centres and 4 international ports in the country… Under the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the follow-up of H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Etihad Rail, this project will change the infrastructure map in the country.”

Budget 2023-2026

The Cabinet meeting approved the Federal General Budget 2023-2026, with a total of estimated expenditure of AED252.3 billion and estimated revenues AED255.7 billion. A budget for the year 2023 has been allocated, with total estimated expenses of AED63.066 billion, and total estimated revenues of AED63.613 billion.

According to the budget, the UAE estimates growth in revenues in the fiscal year 2023 will reach 11 percent with a growth rate of 3.9 percent in expenditures.

The social development and benefits represent the largest proportion of the UAE Federal Budget 2023 at 39.3 percent, followed by the government affairs with 38 percent of the budget. The rest of the budget was distributed to the infrastructure and economic resources by 3.8 percent, and the financial assets and investments by 3.4 percent. Other federal expenses amount to 15.5 percent of the 2023 Federal Budget.

UAE-Egypt historic ties

The UAE announced organising a ceremony under the slogan “UAE and Egypt… One Heart”, which includes a three-day event in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, during the month of October. The event comes in celebration of the 50th anniversary of UAE- Egypt ties and brotherly relations between the two countries. The details of the event will be announced in the coming days.

UAE Railway Programme

The UAE Cabinet reviewed the developments of the UAE Railway Programme, which will work continuously to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 70-80 percent over the next 50 years, and support the country’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality.

The UAE Cabinet meeting approved a number of decisions regarding the mechanisms adopted for implementing the Unemployment Insurance System. In addition, the meeting approved the UAE’s accession to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution by 2040, and the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft issued in Beijing in 2010.

Also, the Cabinet approved several international agreements with a number of friendly countries, including Kuwait, Czech Republic, Republic of Bulgaria, Kingdom of Eswatini, and the Republic of the Congo.

ALSO READ: Kerry lauds UAE’s role in climate action

The U.S. Presidential Envoy was on a visit to attend the Sustainability Summit organised by the Economist, and the fifth annual One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund summit in Abu Dhabi on Thursday….reports Asian Lite News

COP 28, the UN conference on climate change to be hosted by the UAE next year, will be a significant one, as it will mark the first global stocktake of climate progress since the Paris Agreement, US Presidential Envoy on Climate said, adding that the UAE’s leadership in global climate action is going to be critical.

“I am confident [about the success of COP 28] because the UAE has really been a leader in the climate sphere, which is one of the reasons that they were chosen to host the COP 28,” said John F. Kerry, U.S. Presidential Envoy for Climate, while talking about the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which will be held in Dubai in 2023.

In an interview with WAM in Abu Dhabi, he said that 2023 would be a very special year, different from this year [in climate action], because the process [COP 28] is going to require that we evaluate where we are, so by definition COP 28 is going to be a very significant COP and the UAE’s leadership is going to be critical,” he emphasised.

The U.S. Presidential Envoy was on a visit to attend the Sustainability Summit organised by the Economist, and the fifth annual One Planet Sovereign Wealth Fund summit in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

COP 27 and crucial cooperation with UAE

Kerry expressed his hope that COP 27 to be held in Sharm El- Sheikh in Egypt next month would provide additional ambition for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

“COP 27 will see countries come together on the ways in which we can combine reducing emissions with good policy in terms of growing economies and having a smooth transition [to net zero].”

The U.S. and the UAE are cooperating on a number of climate action initiatives, and especially the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) that will help many other countries, the envoy said.

AIM for Climate, a major new initiative led by the UAE and the U.S. with the support of over 30 governments, had announced in November 2021 an “early harvest” of US$4 billion of increased investment to accelerate innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems over the next five years.

The initiative will help tackle drought, the challenges of extreme heat and develop resilient crops, Kerry noted. “There is a lot of work that the UAE has done on this. So, it’s a very helpful partnership.”

Committed to Gulf

The United States remains deeply committed to peace and development in the Arabian Gulf region, the top diplomat stressed.

He pointed out that the attention of world nations has been diverted to certain important global developments such as the conflict in Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic and inflation in global economy.

“[Still], I don’t think there is any reason to believe that the United States is less, somehow, engaged or involved [in the Arabian Gulf]. And as you know, President Biden has been to the region and Secretary of State Blinken has been here, and we remain committed,” asserted Kerry.

He was sworn in on 20th January 2021, as the United States’ first Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal to sit on the National Security Council entirely dedicated to climate change.

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“Based on the limitless possibilities that are available in metaverse adoption and in line with our commitment to digitally empower societies, we are taking a significant step forward into the metaverse,” said Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO of Etisalat Group…reports Asian Lite News

e&, formerly known as Etisalat Group, is set to enthral stand goers at GITEX Global 2022 by inviting them to enter the next digital universe with the soft launch of their virtual world, e& universe. This move marks a significant achievement in the Group’s transformation journey to a global technology and investment conglomerate, as it takes its first steps into the metaverse.

Hatem Dowidar, Group CEO, e& shared his views on why telcos must adopt the metaverse in enhancing customer experience and boosting digitalisation journeys of enterprises.

“Metaverse technology may be in the early incubation stages, given that it needs high-bandwidth and low-latency communications to work at scale. Still, telcos must consider harnessing its potential for the betterment of lives, whether it is a virtual playground or shopping destination, or even using it as a training ground for smarter, more efficient AI and industrial manufacturing processes.[1] To get it to work at the grand scale we all envision will require robust connectivity solutions. This is where 5G becomes the fulcrum, given that mobile networks may not be able to handle the metaverse network demands,” he said.

According to a report by Ericsson, 5G is a critical enabler for the metaverse and its entire ecosystem as it has global reach, including roaming capabilities.[2] For the cloud and edge-cloud (MEC) capabilities of the metaverse, 5G also offers low latency, offload processing and enhanced render level of detail (LOD).To harness the power of the metaverse, telcos must expand beyond their traditional capabilities and more towards embracing a growth mindset where they are open to exploring innovative ideas. In fact, telcos can play a more prominent role in the metaverse value chain by leveraging emerging technologies such as 5G, edge cloud, analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI),”he added.

In fact, there are endless opportunities that telcos can level in the metaverse domain such as[3]:

• Cloud computing services – Edge computing is one of the foundational stones in the metaverse, and telcos are in a prime position to provide edge computing services so as to unlock more efficient data transfer, lower the load of network congestion and also add another revenue stream in the process.

• Human interface hardware – Telcos can drive the adoption of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications used for optimal interaction in the metaverse. These could be through the bundling of VR devices and connectivity services and go further in adopting an end-to-end (E2) device lifecycle management approach.

• Advanced analytics or AI – Now more than ever before, telcos have access to a variety of data points. More so, in the metaverse, they can use these Big Data insights to improve decision-making. The data could also help them in using customer-and operations-related insights to use advanced analytics and AI to bolster revenues.

• Connectivity provider – With the generational shift from 5G to 6G as we approach 2030, this will further the adoption of the metaverse in daily life. Telcos can play a part in addressing network capacity and efficiency-related issues as metaverse requires robust fibre connectivity, which delivers high-bandwidth speeds.

• Metaverse platforms – As the metaverse platforms will evolve from a series of various virtual worlds created individually by companies, there will come a time when a super virtual world will be formed. By investing in emerging metaverse platforms, telcos will have the upper hand in building the in-depth technical expertise required to create the metaverse of the future.

• Cybersecurity, privacy and trust – Individuals and enterprises remain concerned about their digital footprint and data integrity. As data custodians, telcos are seen as a trusted partner by customers in keeping their private data safe. And so, telcos could consider leveraging their current customer relationships and position themselves as ‘identity management experts’.

Telcos will also be required to partner with technology giants, internet tech companies, specialist cloud providers, device manufactures, technology platform providers as well as online game developers so that they can create a partner ecosystem for developing a solid metaverse ecosystem. In that way, telcos can become the orchestrators of the metaverse ecosystems by identifying collaborative opportunities with involved parties.

“Based on the limitless possibilities that are available in metaverse adoption and in line with our commitment to digitally empower societies, we are taking a significant step forward into the metaverse this GITEX Global by announcing the launch of e& universe, hosted virtually in Arcadia Planitia on Mars,” he added.

“Alongside, we have had two other major showcases: the Metaverse Service and etisalat by e&’s business centre. The Metaverse Service is a metaverse platform designed to maximise user experience through multiple virtual spaces and avatars. This was a result of the collaboration with SK Telecom, the largest mobile operator in Korea, to explore media and entertainment. Through our third metaverse showcase, etisalat by e&’s business centre showcase is in collaboration with Huawei, where e& is demonstrating the future of retail using a 3D retail experience in an innovative way.“he added.

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