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AD Ports Group, SEG Sign Deals to Develop Logistics, Freight, Food Trading Infrastructure in Uzbekistan

Officials at the signing ceremony between AD Ports and SEG. (WAM)
Officials at the signing ceremony between AD Ports and SEG. (WAM)
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AD Ports Group, SEG Sign Deals to Develop Logistics, Freight, Food Trading Infrastructure in Uzbekistan

Officials at the signing ceremony between AD Ports and SEG. (WAM)
Officials at the signing ceremony between AD Ports and SEG. (WAM)

Abu Dhabi Ports Group launched a joint venture with SEG, one of Uzbekistan's largest oil and gas companies, to open new logistics and freight businesses.

They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a food trading hub in Uzbekistan.

During a ceremony in Tashkent, the two companies signed the key agreements to support the collaboration, which aims to develop logistics infrastructure and services that will enable Uzbek and SEG's refined products to reach global markets at competitive costs.

The signing saw the announcement of AD Ports Group's office in Uzbekistan, the Group's first in the Central Asia region.

The office will oversee the projects announced within the agreements signed in Tashkent and coordinate with the Group's headquarters in Abu Dhabi to ensure the progress of work on projects and meet all requirements.

Under the joint venture agreement, the two companies will create a partnership for logistics and freight forwarding services, including intermodal freight forwarding, road, rail, and air transport services, the development of inland ports, container depots, warehousing, and other logistics infrastructure, contract logistics and customs clearance.

The venture will deploy new technology and specialized processes to address the challenges caused by Uzbekistan's double-landlocked geographical location, surrounded by five additional landlocked nations.

An MoU was also signed to support the development of an integrated food storage and distribution hub to enhance Uzbekistan's food trade across global markets and drive Central Asian food security.

Under the MoU, the two companies will collaborate on opportunities relating to food storage, transportation, and security and explore related end-to-end solutions for the project.

The two sides will cooperate under the initial agreement to take advantage of the collaborative opportunities available in food storage and transportation and ensuring food security, as well as exploring integrated solutions that can be employed in the project.

The hub will be operated near Samarkand International Airport by a subsidiary of SEG - MARAKAND LOGAIR.

Chairman of AD Ports Group, Falah al-Ahbabi, said the agreement would support the direction of the wise leadership and strengthen the strategic partnership with Uzbekistan.

"We are delighted to be able to deploy the expertise and resources of AD Ports Group to address the core logistics challenges and opportunities present within the country," Ahbabi said.

He indicated that the project would contribute to unlocking the broader economic potential of the nation by building new supply chains and opening new trade routes.

"Our capacity to build one-stop economic hubs and logistics centers will be put to good use by creating a dedicated food hub and inland ports and depots," noted Ahbabi.

The Chairman of the Board of SEG, Bakhtiyor Fazilov, stressed that Uzbekistan is a major producer of key exports, including oil, natural gas, and gold.

Fazilov noted that Uzbekistan is "the second-largest exporter of cotton in the world. Through these joint ventures, we will be able to bring a wider range of products to more markets worldwide, transforming our trade potential."

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Trump's Greenland Threat Puts Europe Inc back in Tariff Crosshairs

A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.
A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.
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Trump's Greenland Threat Puts Europe Inc back in Tariff Crosshairs

A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.
A worker adjusts European Union and US flags at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, November 11, 2013.

Just as European companies were getting used to last year's hard-won US trade tariff deals, President Donald Trump has put them back in his ​crosshairs with an explosive threat to place levies on nations that oppose his planned takeover of Greenland.

Trump on Saturday said he would put rising tariffs from February 1 on goods imported from EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the US is allowed to buy Greenland, a step major EU states decried as blackmail.

On Sunday, European Union ambassadors reached broad agreement to intensify efforts to dissuade Trump from imposing those tariffs, while also readying a package of retaliatory measures should the duties go ahead, EU diplomats said.

The shock move has rattled through industry and sent shockwaves through markets amid fears of a return to the volatility of last year's trade war, which was only eased with tariff deals reached in the middle of the year.

"This is a very serious situation, the scale of which is unknown," Gabriel Picard, ‌chairman of the French ‌wine and spirits export lobby FEVS, told Reuters.

He said the industry had already seen a ‌20% ⁠to ​25% hit ‌to US activity in the second half of last year from previous trade measures, and new tariffs would bring a "material" impact.

But he said what was happening went far beyond sectoral issues. "It is more a matter of political contacts and political intent that must be taken to the highest level in Europe, so that Europe, once again, is united, coordinated, and if possible speaks with one voice."

STAND-OFF COULD BRING BACK LAST YEAR'S TRADE WAR

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said additional 10% import tariffs would take effect next month on goods from the listed European nations — all already subject to tariffs imposed by the US president last year of between 10% and 15%.

The bloc - which had an estimated $1.5 trillion in goods and services trade with the US in 2024 - looks set ⁠to fight back. Europe has major carmakers in Germany, drugmakers in Denmark and Ireland, and consumer and luxury goods firms from Italy to France.

EU leaders are set to discuss options at an emergency ‌summit in Brussels on Thursday, including a 93 billion euro ($107.7 billion) package of tariffs on ‍US imports that could automatically kick in on February 6 after a ‍six-month pause.

The other is the so far never used "Anti-Coercion Instrument" (ACI), which could limit access to public tenders, investments or banking activity or restrict ‍trade in services, in which the US has a surplus with the bloc.

Analysts said the key question was how Europe responded - with a more "classic" trade war tit-for-tat tariff retaliation, or an even tougher approach.

"The most likely way forward is a return to the trade war that was put on hold in high-level US agreements with the UK and the EU in summer," said Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo in London.

COMPANIES WILL LOOK TO TRADE WITH 'LESS PROBLEMATIC NATIONS'

German submarine maker ​TKMS CEO Oliver Burkhard said the Greenland threat was perhaps the jolt that Europe needed to toughen its approach and focus on developing its own joint programmes to be more independent from the US.

"It is probably necessary... to get ⁠a kick in the shin to realise that we may have to suit up differently in the future," he told Reuters.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the new threat created "another layer" of complexity for firms grappling with an already "chaotic" US market. Firms had little capacity to soak up new tariffs, she added.

"A trade war only creates losers," said Christophe Aufrere, director general of French autos association the PFA.

An official at a French industry association that represents the country's largest firms added the Greenland issue was turning tariffs into a "tool for political pressure", and called for the region to reduce its dependency on the US market.

Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, pointed out that some EU countries - Spain, Italy and others - were not on the tariff list, which would likely see "re-routing" of trade within the EU free trade bloc to avoid the taxes.

Analysts added the new tariffs - if imposed - would likely hurt Trump. They would push up US prices and lead to front-loading of exports before the tariffs kicked in, while encouraging companies to seek new markets.

"For Europe, this is a bad geopolitical headache and a moderately significant economic problem. But it could also backfire for Trump," said Holger Schmieding, London-based chief economist at Berenberg.

"Logic ‌still points to an outcome that respects Greenland's right to self-determination, strengthens security in the Arctic for NATO as a whole, and largely avoids economic damage for Europe and the US."

Business

IMF Upgrades Outlook for Surprisingly Resilient World Economy to 3.3% Growth this Year

FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo
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IMF Upgrades Outlook for Surprisingly Resilient World Economy to 3.3% Growth this Year

FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., US, November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier//File Photo/File Photo

An unexpectedly sturdy world economy is likely to shrug off President Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies this year, thanks partly to a surge of investment in artificial intelligence in North America and Asia, the International Monetary Fund said in a report out Monday.

The 191-nation lending organization expects that global growth will come in at 3.3% this year, same as in 2025 but up from the 3.1% it had forecast for 2026 back in October, The Associated Press reported.

The world economy "continues to show notable resilience despite significant US-led trade disruptions and heightened uncertainty,'' IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas and his colleague Tobias Adrian wrote in a blog post accompanying the latest update to the fund's World Economic Outlook.

The US economy, benefiting from the strongest pace of technology investment since 2001, is forecast to expand 2.4% this year, an upgrade on the fund's October forecast and on expected 2025 growth — both 2.1%.

China — the world's second-largest economy — is forecast to see 4.5% growth, an improvement on the 4.2% the IMF had predicted October, partly because a trade truce with the United States has reduced American tariffs on Chinese exports.

India, which has supplanted China as the world's fastest-growing major economy, is expected to see growth decelerate from 7.3% last year (when it was juiced by an unexpectedly strong second half) to a still-healthy 6.4% in 2026.

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France Says Still Loyal to Syria Kurds, Hails Ceasefire

Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
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France Says Still Loyal to Syria Kurds, Hails Ceasefire

Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Syrian army personnel celebrate as government forces enter Raqqa city following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces, in Raqqa, Syria, January 18, 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

France on Monday welcomed a ceasefire between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces and stressed it remained loyal to the latter who spearheaded the battle against the ISIS group.

"France is faithful to its allies," the foreign ministry said, urging all sides to respect the ceasefire deal, which will also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations.