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UAE to Launch 50-Year Development Strategy Based on Knowledge Economy

A view of Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Getty Images)
A view of Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Getty Images)
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UAE to Launch 50-Year Development Strategy Based on Knowledge Economy

A view of Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Getty Images)
A view of Abu Dhabi, UAE. (Getty Images)

The United Arab Emirates declared that 2020 will be the launchpad of preparations for the next 50 years, ahead of its milestone Golden Jubilee in 2021. The country is targeting the post-oil stage via a knowledge economy.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, announced that next year will be used to deliver a roadmap for the future and make preparations for grand celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the nation.

They ordered forming two UAE cabinet committees.

One committee, to be headed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, with Mohammed al-Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, serving as his deputy, will lay out a comprehensive development plan for the next 50 years. Its responsibilities will include developing vital sectors including health, education, housing, transport and food security across the country.

The committee will be tasked with mapping out the Emirates’ Golden Jubilee celebrations.

“The UAE approaches its Golden Jubilee in 2021, a new milestone that celebrates 50 years of our young country and begins the journey to the next 50 years. Preparations for our new journey start next year 2020. Together, we welcome 2020: Towards the next 50,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid on Saturday.

He added: “Today, we announce 2020: Towards the next 50. We shall develop our plans and projects and reinvent new ideas. 50 years ago, the founding fathers shaped our life today, and next year, we will shape the coming five decades for the future generations.”

“In 2020, we will work on making giants leaps in our economy, education, infrastructure, health and media to share the UAE’s new story with the world. Together, we will build the Emirates of the future in 2020 with the winning spirit of the union. Our development journey has no end,” he continued.

“We will work together as citizens and residents across all sectors towards the next 50. United, we can make significant changes and raise our aspirations. We want 2020, the year before our Golden Jubilee, to be similar to 1970 when a new journey was being drafted for this nation.”

The Abu Dhabi Crown Prince stated: “With the willpower and unity of our people, we will work tirelessly to achieve our goal in making the UAE among the best countries in the world by the UAE centennial in 2071.”

“Given the significant role of 2020 in preparing for an unprecedented developmental leap, the UAE's readiness for the next 50 years does not start today or next year. Rather, it goes back to the long-term developmental plans, visions and strategies established and implemented throughout different phases of the country's history,” he stressed.

“Today, we continue preparing and foreseeing the future and building a strong foundation to meet our goals with full confidence and persistence in a rapidly-changing world.”

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Business

Defying Trump, EU Hits X with $140 Million

(FILES) This illustration photograph shows the logo of social network X (formerly Twitter) and a photograph of CEO of social network X, Elon Musk displayed on a smartphone in Brussels on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
(FILES) This illustration photograph shows the logo of social network X (formerly Twitter) and a photograph of CEO of social network X, Elon Musk displayed on a smartphone in Brussels on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
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Defying Trump, EU Hits X with $140 Million

(FILES) This illustration photograph shows the logo of social network X (formerly Twitter) and a photograph of CEO of social network X, Elon Musk displayed on a smartphone in Brussels on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
(FILES) This illustration photograph shows the logo of social network X (formerly Twitter) and a photograph of CEO of social network X, Elon Musk displayed on a smartphone in Brussels on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

Elon Musk's social media company X was fined 120 million euros ($140 million) by EU tech regulators on Friday for breaching online content rules, the first sanction under landmark legislation that once again drew criticism from the US government.

X's rival TikTok staved off a penalty with concessions, according to Reuters.

Europe's crackdown on Big Tech to ensure smaller rivals can compete and consumers have more choice has been criticized by the administration of US President Donald Trump, which says it singles out American companies and censors Americans.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, said its laws do not target any nationality and that it is merely defending its digital and democratic standards, which usually serve as the benchmark for the rest of the world.

The EU sanction against X followed a two-year-long investigation under the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires online platforms to do more to tackle illegal and harmful content.

The EU's investigation of ByteDance's social media app TikTok led to charges in May that the company had breached a DSA requirement to publish an advertisement repository allowing researchers and users to detect scam advertisements.

The European Commission's tech chief Henna Virkkunen said X's modest fine was proportionate and calculated based on the nature of the infringements, their gravity in terms of affected EU users and their duration.

“We are not here to impose the highest fines. We are here to make sure that our digital legislation is enforced and if you comply with our rules, you don't get the fine. And it's as simple as that,” she told reporters.

“I think it's very important to underline that DSA is having nothing to do with censorship,” Virkkunen said.

She said forthcoming decisions on companies which have been charged with DSA violations are expected to take a shorter time than the two years for the X case.

“I'm really expecting that we will do the final decisions now faster,” she said.

Ahead of the EU decision, US Vice President JD Vance said on X: “Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.”

TikTok, which pledged changes to its ad library to be more transparent, urged regulators to apply the law equally and consistently across all platforms.

EU regulators said X's DSA violations included the deceptive design of its blue checkmark for verified accounts, the lack of transparency of its advertising repository and its failure to provide researchers access to public data.

The Commission said the investigation into the dissemination of illegal content on X and measures taken to combat information manipulation and a separate probe into TikTok's design, algorithmic systems and obligation to protect children continue.

DSA fines can be as high as 6% of a company's annual global revenue.

Business

Survey: Swiss Companies Plan Investment Abroad to Offset US Tariffs

FILE PHOTO: Reinsurer Swiss Re's headquarters are seen on the banks of Lake Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd WIegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Reinsurer Swiss Re's headquarters are seen on the banks of Lake Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd WIegmann/File Photo
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Survey: Swiss Companies Plan Investment Abroad to Offset US Tariffs

FILE PHOTO: Reinsurer Swiss Re's headquarters are seen on the banks of Lake Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd WIegmann/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Reinsurer Swiss Re's headquarters are seen on the banks of Lake Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd WIegmann/File Photo

Swiss companies plan to relocate some of their operations and production abroad to deal with the impact of US tariffs, according to a study by business association economiesuisse.

It surveyed more than 400 companies before and after Switzerland last month agreed a deal to reduce US tariffs from 39% to 15%, with a quarter of the firms already having identified concrete steps they were taking, Reuters reported.

Nearly a third of those firms have decided to increase investments outside Switzerland and shift production and operations abroad, the survey said.

Some 16% of companies said they were going to relocate operations to countries outside the European Union or the United States, in addition to 10% going to the US, and another 5% looking at the European Union.

Other options included looking more at other markets, raising prices and even halting exports to the US.

Rudolf Minsch, economiesuisse's chief economist, said the relocation and investment was not damaging for Switzerland, which remained an attractive business location, though he cautioned high-skilled jobs and R&D should be kept.

As part of its agreement, Bern has also pledged $200 billion in investments from its companies in the US, raising concerns about the potential long-term economic impact.

UBS has said if the pharmaceuticals industry - Switzerland's biggest export sector - relocates all US-bound production to that country - cumulative Swiss economic growth over five years would be reduced from a forecast 10% to 7.7%.

Minsch said Switzerland was too small to absorb the $200 billion, and had a long tradition of investing abroad.

Those investments also helped secure jobs at home, he said.

Business

UN's FAO: World Food Prices Fall for 3rd Month in November

FILE PHOTO: Prices of food are displayed at the Borough Market in London, Britain May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Prices of food are displayed at the Borough Market in London, Britain May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
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UN's FAO: World Food Prices Fall for 3rd Month in November

FILE PHOTO: Prices of food are displayed at the Borough Market in London, Britain May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Prices of food are displayed at the Borough Market in London, Britain May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo

World food commodity prices fell for a third consecutive month in November, with all major staple foods except cereals showing a decline, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 125.1 points in November, down from a revised 126.6 in October and the lowest since January, Reuters reported.

The November average was also 2.1% below the year-earlier level and 21.9% down from a peak in March 2022 following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the FAO said.

The agency's sugar price reference fell 5.9% from October to its lowest since December 2020, pressured by ample global supply expectations, while the dairy price index dropped 3.1% in a fifth consecutive monthly decline, reflecting increased milk production and export supplies.

Vegetable oil prices fell 2.6% to a five-month low, as declines for most products including palm oil outweighed strength in soy oil.

Meat prices declined 0.8%, with pork and poultry leading the decrease, while beef quotations stabilized as the removal of US tariffs on beef imports tempered recent strength, the FAO said.

In contrast, the FAO's cereal price benchmark rose 1.8% month-on-month. Wheat prices increased due to potential demand from China and geopolitical tensions in the Black Sea region, while maize prices were supported by demand for Brazilian exports and reports of weather disruption to field work in South America.

In a separate cereal supply and demand report, the FAO raised its global cereal production forecast for 2025 to a record 3.003 billion metric tons, compared with 2.990 billion tons projected last month, mainly due to increased wheat output estimates.

Forecast world cereal stocks at the end of the 2025/26 season were also revised up to a record 925.5 million tons, reflecting expectations of expanded wheat stocks in China and India as well as higher coarse grain stocks in exporting countries, the FAO said.