Author: Jochebed Menon

Challenges posed by the spread of the pandemic showcased the rapid need to digitise customs services and procedures to better serve global travel, trade and supply chains, Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs revealed. Digital transformation is at the core of Dubai Customs’ strategies and plans to ensure streamlined passenger traffic and trade. For this, the smart iDeclare Application is gaining more importance these days supporting Dubai International Airport in its mission as one of the best airports in the world dealing with the pandemic. For the seventh consecutive year, Dubai International Airport topped global airports in 2020…

Berlin-based micro-mobility provider TIER recently inked a partnership with the region’s prominent homegrown eCommerce platform, noon.com, as part of its wider mission to ‘change mobility for good’. TIER aims to extend its services to a larger audience across the Middle East through its partnership with noon.com, where it will promote sustainable mobility by encouraging users to adopt alternative and eco-friendly modes of transportation. As part of the collaboration between the two tech giants, noon.com will provide its ‘VIP customers’ with free minutes which can be availed through TIER’s mobile application. Similarly, TIER will be rewarding its customers for making the…

SAL Saudi Logistics Services and event management firm Sela signed an agreement to provide ground handling services to the latter at main airports to support the organisation of Sela’s seasonal entertainment events and activities, especially the upcoming events by the end of the year. The signing took place at SAL’s headquarter in Jeddah between SAL’s CEO Omar Hariri and Eng. Loai Kamakhi – General Manager business solutions at Sela. Omar Hariri stressed the importance of this strategic partnership, enhancing the ground handling services in and out of the Kingdom. “Sela is one of the leading companies in the region, and…

Provider of marine and offshore services Drydocks World is embracing the future by launching a digital transformation project to enhance its core systems to deliver operational efficiencies and improved customer service. The transformation project will leverage IFS Cloud to meet its growing enterprise resource planning and asset management needs. The transformation project will enhance Drydocks World’s critical business systems and will set the ground for Drydocks World’s digital shipyard transition: facilitating more streamlined processes, enhanced integration between systems, and expanded use of real-time data to drive optimised decision-making across the organisation. In addition, the project will enhance the core technologies…

Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (DAFZA) has signed an agreement with the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) to support the regulation, offering, issuance, listing and trading of crypto assets within the free zone. The agreement was signed by Dr. Maryam Al Suwaidi, Acting CEO of the Securities and Commodities Authority and Amna Lootah, Assistant Director-General, DAFZA. The new agreement allows companies trading with crypto assets cryptocurrencies to be licensed within DAFZA as the SCA will be issuing the relevant approvals and licenses. Through this partnership, DAFZA has expanded its business licenses and commercial activities that will be integrated with the incentives…

We have added a few new categories for the 2021 edition of the Logistics & Transport Awards organised by BNC Publishing’s Logistics News Middle East magazine. The grand event will take place on 8 September at Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk. Find the new categories here. The awards are aimed at recognising past triumphs and acknowledging the future strategies of logistics and supply chain companies from around the region. The awards will cater to individuals and companies from a variety of sectors including transportation, cargo, warehouses, eCommerce, supply chain, and technology. Companies are welcome to nominate people, projects, and facilities across 20…

DP World, UAE Region’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) witnessed a 12% growth in its healthcare and pharmaceuticals customer base between 2019-2020. To showcase their commitment to promote the growth of healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, DP World, UAE Region and JAFZA will participate in Arab Health 2021, a leading medical equipment exhibition in the Middle East. As one of the most important contributing sectors in the Free Zone, the healthcare and pharmaceuticals segment is one of the key economic pillars in JAFZA. Spanning an area of around 170,000 sqm, and currently housing 174 companies from 41 countries, the segment provides…

The UAE and Saudi Arabia lead the eCommerce growth in the Middle East. In 2020, these two countries contributed to 75% of the eCommerce sales in the region According to a report titled, ‘eCommerce Sector in the UAE 2020 insights’, the UAE eCommerce sector emerged as the fastest-growing economic segment in the Middle East in terms of value sales, supported by rising digital connectivity, infrastructure and substantial growth in consumer electronics, apparel, and footwear. The report was launched by EZDubai, a dedicated eCommerce zone in Dubai South, in partnership with Euromonitor International — the world’s leading provider for global business…

The world’s newest anti-viral treatment for COVID-19, Sotrovimab, is now available for early treatment of certain categories COVID-19 patients in the UAE following a landmark agreement between the Abu Dhabi Department of Health, Rafed, and global innovative biopharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). With the arrival of the first shipment yesterday in Abu Dhabi airport, Abu Dhabi become the first location globally to receive this drug. Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody treatment delivered through intravenous therapy. Sotrovimab can be used to treat adults and children above the age of 12 who meet certain criteria and are at risk of progressing to severe…

Mohammad Sleiman, Founder & CEO at Cartlow, writes how reverse logistics is vital to eCommerce and a successful circular economy model When we talk about the ‘reverse logistics’ industry, it involves everything that happens after the sale of a product, including all activities related to their backward movement at any stage of the supply chain. For many retailers and eCommerce platforms, reverse logistics is considered one of the biggest operational challenges due to the associated volume, cost and skills involved within the process. It is important to note that there are various programmes that fall under the reverse logistics ecosystem…