Drop in Global Business Forces Architecture to Cut Back

Redesigning for a recession
Crain's Chicago Business - Chicago, IL, USA

A year ago, the building boom was still going strong in China and the Middle East, and assignments for skyscrapers, glittering shopping malls and state-of-the-art museums there were keeping big Chicago architecture firms busy even as U.S. business sagged. ...

UAE has World's Most Successful Tourism Models

UAE capable of counterng impacts of global economic crisis
WAM - Emirates News Agency - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
WAM BERLIN, Mar. 14th, 2009: The UAE has one of the world's most successful models in the tourism sector, and Sharjah has been always committed to making a significant contribution to the UAE's growth in the tourism sector, said Sheik Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qassimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA). ...

1000MW Coal Power Plant UAE and Korea

UAE, Korea to set up 1000MW power plant
Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Qaim Ali Shah held a meeting with an eight-member delegation of UAE's Bin Din Group and Korea's Petroleum Development Corporation (PEDCO) on Saturday to discuss the working on development blocks of the Thar Coal Project and considered the details of the Letter of Intent. ...

Marfin Investment Group (MIG) to Acquire Olympic Airlines

Greek-UAE firm to buy Olympic
Gulf Daily News - Manama, Bahrain
ATHENS: Greek-Emirates buyout group Marfin Investment Group (MIG) will acquire all of troubled carrier Olympic Airlines after talks between the government and global handlers Swissport failed. ...

$3 Billion Deal Between Iran LNG Company and Chinese Consortium

Iran, China Firms Sign $3B LNG Deal
Zawya 

TEHRAN, Mar 14, 2009 (AFP) - Iran's state-owned gas company and a Chinese consortium Saturday signed a multi-billion dollar deal to produce liquefied natural gas in the Islamic republic's South Pars field, a report said.

The deal, worth 3.39 billion dollars, was signed by Iran LNG company with the Chinese consortium for an annual production of 10.5 million tonnes of LNG, the state broadcaster reported. ...

Dh100 Million Media Studies College

UAE: Dh100m media college planned
Zawya - United Arab Emirates
The Ras Al Khaimah Media City is in the final stages of planning a Dh100-million media studies college as part of its new two million sqft campus, said its chief executive.
The project is being executed in collaboration with an overseas partner, said Junaid Shaikh, CEO of RAK Media City, who preferred not to disclose the names of the parties involved "until an agreement is finally and officially reached".

Big Hotels to Open in UAE

35 big hotels to open in UAE by 2010
GulfNews - Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai: More than half of the dozens of planned hotel openings in the Gulf over the next two years will be in the UAE, creating thousands of new hotel rooms that will put pressure on rates amid a global travel business decline.

The organisers of a hotel industry exhibition in Dubai said on Saturday the UAE accounts for $6.1 billion (Dh22.4 billion) out of $8.8 billion being invested in the Gulf in 61 hotel properties that are scheduled to open by the end of next year. ...

61 Hotels to Open in GCC Despite Global Crisis

61 hotels valued at $8.8 billion to open by 2010
Al-Bawaba - Amman, Jordan
Hotel Show survey reveals 61 new hotels in Arabian Gulf to be completed within 2 years at a combined cost of $8.8 billion.

A total of 61 hotel developments worth $8.8 billion are due for completion between now and the end of 2010 across the Arabian Gulf despite the global economic downturn, according to a new survey revealed today (14 March 2009). ...