The United Arab Emirates is the world’s third strongest country brand, according to the annual Nation Brand survey carried out by London-based consultancy Brand Finance. The UAE ranks after Singapore and Switzerland in the evaluation of the world’s top 100 nation brands, with a brand value of US$ 403 billion (AED 1.48 trillion). While the USA topped the Nation Brand ...

An estimated 3,500 representatives of government, financial and investment sectors attended this week’s Global Islamic Economy Summit (GEIS) 2015, which took place in Dubai, highlighting the potential of the global Islamic economy. Sharjah’s investment interests were represented at the event by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). Sharjah has aligned its development strategy closely with the world’s fast-growing Islamic economy, ...

Chemicals, colour and plastic products manufacturer Blend Group has announced plans to build a US$10 million (AED 37 million) production plant in Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone). The new facility, which is expected to be completed by mid-2016, will increase the group’s production capacity from 1,200 tonnes per month to 2,500 tonnes per month. SAIF Zone has proved ...

US technology giant Google has announced the arrival of Street View in Sharjah and Ajman, a feature by Google Maps that will allow users to view and navigate 360 degree street-level imagery of major streets across the two emirates. The first Street View Special Collect in the UAE was launched in 2013 for Burj Khalifa followed by the Sheikh Zayed ...

Sharjah has been officially named as a WHO Healthy City, during the visit of senior officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Joining the WHO Healthy Cities programme in 2012, Sharjah has been able to meet 88 percent of the 80 programme criteria, becoming the first Middle Eastern country to be accredited as a WHO Healthy City. The WHO Healthy ...

Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority (Sharjah RTA) has announced that it will replace 767 of its taxi cabs over the next six months, at a cost of AED 42.75 million (US$ 11.6 million). Sharjah Taxi’s fleet has grown from 720 cabs in 2012 to 1,540 this year, transporting an estimated 16.2 million people per annum and accounting for nearly 30 ...

Sharjah’s Al Bait Hotel, which is currently under construction, has won the Interior Design of the Year – Hotels Category at this year’s 2015 Commercial Interior Design Awards, organised by Commercial Interior Design magazine. The designers of the new hotel interior, Godwin Austen Johnson (GAJ), also walked away from the event with an award for their work on JA Manafaru ...

Sharjah’s Department of Seaports & Customs and Canaveral Port Authority of Florida in the USA have signed a ‘Sister Ports’ agreement, which will underpin a variety of cooperation and collaboration initiatives including trade and investment development activities between the two authorities. The agreement was signed at a meeting hosted by Sharjah-headquartered international port operator Gulftainer in the Sharjah Chamber of ...

Sharjah’s award-winning integrated environmental and waste management company, Bee’ah, has launched its Tandeef Smart Eco-fleet, setting the benchmark for green vehicle fleets in the Middle East region. Bee’ah has spent the last few years sourcing, developing and integrating state-of-the-art green vehicles, eco-friendly technologies and fleet management systems to create a best-of-breed, eco-friendly street cleaning and waste collection fleet. The Smart ...

Sharjah developers are promoting thousands of new properties available for purchase at the Middle East’s premier property show, Cityscape Global. The developments take advantage of the changes in Sharjah property law introduced last year allowing more properties to be sold with 100 year leases to non-GCC citizens. Tilal City, a 25 million square foot master-planned residential real estate development announced ...