Almost 90 per cent of Dubai Municipality’s services will be accessible online by August of this year, according to Hussain Nasser Ahmed Lootah, acting director general of Dubai Municipality.

Borouge awards expansion dealsAbu Dhabi: Borouge has awarded four contracts for its petrochemical complex expansion in Abu Dhabi. The front-end engineering design (Feed) contract for an Olefins Conversion Unit (OCU) was awarded to ABB Lummus Global. When completed, the OCU will be the world’s largest at 752,000 tonnes per year (tpy).

Aldar Properties has advanced plans for 32 new hotels to be built in Abu Dhabi within the next three to seven years. These hotels will increase the annual room offering in the city by over 2.2 million – almost doubling its current capacity.

Dubai Ports Authority has launched a major expansion and modernisation project for the Al Hamriyah Port in Dubai in line with its strategy to ensure continual development of all ports under its management in the UAE. The expansion involves development and expansion of three quays at the port, including extension of the commercial quay by 2.

Dubai Properties and South Korea’s Sungwon Corporation have a signed a Dh1.5 billion ($399 million) multi-development deal to roll-out projects in developments by Dubai Properties. The agreement was signed by Dubai Properties chief executive officer Hashim Al Dabal and Sungwon Corporation chief executive officer Yoon-Soo Jeon.

Dubai has unveiled a Dh100 billion ($27.22 billion) hospitality project, which will see the construction of the world’s largest hotel. The Bawadi development will also feature the largest concentration of leading hotels in the world.

Cemex, one of the world’s largest cement and readymix concrete companies, is to begin construction of a new grinding facility for cement and slag in Dubai in order to help meet increased demand in the market.

A key player in Dubai’s growing facilities management (FM) market is predicting that the FM industry will outstrip the emirate’s booming construction business in the next few years.

ETA Star has awarded contracts worth Dh500 million ($136.1 million) for two of its prestigious projects – GoldCrest Executive and GoldCrest Views-2 – located at the heart of Jumeirah Lake Towers. Dubai-based Al Meraikhi bagged a Dh250 million ($68 million) contract for GoldCrest Views-2.

Dubai World Central has made urban planning history when the final master plan and branding of the 140 sq km city, almost twice the size of Hong Kong island, was unveiled recently. The self-sustaining development, which is located at Jebel Ali, about 40 km south of Dubai, will be a new city where eventually some 750,000 people will live and work.

Hilti, the global leader in systems and solutions for the professional construction sector, has launched a new service which offers its customers total control on the maintenance of Hilti tools while underscoring the quality of the product.

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has unveiled a new public joint stock company charged with developing the emirate’s real estate assets and its flagship Saadiyat Island project.

The value of paint manufactured and purchased in the UAE is estimated to be more than Dh630 million ($175 million). Al Gurg Leigh’s Paints marketing manager Ashish Chaturvedy says almost 60 per cent of the total paint consumed in the UAE is from the exterior coatings segment.

A price stabilisation in the UAE real estate market is to be expected over the next 12 months, but this is the sign of a maturing market, rather than a lack of confidence, according to W Jonathan Wride, managing director of Capital Partners, the Dubai-based American real estate private equity fund.

Sama Dubai, the international real estate investment and development arm of Dubai Holding, has announced the start of construction work on The Lagoons project on the Dubai Creek.

Nakheel and The Trump Organization have adopted a new design for the planned Trump International Hotel and Tower, the centerpiece of The Palm Jumeirah, in Dubai recently. The new design, a collaboration between The Trump Organization and Nakheel Hotels and Resorts, is destined to become a stunning landmark on the skyline of Dubai.