Category: Market

Casablanca – In a bid to expedite the processing of patent applications, the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC) and the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) inked a significant agreement on Tuesday in Casablanca. The agreement, focused on the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program, aims to streamline the issuance of invention patents.

The signing ceremony took place during a joint commission meeting chaired by Abdelaziz Babqiqi, the Director General of OMPIC, and Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Suwailem, the Executive President of SAIP.

According to a statement released by OMPIC, the initiative rests on the premise of sharing examination outcomes, with the overarching goal of slashing the time required for processing patent applications while simultaneously enhancing the quality of granted patents.

The meeting also served as a platform to deliberate on collaborative ventures between the two offices. Discussions primarily revolved around exchanging insights into the
latest developments in industrial property within their respective nations. Furthermore, experiences and best practices in managing and scrutinizing applications for industrial property protection were shared, paving the way for a more robust framework.

Geographical indications protection and valorization systems also took center stage during the discussions. Participants exchanged experiences in this domain, alongside activities aimed at promoting awareness among enterprises regarding the significance of industrial property protection and rights compliance. Notably, training programs devised by both offices to bolster the capabilities of pertinent stakeholders were underscored.

In a forward-looking gesture, the two offices agreed to broaden the scope of their cooperation, venturing into novel realms such as artificial intelligence and information and communication technologies.

The agreement signifies a concerted effort to foster innovation and strengthen intellectual property frameworks, marking a milest
one in the bilateral relationship between Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

Riyadh: The National Housing Company (NHC) is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Urbas Middle East Real Estate Company, a subsidiary of the esteemed Spanish Urbas group. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in the development of the Al-Fursan suburb with the construction of 589 innovative residential units worth of around SAR 1 Billion. Spanning approximately 150,000 square meters, this project promises to set new standards in housing development.

The agreement was formalized in a ceremony attended by the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to KSA, Jorge Hevia along with the CEO of NHC, Mohammed bin Saleh Albuty, the President and CEO of Urbas, Juan Antonio Acedo Fernández, and the Executive Director of Urbas, Adolfo Guerrero. The event was hosted at the NHC headquarters, underlining the commitment of both parties to this ambitious project.

Al-Fursan, known as one of the largest urban development
projects in the region, is designed to align with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The suburb covers an area of 35 million square meters and will feature over 50,000 residential units, accommodating more than 250,000 residents. It is equipped with over 190 vital facilities, including educational, healthcare, and recreational services, all surrounded by more than 6 million square meters of green spaces. This extensive greenery is part of a broader initiative to enhance the living environment and contribute to the Saudi Green Initiative by planting over half a million trees.

Urbas Group, with its presence in over 20 countries and a portfolio of more than 30,000 residential units, brings a wealth of experience to this project. The already established Urbas Middle East aims further to increase its operations in the Saudi Arabian market, reflecting the group’s commitment to expanding its global footprint.

In addition to this exciting new development, NHC has also reported the successful sale of 1,300 residential unit
s in the first quarter of the year within Al-Fursan, generating a total value exceeding 1.5 billion Saudi riyals. This achievement underscores NHC’s dedication to creating vibrant, quality living spaces that not only meet but exceed the expectations of modern residents.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

New York – An economic delegation from Morocco has met, Monday on Wall Street, with leaders from the New York Stock Exchange.

This visit comes in line with the strategic relations uniting Morocco and the United States in various areas, including the promotion of capital markets.

Led by the Casablanca Stock Exchange and the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC), in the presence of Morocco’s Ambassador to the United States, Youssef Amrani, the visit aims to strengthen cooperation and exchange between the respective financial operators.

The Moroccan delegation is made up of the Director General of the Casablanca Stock Exchange, Tarik Senhaji, the Director of Financial Operations and Markets at the AMMC, Nasser Seddiqi, the Director General of the Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), Kamal Mokdad, the CEO of CFG Bank, Younes Benjelloun and CEO of MAROCLEAR, Mounir Razki.

It also comprises the Director of Development at the Casablanca Stock Exchange, Zineb Guennouni, the Director of Market Operations at the sam
e Stock Exchange, Ahmed Arharbi, in addition to Lahcen Danoun from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Siham Talbioui from Bank Al Maghrib.

Speaking at the meeting, Morocco’s Ambassador to the United States underscored the strong ties between the two nations and the ongoing collaboration across the entire ecosystem of both Moroccan and American capital markets.

‘This long-standing friendship along with our shared strategic interests have made our two countries critical partners on many issues and challenges ranging from security threats, climate change, energy to promoting common values of peace, stability and economic liberalism’, he said.

He underlined that in order to strengthen these existing bilateral relations, the two countries signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2004 and implemented it in 2006, making Morocco the only African nation and the second Arab country to have an FTA with the U.S.

Thanks to the FTA, the United States is today the 3rd largest trading partner of Morocco, after France and Sp
ain, while Morocco is the 4th US trading partner in Africa, Youssef Amrani pointed out, adding that because of the FTA, Morocco has experienced a substantial increase of US investments.

He recalled that last year, US investments accounted for more than 30% of total ‘Foreign Direct Investments’ (FDI) in Morocco, placing the United States as the leading investor in Morocco, indicating that bilateral trade has tremendously increased to reach 5 billion in 2023, compared to only 925 million in 2005, a year before the implementation of the FTA.

U.S. exports to Morocco increased in value by 700%, from $480 million in 2005 to $3.4 billion in 2023, while Morocco’s exports to the United States tripled in value to reach $1.6 billion in 2023 compared to $445 million in 2005, he pursued.

Speaking of the relations to Africa, the diplomat stated that this part of the world is steadily emerging as a “new driver” for global growth and closely moving towards a continental free trade zone, underlining that Morocco’s deep tie
s in the Continent ‘undeniably offer vast potential for US companies’.

He further noted that Morocco is the second largest investor in Africa and first in West Africa with 85% of the country’s total Foreign Direct Investment, pointing out that with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and more than 50 similar agreements, Morocco is establishing itself as a free trade hub providing access to a consumer market of 2.5 billion people.

He also underlined that as part of Morocco’s ongoing endeavors for a prosperous Africa, a new mechanism of cooperation has recently emerged through a bold international initiative launched by HM King Mohammed VI, to enhance Atlantic Ocean access for African countries.

‘The strategic initiative aims to alleviate the economic bottlenecks of the region by increasing connectivity – making our roads, ports and rail infrastructures available to the Sahel countries to strengthen their participation in international trade including with the United States
‘, Amrani explained.

He stated that during the past two decades, Morocco has pursued, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, a number of far-reaching political and economic reforms, adding that all these efforts have made Morocco, today, not only a regional economic powerhouse, but also an integrated financial African hub with a modern and highly diversified economy.

The Ambassador recalled that more recently, Morocco has entered a new phase of development, with the emphasis on reforms to foster financial inclusion, digital entrepreneurship, and access to digital infrastructure and services for individuals and businesses to support job creation, especially for women and young people.

‘In this spirit, the launch of the Moroccan derivatives market at the Casablanca Stock exchange will complement a long series of structural reforms of the Moroccan Capital Markets’, he further said.

Underlining the importance of the Casablanca Stock Exchange as a ‘vital’ institution shaping Morocco’s financial
destiny and playing a pivotal role in connecting investors with opportunities and businesses with capital, Youssef Amrani called for enhanced cooperation between the Moroccan financial center and Wall Street.

‘Such a partnership could be a real game-changer that would help not only deepen US-Morocco cooperation in the financial market sector, but also boost our wider strategic alliance within the African continent and the Middle East’, he stated.

For his part, the director of the Casablanca Stock Exchange indicated that this visit aims to bring the market and American investors closer to the opportunities offered by the Casablanca financial center and the Moroccan market.

It also aims to examine the possibility of an exchange of skills, concerning the launch of derivatives markets to which Morocco is voluntarily committed and which it will carry out this year, Tarik Senhaji told MAP.

He noted that today’s visit is specific as it prospects cooperation with leading financial infrastructures in New York, lik
e the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the International Continental Exchange.

The visit ‘is an opportunity for us and for the operators accompanying us’, mainly the regulators and the banks to establish partnerships with American counterparts, he continued, adding that stock exchanges play a leading role as sources of financing but also as an important promotional tool for countries.

Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse

European stocks scaled to their highest levels in more than a week on Tuesday, driven by the technology sector.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was up 0.6%, boosted by a nearly 2% jump in technology stocks.

The tech sector added 1.8%, lifted by SAP’s 4.6 % rise after the German company reported a 24% jump in first-quarter cloud revenue at 3.93 billion euros ($4.19 billion), buoyed by demand for its enterprise resource planning software.

Helping the sector’s rise was a 4.6% gain in Novartis as the Swiss drugmaker raised its full-year outlook after reporting first-quarter results that surpassed expectations.

On the flip side, Randstad, the world’s biggest employment agency, reported disappointing quarterly core earnings, sending shares of the Dutch firm down 6.7%, among top decliners on the STOXX.

Elsewhere, UK’s exporter-focused FTSE 100 climbed 0.6% after notching an all-time intraday high of 8,071.96 points.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Manama, The Kingdom of Bahrain has achieved a new international milestone, as the Passports Services at the Bahrain International Airport has been ranked third globally among the 2024 World Airline Awards (Skytrax).

It won in the “Best Airport Passport Services” category after applying strict standards that include the efficiency and speed of procedures, ease of movement, the efficiency of passport staff in terms of receiving visitors, and the extent of travellers’ satisfaction.

The achievement is an international testimony to the excellence and leadership in the services provided by the Nationality, Passports, and Residence Affairs (NPRA) and its continuous keenness to enhance travellers’ experiences at the Bahrain International Airport. Bahrain ranked third after Singapore Changi Airport and Zurich International Airport in Switzerland.

Shaikh Hisham bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, the Interior Ministry’s Undersecretary for NPRA, expressed his pride in the achievement, asserting dedication to providing the best
services for travellers via the Bahrain International Airport to promote Bahrain’s status as a leading regional centre in air transport.

He noted that the Airport Passports Services plays a significant role in facilitating travellers’ procedures and providing them with exciting travelling experiences. He hailed the fruitful cooperation between the NPRA and Bahrain Airport Services.

Skytrax World Airlines is a London-based consultancy founded in 1989. It operates an airline and airport review website and offers annual awards known as the Skytrax World Awards based on traveller reviews.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Doha: Qatar Central Bank has issued “Digital Insurer” regulations defining the regulatory framework for Digital Insurer activities in the country.

The regulations are in line with the Third Financial Sector Strategy, the Fintech Strategy, and Qatar Central Bank’s ongoing endeavor to regulate and develop the financial sector, in accordance with the Qatar Central Bank Law and the Regulation of Financial Institutions No. (13) of 2012 and in order to stimulate innovation in the Fintech field, Digital Insurers leverage technology to provide the best insurance services while enhancing customer experiences through effective services and smart digital solutions to enable the insurance sector to become a leader in the region. This sector is characterized by the variety of its insurance products and services that help meet internal needs and support the expansion of the sector in domestic and external markets to achieve growth and increase profitability through insurance technology solutions and products based on insu
rance laws and regulations that meet the latest international standards.

Digital Insurers offer many benefits including cost efficiency, faster claims processing, improved risk assessment, and enhanced competitiveness in the sector, in order to deliver the best services at a lower cost.

Qatar Central Bank affirms its ongoing endeavor to provide outstanding and valuable initiatives that help create a favorable environment for the financial technology sector in the country to grow as these regulations support the financial sector development and enhance the transparency and efficiency of the transactions in the insurance sector. Moreover, these regulations enable insurance companies to meet their customers’ needs in a modern and fast manner with rapid access to different categories of customers that traditional channels may not cater to holistically.

These regulations are also in line with Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy, deemed to be the final stage towards achieving Qatar National Vision 2030,
which aims to build a digital economy, while stimulating the widespread adoption of technology and accelerating and encouraging technological innovations in various areas, including the financial sector.

Source: Qatar News Agency