Business

19 May 2023; MEMO: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, attended a Summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia on Friday to canvas support for his people, while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed his readiness to mediate in the war between Moscow and Kyiv, Reuters reports.

19 May 2023; MEMO: Every handshake would count, and Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad had plenty of them at Friday's Arab League Summit – along with hugs and kisses – from his one time foes in the region, Reuters reports.

As he strolled into the Summit venue in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Friday afternoon, a beaming Assad extended his arms to Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who grabbed them both and kissed Assad once on each cheek.

18 May 2023; AA: Russia Halal Expo 2023 on Thursday opened its doors to visitors on the sidelines of the 14th International Economic Summit: Russia-Islamic World: Kazan Forum 2023.

Expected to garner more than 7,000 visitors, the expo features halal products and services with an aim to promote the halal industry in Russia, improve commercial, economic, and social relations between Russia and participating Muslim countries and give trading partners a chance to showcase their goods.

19 May 2023; AA: Russia aims to increase the cargo turnover by 155% by 2030 along the North-South Transport Corridor, a 7,200-kilometer (4,473-mile) multimode transportation network, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on Thursday.

17 May 2023; MEMO: Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, on Wednesday oversaw, via video-link, the signing of a deal to finance and build an Iranian railway line as part of an embryonic international North–South Transport Corridor, Reuters reports.

17 May 2023; MEMO: Russia confirmed on Wednesday that a deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain safely across the Black Sea, despite Russia's war in Ukraine, had been extended for two months, Reuters reports.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the deal had been extended to help countries in need, but added that Russia's overall assessment of the situation regarding the deal had not changed.

11 May 2023; AA: Germany's retail sector is set to shrink with 9,000 shops and small businesses expected to close in 2023, according to the Handlesverband Deutschland, the national retail association of Germany.

According to figures from 2021, the country's retail sector is Germany’s third-largest – accounting for 17% of its gross domestic product.

14 May 2023; MEMO: Egypt's government sold a 9.5% stake in state-controlled Telecom Egypt ETEL.CA for 3.75 billion Egyptian pounds ($121.6 million), the finance ministry said in a statement on Sunday, breathing life into a privatisation programme that had seemingly stalled, Reuters reports.

Telecom Egypt's is the second sale of state assets since Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly promised on April 29 to press ahead with the sales programme and sell assets worth $2 billion by the end of June.

Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s Economy Minister, Ehsan Khandouzi has said that expanded trade ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia's would a win-win situation for the two countries while it will benefit the entire West Asia region.

Khandouzi made the remarks on the sidelines of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, saying that Iran's policy is to strengthen bilateral ties with neighboring countries.

Tehran, IRNA - Iran’s vice-president for legal affairs has announced that Laurent Aynès, president of an international tribunal hearing a $32 billion gas dispute between the UAE-based Crescent Petroleum and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), has been dismissed from the case.

Mohammad Dehghan on Saturday called the removal of the arbitrator a great victory for Iran in the case, and said that the change in the arbitration team will have a significant impact on the fair and just review of the case.