ABU DHABI, 2 July 2007 — Japan’s oil import from the UAE reached 28.49 million barrels in May this year, representing 26 percent of its total oil import for the same month, according to Japan’s Energy and Natural Resources Agency, an affiliate of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Economy. The Agency said the UAE was second only to Saudi Arabia, which supplied Japan last May with 31.48 million barrels of oil, representing 28.6 percent of the country’s total oil import for May which stood at 109.82 million barrels, about 90 percent of which came from Arab countries and Iran. Qatar was Japan’s third biggest oil supplier, with 11.8 percent, followed by Iran with 9.1 percent, while Kuwait was 5th accounting for 7.7 percent of Japan’s total oil import. Oman, Sudan and Yemen also accounted for 3.5 percent, 1.9 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, of Japan’s total oil import for the same month.

GCC Industrialists Conference Set

ABU DHABI, 2 July 2007 — Abu Dhabi will host the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 11th Industrialists’ Conference in January 2008. The two-day conference, which aims at creating a vision of petrochemicals industry in the GCC in 2020, includes an open discussion session with GCC ministers of industry, 4 work sessions, subsidiary workshops and an accompanying exhibition. The conference is organized by the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting in cooperation with some industrial stakeholders in the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai to Host Insurance Forum

DUBAI, 2 July 2007 — The World Insurance Forum (WIF) yesterday announced in a statement that it has selected the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) to be the host location for it’s next global forum, to be held March 17-20, 2008. The decision to host the event in Dubai marks the first time that the WIF has held the biennial insurance and reinsurance industry event outside Bermuda, where it is headquartered, and to further involve new and evolving global markets.

DIB Supports Charity Projects

DUBAI, 2 July 2007 — Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced yesterday that it has donated AED2 million to support the Ras Al-Khaimah Charity Association’s projects. Mohammed Saeed Al-Sharif, executive vice president, finance, DIB said: “DIB’s vision meets the association’s plan in extending its charity activities to cover all the emirates in the UAE. This donation signals DIB’s commitment to local and regional charities and reflects our belief in supporting the Takaful concept in the UAE community.”

TAQA Eyes Europe Market

ABU DHABI, 2 July 2007 — The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) confirmed its intention to expand aggressively into Europe’s growing energy sector through its European subsidiary TAQA Energy B.V. According to TAQA’s Abu Dhabi-based chief executive, Peter Barker-Homek, TAQA has appointed a new managing director, Paul van Gelder, to head its Netherlands exploration and production unit, TAQA Energy B.V. Van Gelder, the first Dutch national to assume the post in more than 40 years, will be based in The Hague, Netherlands.