Economy

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has bought a 40-percent stake in a new 290,000-square meter skyscraper project near the center of Milan with a commercial value of 2.0 billion euros ($2.6 billion), the companies said on Friday.

Islamabad has authorized the export of 100,000 tons of wheat to Iran in trade not jeopardized by Western sanctions, to settle dues for electricity supplied to Pakistan’s energy-starved border areas, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday.

Kuwait Airways signed a deal with Airbus to buy 15 A320neo and 10 A350-900 planes with options for 10 more, five from each category, chairman Sami al-Nasef said on Thursday.

Oil companies will face the full force of the law if they manipulated prices, Britain’s energy minister said on Wednesday as a rating agency warned of massive fines if a European Commission’s probe into oil pricing found any wrongdoing.

Marking Labor Day, which coincides on May 1, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday that unemployment rate in Palestine in 2012 was 23%, or 256,000 people were unemployed.

Pakistan and Palestine need to focus on developing bilateral trade cooperation to create better economic opportunities for their people, Walid A.M. Abu Ali, Ambassador of Palestine said while addressing the business community at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Gulf state Qatar has bought a 5 percent stake in Indian telecoms firm Bharti AirtelLtd for $1.26 billion, the firm said on Friday, extending an overseas buying spree from mainly developed countries to Asia’s third-largest economy.

China, Russia and Kazakhstan are among the few trade allies still providing a lifeline to Iran's vital steel and iron ore sector after most Western suppliers and buyers have cut ties due to growing sanctions pressure.

EFG Hermes, one of the largest investment banks in the Middle East, plans to cut costs, sell non-core assets, and return cash to shareholders after a planned tie-up with Qatar’s QInvest failed on Wednesday.

The Cypriot parliament begins a debate Tuesday on a €10 billion EU-IMF bailout which Finance Minister Haris Georgiades has described as a tough but necessary measure that has to be ratified without delay.