Investopia 2024, the third edition of the two-day investment event, was recently held in Abu Dhabi. It provided a new investment roadmap for business communities, investors, decision-makers, and global financial institutions, particularly in the new economic sectors. 

The event discussed key themes surrounding sustainable economic development and helped strengthen dialogue between the private and government sectors to find solutions to the current global economic challenges. 

The fourth edition is scheduled for February 26 and 27, 2025.  

Investopia 2024 focused on exploiting capital flows in emerging industries in promising markets, directing global investment flows to sectors like human capital, infrastructure, fintech, clean energy, circular and creative economies, health sector and AI. 

Economic diversification acceleration and the development of legislation and policies that support the flexibility and competitiveness of economies worldwide were also discussed. 

Over 2,700 participants from different corners of the world attended Investopia 2024, where more than 80 speakers addressed investment trends, opportunities, and challenges in future economic sectors. 

The event hosted more than 40 panel discussions and roundtables, bringing together leaders, ministers, decision-makers, major investors, entrepreneurs, and economists to contribute to shaping the future of the global investment landscape. 

more about investopia:

Investopia 2024 signed more than 15 agreements and MoUs with national and global institutions and companies with the aim of exchanging experiences and best practices in innovative and creative fields and enhancing cooperation for Investopia 2025.  

The second edition of the Future 100 initiative was launched during the event, a joint initiative by the Ministry of Economy and Government Development and the Future Office. 

The initiative aims to foster businesses operating in future economic sectors. Investopia 2024 offered the Future 100 participants an ideal platform to connect with global investors and learn about the latest investment trends.

 Mubadala Investment Company, ADQ, Crypto.com, Standard Chartered, Citibank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates Development Bank, the Global Forum for Entrepreneurship and Investment SALT, and the iConnections platform cooperated in organizing the third edition of Investopia. 

The post Investopia 2024, Abu Dhabi closes its doors. appeared first on ByMENA.

Ford Middle East announced increased sales which surged by 63% compared to 2022 numbers across the region.

The UAE is one of the biggest markets for Ford in the region with vehicles such as:

Taurus, F-150, Territory and Explorer are the most purchased ones, with Ford Territory taking the number one spot in Ford’s collection as the second bestselling vehicle in the Middle East.

The Middle East has 40-plus vehicles that fall in the Small-SUV category, which makes it a highly competitive scene.

Ravi Ravichandran, President of Ford Middle East said “In many ways, 2023 was a milestone year for Ford in the Middle East,” “This is not the result of one year, but the efforts made over two.”

“we developed a strong strategy for our product offerings, working hand in glove with our distributor partners and taking care of our team, all of which contributed to our record sales across the region.

“Last year saw tremendous economic growth in the UAE, and we saw this reflected in the automotive sector’s strong overall growth, “with an estimated 3.5% rise in real GDP – predicted to reach 4% in 2024 – we were privileged to witness the UAE’s success firsthand. At Ford” he added.

“With an estimated 3.5% rise in real GDP – predicted to reach 4% in 2024 – we were privileged to witness the UAE’s success firsthand. He announced.

Saudi Arabia was another destination in the Middle East that the company sale reported increases in, with retail figures increasing by 77% since 2022.

The Data has been collected from the Automotive Manufacturers Business Group (AMBG) in the Middle East.

The post Ford Middle East saw a 63% increase in sales in 2023. appeared first on ByMENA.

Smart hotelStation bottling solution contributes to eliminating single-use plastic water bottles in the hospitality industry, it first launched and started operations at a 362-room hotel in central Jakarta, Indonesia.

The innovation enables hotels to serve clean, purified, rich-in-minerals glass bottled water using a high-performance PRO water purifier, hygienic filling, and clear labeling. By removing up to 99.7% of known water contaminants including viruses, bacteria, micro, and nanoparticles, Bluewater changes the formula and offers a clean water delivery system while also reducing the amount of carbon waste.

Bluewater is promoting clean water packaging and serving by its ability to supply 17 hotels offering 4,000 guest rooms, reducing the number of plastic bottles needed in the hospitality industry and giving an alternative to conventional water bottle packaging.

A global public opinion survey by GlobeScan revealed that 58% of almost 30,000 people polled in 31 countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, and China, viewed freshwater shortages as a ‘very serious’ problem.

Bluewater founder and CEO, Bengt Rittri, revealed that hotels use over 5 million plastic bottles daily and that Bluewater is dedicated to meeting the needs of the current market while also noting that this specific industry has been a major contributor to plastic bottle waste, and access to safe and clean drinking water assists both the consumers and businesses.

Mr. Rittri also explained that when they launched Bluewater, they decided to create a planetary plan in place of a traditional business to emphasize the desire to combat carbon waste and climate change.

The post Bluewater has launched an alternative to reduce plastic waste in the hospitality industry. appeared first on ByMENA.

Founded in 2019 by twin brother; Omar and Ali Shah, Colabs enables startups and freelancers to build and grow their businesses through its coworking spaces and different other services. The startup had started with one of the largest coworking spaces in the country and has quickly grown to become an important player in the local ecosystem with offerings like business incorporation, educational bootcamps, and back-office solutions, including talent sourcing and management, payroll management, and legal and tax compliance.

With the latest funds, the Lahore-based startup now wants to build a tech layer on top of all these offerings to offer them to startups, freelancers, and other businesses all over the country.

Omar Shah, co-founder and CEO of Colabs, said, “We had founded Colabs to help accelerate the Pakistani startup ecosystem and we’re very proud of what we have achieved in a little over three years. Even though we’re mainly seen as a coworking operator, what we have built is a solid foundation to make it easy for freelancers, startups, and even international companies entering Pakistan, start and manage their businesses. Today anyone looking to start a company in Pakistan could use Colabs not only as a place where they work but also as a partner that manages their different back-office functions.”

Colabs also plans to use the funds to fuel its expansion across Pakistan – starting with co-working spaces in Karachi and Islamabad. It aims to have a community of over 10,000 members in the next two years. The company claims to have hosted over 250 startup events in Pakistan since its founding, attracting over 200,000 visitors to its facility to date. It plans to continue to support Pakistan’s startup ecosystem through different initiatives. The first of such initiatives is Cogrow, an online platform that would aggregate and list startups, investment firms, and tech jobs.

Aatif Awan, Founder and Managing Partner of Indus Valley Capital, said, “The first time I visited Colabs, I found the community and energy to be a microcosm of the fast-growing Pakistani tech ecosystem. We’re thrilled to partner with the Colabs team to help them build the leading platform and community that will power the growth of Pakistani tech across startups, freelancers, and global companies expanding into Pakistan.”

Faisal Aftab, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Zayn Capital said, “I have closely watched Colabs grow into one of the key players in Pakistan’s startup ecosystem. We were fortunate enough to have met some of the startups we invested in, at their spaces. Omar and his team continue to do excellent work to accelerate the growth of the startup ecosystem here and we are excited to join their journey in serving tens of thousands of founders and freelancers across Pakistan.”

The post Colabs raises $3 million seed to make it easy for entrepreneurs and freelancers to build and grow businesses in Pakistan appeared first on ByMENA.