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Skip the strait
DP World’s Cochin terminal has a new direct service to the UAE and Oman that stays clear of the Strait of Hormuz. The fortnightly MGR IFR service runs from DP World’s International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) in Cochin to Nhava Sheva, Fujairah, Sohar, and Aden, Al Bayan reports. Two vessels work the loop, the Marsa Virgo and the Marsa Zenith, each with a capacity of more than 500 TEU. The first call at Cochin handled more than 1k TEUs.
Both Gulf stops sit outside the strait: Fujairah and Sohar are on the Gulf of Oman, so shippers routing around Hormuz now have another direct option. For DP World, the Fujairah call feeds its east-coast build-out. The company locked in a 50-year concession in July for the Al Rugaylat and Dibba terminals. Al Rugaylat alone will be able to handle up to 2.5 mn TEUs a year.
IN NUMBERS- ICCT handled around 381k TEUs between April and August, up 18.5% y-o-y, while August throughput jumped 51% to a record 98k TEUs.
CBD plugs into Europe’s digital payments experiment
Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) became the first non-European lender to join the Commercial Bank Money Token (CBMT) network, adding a Gulf leg to a European experiment in tokenized bank money, according to a press release. The initiative brings together banks like Commerzbank, DZ Bank, BNP Paribas, and DNB.
Putting bank deposits on-chain: Led by the German Banking Commission, CBMT is exploring distributed ledger technology (DLT) to tokenize commercial bank funds — letting banks settle corporate payments digitally. Unlike stablecoins issued outside the banking system, the tokenized funds remain on the issuing bank’s balance sheet as regulated deposits. For CBD, that means faster and more transparent cross-border settlement without stepping outside the traditional banking framework.
Mubadala cuts USD 100 mn check and Together AI comes to Abu Dhabi
Mubadala is bringing San Francisco’s Together AI to the UAE, formalizing a strategic partnership after anchoring the AI cloud startup’s USD 100 mn Series C round in July, according to a press release. The sovereign wealth fund has already backed a number of AI startups this year, including eVoost AI, Applied AI, and Crusoe.
BACKGROUND- Founded in 2022, Together AI provides infrastructure for AI inference, model development, and accelerated compute, with a focus on open-source and custom models. Together AI will set up a local Abu Dhabi hub to deploy its open-source inference and model-shaping infrastructure.
ADX widens its regional trading web
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is expanding its cross-border trading network on two fronts, with Iraq going live on Tabadul and Egypt and Syria lining up as potential additions, state news agency Wam reports (here and here). The Iraq Stock Exchange became the eighth market trading through the platform, giving Iraqi investors direct access to ADX-listed securities. Separately, the ADX signed MoUs with the Egyptian Exchange and the Damascus Securities Exchange to explore cross-border trading, investor access, and potential integration into Tabadul.
The network is getting bigger — and busier: Tabadul now connects markets with more than USD 1 tn in combined market cap, 700+ listed companies, and over 11 mn registered investors. Trading value hit AED 13.5 bn in 2026, already surpassing all of 2025. The platform allows investors to trade across participating exchanges in local currencies without dual listings or separate custodians.
BACKGROUND- Iraq’s addition has been in the works since ADX signed an agreement with the Iraqi Securities Commission in January 2025, and Jordan’s Amman Stock Exchange joined in June. Egypt and Syria would widen that regional footprint further, with the EGX bringing 277 listed companies and USD 77 bn in market cap, while the DSE has 27 issuers worth USD 2.1 bn.
Abu Dhabi and Singapore widen the dealmaking lane
Abu Dhabi and Singapore are expanding their economic partnership with new agreements spanning investment and industry, according to an Abu Dhabi Media Office statement. The UAE’s Investment Ministry and Singapore’s Trade and Industry Ministry signed a three-year framework to promote investment, knowledge exchange, and joint projects, while Kezad, the Singapore Business Federation, and Singapore Manufacturing Federation agreed to explore an industrial corridor linking Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
There’s a sustainability play too: Kezad and Singapore’s Witthal Gulf Industries will mull the establishment of a sustainability hub aimed at attracting manufacturing, logistics, and clean-tech companies. The agreements came out of the 17th Abu Dhabi-Singapore Joint Forum, where both sides also flagged AI, energy, space, and healthcare as priority areas. They also come after UAE-Singapore non-oil trade reached USD 6.54 bn in 2025.
IN CONTEXT- The industrial corridor fits Kezad’s wider push to attract overseas manufacturers, including AED 1.1 bn of Indian manufacturing investments announced last year. Singapore ties are also deepening on the capital side, with Temasek-backed Seviora and FAB agreeing earlier this week to explore investment distribution and co-investment.
An FDI push coming our way
The Investment and Foreign Trade Ministry is preparing to launch a new FDI strategy targeting 16 industrial sectors, according to a ministry statement. The strategy, developed with the World Bank, shifts the ministry’s approach from general investment promotion to targeting investors directly, Minister Mohamed Farid said. The updated investment map lists some 1.3k investment prospects across multiple governorates.
Targeted sectors are expected to include garments and textiles, foodstuffs, automotive manufacturing, electrical equipment and engineering, electronics assembly, pharma, green and renewable energy, machinery, and chemicals, AGBI reports, citing a May report from the ministry.
REMEMBER- Egypt kept its place as Africa’s largest FDI recipient in 2025, pulling in some USD 15 bn, according to UNCTAD.
MEANWHILE- Farid took the direct approach to Paris earlier this week, meeting with France’s Meridiam, Casino Group, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE), and the UAE’s RMB Group to discuss expansion plans in Egypt on the sidelines of the Egyptian-French business forum, according to a separate statement. The talks focused on driving local manufacturing, sourcing, and exports across key priority sectors:
- Garments, textiles, and food: Casino’s Monoprix discussed plans to launch its first two Egyptian branches and sourcing from local food, textile, and garment makers, without disclosing a timeline. The rollout was initially slated for 2025, with 15-20 stores targeted;
- Renewables and desalination: Meridiam discussed expanding across renewables, healthcare, and manufacturing desalination components locally. As we reported last week, desalination makes up the bulk of Egypt’s USD 3.08 bn PPP pipeline;
- Food processing: RMB followed up on its meat and poultry processing project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone;
- Telecoms equipment + localization: ALE discussed possible local assembly down the line and said it is targeting an Egypt office by end-2026 to serve the wider region, pending approvals.
