Four ME Banks Offer Loan to Indian Jet Airways

Jet Airways-photo by BriYYZ

Four Middle East banks have joined together as a syndicate to offer a $150 million loan to India-based Jet Airways. The four banks in the consortium include: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC, Commercial Bank International PJSC, Ahli United Bank B.S.C and Arab Banking Corporation B.S.C.

Jet Airways CEO Cramer Bell explained:

“It is time to re-energize and re-establish ourselves as the country’s leading full-service airline. We will continue to build on this strong foundation as part of our three-year turnaround plan. This syndicated loan facility will be instrumental in underpinning the airline on this progressive path.”

Prior to the $150 million loan agreement the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways PJSC and Jet Air joined forces when Etihad invested in Jet Airways with a 24 percent equity stake and 50.1 percent share in Jet Privilege Limited.

“The partnership between the two airlines will be mutually beneficial across multiple areas including network growth, operational synergies, revenue enhancement and cost optimization,” the company said.

Airfares to India Dropping After Summer Vacation

Jet Airways lowering fares as summer season subsides

Jet Air has lowered their airfares to the most popular destinations as demand for tickets subsides with the summer. Air India is making their airline more attractive by allowing 40 kg of baggage per person.

“We slashed our fares to different Indian destinations, especially to Mumbai, Trivandrum and Kochi,” said Rias Kutteri, Country Manager of Jet Airways.

High fares have been coming under attack from non-resident Indians who have been forced to spend the money to travel back for summer vacations and Indian festivals. Riyas says airlines flying to India have been under pressure concerning airfares.

“It’s only during festivals and vacations that more people travel. These are the seasons when airlines increase fares to make more revenue. Even though the coming months will witness festival time in India, we are reducing the prices”, he said.

Xpress Money Offering Lower Fees to Expat Indians

Xpress Money Offering Flat Fee to Expat Indians in Oman

In honor of the festive month of Ramadan, Xpress Money, a company that facilitates cash transfers overseas, will be lowering their service fee to the flat amount of 1.70 Omani Rial ($4.40) for transfers of any denomination made to India during the Holy month.

Xpress Money is one of the world’s fastest growing cash transfer service companies, and this new flat fee is considered to be the most competitive among the other remittance service providers in Oman.

"The Holy Month of Ramadan is very special to us and we are happy to launch this special promotion which will be of great value to our customers. This initiative falls in line with our commitment to provide affordable and easily accessible money transfer services" said Mr. Sudhesh Giriyan, the chief of Xpress Money.

"India is a critical market for us. Apart from being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, it is also the largest 'receive' market globally, with inward remittances upwards of USD 64 billion in 2011. Since it is such a high volume market, we are tapping into the efficiencies of scale that our extensive networks in Oman and India can generate and passing on the savings to our customers" Giriyan added.

Malabar Gold Embarking on Major Global Expansion

Jewelry from Malabar Gold

One of the fastest growing outlets for jewelry in the Middle East, Malabar Gold, announced that it will soon be investing about $700 million to expand its operations so that it will be able to increase its annual sales to three times what they are today.

MP Ahamed, the chairman of the India-based Malabar Group, said on Sunday that this move will make the company the largest jewelry chain in the world, and the number one jewelry brand.

The ambitious plan includes eventually having 220 stores globally, up from 64 today. The hope, according to Ahamed, is that Malabar will employ 15,000 people, up from 6,000 at present. In what will be the third major expansion in the twenty years since the founding of the company, Malabar Gold is rebranding to “Malabar Gold & Diamonds,” looking forward to an increased effort in selling diamond jewelry. The company’s logo was also changed to appeal to a more diverse clientele base and give the company a more updated look and feel.

The company’s new motto is “Celebrate the Beauty of Life.” According to Ahamed, the new motto, the re-branding, and the expansion is all designed to achieve one major goal; to raise the international profile of the group.

"We are undertaking this change to help propel our brand to greater heights and to better serve our discerning customers," commented Ahamed.

Booz and Company Encourages Trade, Investment and Common Currency in GCC Countries

According to Booz and Company, countries in the GCC region would benefit greatly from cross-border trade and investment, as well as from a single common currency.

The Ideation Centre, the company’s Middle East think tank, recently stated that any progress made so far is a result of individual efforts instead of a coordinated effort of the region.

Hatem Samman of Ideation Centre said “There has been progress but more could be done to bring more benefits. There is still a lot of focus on the individual but if you complement that with an integrated view, it will do the region good.”

According to the report, the 2010 withdrawal “of the UAE and Oman from the proposed common currency is a major setback to its creation. It is difficult to imagine a monetary union and currency regime that excludes two of the GCC’s members.”

Still, despite the common currency issue, cross-border trade and international investment have been growing in the GCC countries, including Oman.

Just recently, the Oman-India Investment Fund Muscat announced its plans to expand a number of its projects. According to HE Anil Wadhwa, trade between the two countries has surpassed $4.5 billion.

“We have registered impressive growth if you look at the figures for bilateral trade in 2006 which were less than $750 million. India ranked as the fifth largest source of imports into Oman. In 2010, India ranked second among the destinations of Omani non-oil exports and third among the top destinations of Omani crude oil exports,” Wadhwa said. He added that imports between the two countries are continuing to grow.