“Logta Mall” has launched recently logistic services aiming to support its e-commerce platform, in inaugurating the first logistic center in Riyadh – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, starting to deliver the products for shoppers by its own cars to ensure a 24 hours delivery service. ‘Islam Zween’, CEO, “Logta” commented on the newly-launched service: “Current shipping [...]

Plans to introduce a value-added tax for Gulf Arab oil exporters remain at a technical stage with the timing of the long-considered project still undecided though 2012-2015 have been tentatively discussed as potential launch dates, officials said. Six Gulf Arab crude producers have been mulling the joint VAT plan over the past five years, aiming [...]

Dubai’s Al Nassma, the world’s first brand of chocolate made with camels’ milk, is set to debut in Switzerland next month as global demand for the product soars, its general manager said. The confectionary is already available in Japan and Europe, in addition to Gulf states Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and the company hopes to begin [...]

Migrant workers mulling a move to the GCC would choose to live in Saudi Arabia over neighboring Gulf state the UAE, a report published Wednesday said. A report by Abu Dhabi Gallup said 52 percent of foreign workers hoping to live in the Gulf would choose to live in Saudi Arabia, compared to 35 percent [...]

Fake versions of the new BlackBerry handsets are already circulating in the UAE, despite the phones only being unveiled last week. According to the Blackberry-focused site Crackberry.com, fakes of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 have been spotted on sale in Dubai’s DragonMart. The fakes were priced at $100. In June, Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) inspectors fined 113 [...]

Monster Employment Index Gulf Rises 8% Month-over-Month The Monster Employment Index is a monthly gauge of online job demand in Middle-east based on a real-time review of tens of thousands of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career Web sites and online job listings. The Index does not reflect the trend [...]

Riyadh 4 SPT, 2010: Compared to the same period last year, advertising expenditure in the GCC increased 20%. According to the Pan Arab Research Centre (PARC), advertising expenditure in the region, which includes Pan Arab media which is mainly satellite TV channels, reached $5.05 billion from January to June compared to $4.22 billion in 2009. The increase exceeded [...]

bloomberg — Saudi Arabia delayed shutting off Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry instant messaging until midnight tomorrow, giving operators time to test a system that can monitor user data, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. “Appropriate action on whether to suspend the service” will be taken after the proposed solution is shown to comply with regulatory [...]

The United Arab Emirates, long regarded as one of the most business friendly economies in the Middle East, announced Sunday that starting in October it will prevent BlackBerry owners from sending and receiving e-mail and other messages and browsing the Internet because the security-minded government cannot adequately monitor those features on the popular electronic devices. “Today’s [...]

(via saudimac.com) Here’s a quick update on the Apple iPad availability in the region. Saudi Arabia Itechia offered reservations and now they have announced that the iPad is now available. The poster said: “Don’t worry, we brought it”. Make sure to contact itechia via their website. Update: If you reserved an iPad then the 16GB model will cost 2,866SR [...]