NEWS FROM THE UAE
SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

Retailers urged to slash prices

DUBAI/ABU DHABI - NOV 04: Ministry of Economy officals have asked retail giants to cut the prices of staple foods and some goods, and at least one – LuLu Hypermarket – has promised to do so by the end of the year.

The director of the consumer protection department, Dr Hashim al Nuaimi, held a meeting on Thursday with representatives from a dozen leading retailers including Carrefour, LuLu and Al Manama Hypermarkets and Supermarkets, asking them to slash prices.

The head of the LuLu chain yesterday said retailers agreed to co-operate with the Government and shoppers could expect to see “sizeable reductions” in the price of key foodstuffs by the end of the year.

Saifee Rupawala, chief executive of Emke Group, which owns the LuLu Hypermarket chain, said: “As a result of the meeting we had with Dr Nuaimi we are in negotiations with our local and international suppliers and manufacturers to find out ways and means of bringing down prices.

“If everything goes to plan and the world economic situation stabilises a little more, by the end of next month consumers will be able to see some concrete changes.”
The ministry’s move comes after consumer prices began to increase at the beginning of the summer against a backdrop of rising inflation.

Runaway prices appeared to stabilise in September, according to a survey carried out by The National last month.

Dr Nuaimi asked retailers to explain how wholesale costs of foodstuffs and raw materials could have fallen in recent weeks without reductions being passed on to shoppers, according to a report by the official news agency WAM.

Retail chiefs argued the cost for goods on store shelves remained high despite declining global prices because products had been bought several months earlier at high prices. As new stock came in, the cost to consumers would be reduced, they said.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Economy said: “The meeting discussed the impact of decline in prices of exported products, and explored reasons on why the reduction is not reflected in prices locally.

“The outlet representatives predicted that prices of a number of food items will drop in the coming months due to decline in production costs in local and regional markets and the appreciation of the dollar.”

A source close to the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said part of the reason cost reductions had not already been felt by consumers was that wholesalers and importers had failed to pass on falling prices.

“On their own, retailers do not control prices,” he said. “It is more like they simply pass on the high and low costs and prices from wholesalers.”

Shoppers on the streets of Abu Dhabi were delighted to hear news that food prices could be cut as early as December. Anj Toor, 35, from England, who has been in Abu Dhabi for three weeks, said she found prices equivalent to those in the UK. “I don’t find the difference in my pocket at all,” she said. “From what I understood from talking to my friends, the UAE is supposed to be cheaper, but I’m not finding that at all.”

Naved Salam, 39, from India, who works as a sales manager in the oil and gas sector, said: “I haven’t really noticed any prices going down.

“I think they have gone up considerably in the past, but prices going up is mostly the result of high rent prices – the stores will have to factor in the prices of the products, so I think that unless rents are controlled, I just see this as a temporary fix.”

Damon Lalich, 35, from Australia, who works as education adviser in Abu Dhabi, said: “I think it’s been steady over the last year, but my friends tell me [prices are] constantly going up.”

Earlier this year several major retailers, including Carrefour and LuLu, signed agreements with the Government pledging to cap prices until the end of this year at 2007 levels.

Bank access could depend on ID card
 

DUBAI - NOV 04:Expatriate professionals and Emiratis without identity cards may be denied access to their bank accounts from the start of next year, the project’s manager has claimed.

Thamer al Qasemi said the Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) has discussed with the Central Bank ways in which the biometric ID card can be integrated in to the country’s banking system.

“We received initial approval that they will demand an ID card for services,” he said. “I would not be surprised if they have taken such a decision already, but I have not heard it officially.”

Access to most government services, including being able to rent or buy property, enrol a child in school, get a driving licence or visit a doctor will be refused to professional expatriates – which includes most people holding a university degree – if they do not have a biometric identity card by the beginning of the new year.

Emirati nationals, who have been able to register for the cards since 2006, will be fined up to Dh1,000 (US $272) if they do not have a card after Dec 31. EIDA estimates that around 200,000 nationals have still not registered, and puts the number of white-collar expatriates in the country at around 400,000. Expatriates will not face fines until 2010.

Next year, the focus for the EIDA will be on trying to register the estimated three million blue-collar expatriates living and working in the UAE. Plans are under way to have mobile registration centres that can be driven to workers’ accommodation camps.

Mr Qasemi said restricting access to government services would make people realise the importance of registering for an ID card.

“We are working with all the government agencies and some of the private sector. We are saying to them, that [after Dec 31] if a national comes to you, he needs an ID, if he is a resident working for the government, he needs an ID. If he is an expat who is a professional, then he also needs an ID. These are the categories we are calling up – they can’t refuse access to services to other categories until we call upon them.”

However, sources in the banking industry said they did not think it would be possible to refuse people access to their accounts without an ID card for some time to come.

“We haven’t been informed of anything like that,” said one member of staff at the Commercial Bank of Dubai.

“Eventually the ID cards will be used instead of passport copies, because all the customer’s information will be stored on there, and it will be more secure than a passport, but the passport copy will continue to be used initially.”

He said he thought it would take between six months and a year before the use of ID cards became mandatory.

“The banks cannot introduce something like this until at least 80 to 90 per cent of the population have their cards, and in my opinion only about 50 to 70 per cent will have completed their application and received their cards by the end of the year.”

The Central Bank could not be contacted for comment.

Ras Al Khaimah seen as a soft target for illegal entry

Ras al Khaimah - Nov 04: Migrants attempting to enter the country illegally are targeting Ras al Khaimah as neighbouring emirates impose increasingly tough border controls and visitor numbers soar.

Immigration authorities say they are training staff to deal with more illegal border crossings. Every week police and customs are arresting dozens of people who have either crossed the emirate’s mountainous borders from Oman or are working illegally having already entered.

The number of passengers flying into RAK is expected to more than quadruple in the next five years and officials say this is likely to be accompanied by an increase in those seeking to enter illegally.

Since Oct 15, the RAK Naturalisation and Residence Department reports, 83 people have been arrested for expired visa or illegal entry offences. Thirteen were caught in one day, officials said.

New visa regulations have made it harder for illegal entry through Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but RAK appears a softer target.

Those who have entered illegally say they came for better economic prospects, travelling from Iran across the Strait of Hormuz and into Oman before heading across the mountains into the emirate.

The Omani peninsula is dotted with fjords and jagged mountains and the coastline is full of hidden coves and steep cliffs, making it ideal for smugglers.
But the trek over the mountains can be deadly for those who suffer injury or are unfamiliar with the route.

Last month a man was found starving and dehydrated in the mountains after apparently trying to cross from Oman.

“This is a new city, so many people are coming,” said Col Sultan Yousef al Nuaimi, director of the Naturalisation and Residence Department.

“Some people try two or three times,” said Mohammed bin Hamadi, an investigation officer. “They have no education and they want to improve their lives. They come from the sea, through the mountains.”

Last month, police arrested three Bangladeshi men who allegedly tried to bribe an airport official to avoid iris scans. The men had previously been deported and banned for overstaying their visas.

RAK airport officials said bribery cases were rare. But based on the experiences of other large entry points, they were preparing for an increase.

“This is the first time because before we didn’t have a lot of flights coming from Asian countries,” said Major Marwan al Mansoori, from RAK police. “When we have a big city, you have to expect this and be ready.”

He added that security had been tightened at the airport, and a long-term border control strategy was in place that included extra training for staff.

“We trust them, we train them,” he said. “We have selected people very carefully.”
Attempts to bribe an official are punishable by imprisonment and deportation. People trying to infiltrate the country’s borders face similar sanctions.

The emirate is vigorously expanding its tourist infrastructure with the aim of dramatically increasing the number of visitors. It expects to welcome 2.5 million tourists a year by 2012 as it seeks to emulate the development of other areas in the country.

A multi-billion dollar waterfront in Ras al Khaimah city, featuring 16 hotels, lagoons, theme parks and a shopping centre, has been proposed under the Government’s Mina Arab project.

In the 2008 Oxford Business Report onRAK, Sheikh Salem bin Sultan, chairman of the emirate’s Department of Civil Aviation, said: “Within three to five years it is our aim to be handling approximately one million passengers per annum. We are currently handling approximately 245,000 passengers per year.”

Sheikh Salem estimated that RAK Airways, launched in 2007 and offering flights to Bangladesh and India, would double passenger capacity in its first year as they expand within the GCC and other Asian countries.

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr , Ras al Khaimah Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler, has also told officials they desperately need to improve efforts to cope with the high number of visitors.