Business & Investments

Vision Golfe 2026: Strengthening France-GCC Economic Ties

United Arab Emirates-  April  , 2026 – As global trade routes and investment flows are redrawn by geopolitical tension, energy-transition pressures and intensifying technology competition, France and the Gulf Cooperation Council states will meet in Paris on 18–19 June 2026 for Vision Golfe, a high-level forum designed to accelerate trade, investment and strategic cooperation between the two regions.

A Leading Platform for Business and Innovation

Organised by Business France, the fourth edition of Vision Golfe will bring together ministers and senior public and private business leaders at the French Ministry for the Economy, Finance, and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty. Held under the High Patronage of President Emmanuel Macron, the forum reflects the growing institutional weight of France’s engagement with Gulf partners, as both sides pursue economic resilience, strategic autonomy and long-horizon cooperation.

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Business & Investments

Geidea Integrates Weixin Pay for Chinese Tourists

Geidea Partners with Weixin Pay to Enable Seamless Payments for Chinese Visitors Across the Region

29 April, Dubai, UAE – Geidea, a leading fintech and payments technology provider in the region, has announced a strategic partnership with Weixin Pay (also known as WeChat Pay), one of China’s most widely used digital payment ecosystems, to enable seamless payment acceptance for Chinese visitors across its merchant network.

Through this partnership, Geidea merchants will be able to accept Weixin Pay at approved locations, empowering businesses across retail, hospitality, and tourism to better serve the rapidly growing influx of Chinese travellers visiting the region for both leisure and business.

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Featured

Global Support for Social Media Ban for Under-16s Revealed

  • Family First unveils preliminary findings from world’s first global intergenerational study of a social media ban for under-16s in 15 countries
  • 63% of UAE parents back a social media ban for under-16s, with support highest in Malaysia (77%) and India (75%), and lowest in Japan (38%) and Nigeria (39%)
  • Data reveals generational divide: 45% of UAE children support a ban – an 18-point gap compared to parents. Worldwide, support for a ban among children is also highest in Malaysia, India (both 62%), and China (50%), and lowest in Japan (20%), Argentina, and Sweden (both 26%)
  • In the UAE, 67% of Gen Z – the first true digital natives – support a social media ban for under-16s – the second highest globally after India (73%). Support for the ban is lowest in Japan (28%), UK and Canada (both 40%)

Following Australia’s first-of-its-kind ban on social media for under-16s, and with more than two dozen countries considering similar measures, new global research from Family First, a Varkey Foundation initiative, shows that 63% of UAE parents support a social media ban for under-16s in their country. However, children are more divided: 45% of 9- to 18-year-olds in the UAE back a ban, while 33% are against it, and 22% are undecided. Strikingly, a large majority of Gen Z respondents in the UAE (67%) support banning social media for under-16s, the second highest after India (73%). This is particularly noteworthy given they are the first generation to have grown up with social media from childhood.

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Health Care

Arcera Life Sciences and Fosun Pharma launch long-term collaboration framework

  • Strategic framework established for regional and global licensing, frontier technology incubation, and strategic collaboration in neurodegenerative diseases
  • Joint R&D aligned with China-UAE bilateral partnership and Abu Dhabi’s Healthcare Life Sciences Vision 2030

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Shanghai, China, April 28, 2026 – Arcera Life Sciences (“Arcera”), a global life sciences company headquartered in Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (“Fosun Pharma”), an innovation-driven global pharmaceutical and healthcare group, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a long-term strategic collaboration focused on licensing, technology development, neuroscience innovation and value creation in the global life sciences sector.

The agreement was executed by Sunil Bhilotra, Chief Investment Officer of Arcera, and Xingli Wang, Co-President of Fosun Pharma, CEO of Innovative Medicines Division in Shanghai, China. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Qunbin Wang, Co-Chairman of Fosun International; Yuqing Chen, Chairman of Fosun Pharma; Isabel Afonso, Chief Executive Officer of Arcera; and Rafael Ferrer, SVP Corporate Development of Arcera.

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Health Care

PureHealth Achieves AAHRPP Accreditation for Clinical Research

Abu Dhabi, 28 April 2026: PureHealth, the largest healthcare group in the Middle East, has achieved full accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) for its SEHA and Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) entities, recognising the strength of the group’s clinical research capabilities.

The research divisions of both entities operate under the Abu Dhabi Health Research Centre (ADHRC), PureHealth’s integrated clinical research hub, which consolidates activity across 16 hospitals, primary care clinics and advanced laboratories in Abu Dhabi. With more than 200 active studies spanning early and advanced clinical trials, as well as translational research, ADHRC is underpinned by a unified governance framework that strengthens oversight and enables high-quality research at scale.

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