Thursday, December 20, 2018 Rabia II 13, 1440 AH BOLD BETS : Page 12 GULF TIMES GSK plans to split aft er striking Pfi zer consumer BUSINESS health deal Qatar vehicle sales set to post ‘strongest’ GCC Nokia, Ooredoo set up growth of 5.1% in 2019, says Fitch Solutions By Pratap John Chief Business Reporter 1st 5G-ready technology Vehicle sales in Qatar are set to register the “strongest” growth of 5.1% in the entire Gulf Co-operation Council region in 2019, Fitch Solutions has said in a report. In the GCC, the combined markets will average vehicle sales growth of 3.9% with Oman registering the lowest growth at 2.6%, Fitch Solutions said. Fitch Solutions forecast vehicle sales in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region to grow 4.6% in 2019, centre in Myanmar which is an increase from the 1.6%-growth Fitch Solutions estimate for 2018 but still below previous levels. okia and Ooredoo have set up the That said, the region will be the second-fastest growing fi rst 5G-ready technology centre in market behind only Latin America, where it forecasts NMyanmar. sales to grow 8.8%. “Within the Mena region, we expect The Nokia Technology Centre is the several of the trends from 2018 to continue playing result of a successful collaboration with out, as the markets of the Gulf Co-operation Council Yangon Technological University (YTU) experiences muted growth, while North African markets that will be utilised by the students of My- provide the bright spots. Iran will see the biggest anmar’s fi rst diploma programme in tel- risk to its market as the uncertainty around its future ecommunications. relationship with the EU (European Union) threatens the The curriculum, steered by the Univer- presence of several major brands,” Fitch Solutions said. sity of Oulu in Finland, will benefi t from Fitch Solutions expect commercial vehicle (CV) the new Nokia Technology Centre, which outperformance to continue into 2019, forecasting is equipped with end-to-end radio, any- growth of 9.9% compared with 3.7% for passenger cars, haul transport and a core network solution as businesses will have the better ability to afford new that supports the latest 5G technology in vehicles. addition to 4G/3G/2G. Infrastructure projects related to events such as the Designed for post graduates, the new Qatar World Cup (2022) and Dubai’s Expo 2020, as well diploma programme launched in March as the tourism industry’s demand for buses will combine this year by the two universities required to support the CV outperformance, the report said. a robust lab to enhance its curriculum and “While it is positive to see these markets returning enable students to apply their theoretical to growth, volumes will remain below their previous knowledge in a testbed environment. highs. One bright spot in Oman’s lower growth is its The syllabus was developed based on commercial vehicles segment, which will see sales grow Nokia’s technology and, in a welcome 4.5% compared with 2% growth in the passenger car move, Nokia and Ooredoo decided to join segment. forces to create the Nokia Technology “Continuing to inform our view that CV sales should Centre as a key enabler for the programme. outperform is the country’s extensive pipeline of The Nokia Technology Centre is fi tted Sinha: Caring for the communities and people of Myanmar. infrastructure projects, particularly in the transport with state-of-the-art equipment, includ- infrastructure and industrial sectors, along with ing Nokia’s multiradio AirScale, which tions Diploma programme was fi nalised gramme will provide a well-rounded expe- Nokia Myanmar, said, “At Nokia, we are ob- investment associated with a growing tourism industry,” supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, and anyhaul embedding both theoretical and industry rience to our students.” sessed with value creation and talent devel- Fitch Solutions said. transport, as well as IP and microwave relevant components based on Nokia’s Vikram Sinha, CEO, Ooredoo Myanmar opment, which happen to be the key pillars Algeria will be the leading vehicle sales market in North equipment, cloud-native core network, technology and solutions. Faculty mem- Limited, said, “Education and empowering of this programme. YTU and Oulu Universi- Africa and outperform the Mena region in 2019 with and the associated power, materials, and bers from YTU worked closely with the youth are the key focus areas at Ooredoo. ty’s diploma programme is a great initiative. growth of 15%, the report said. infrastructure. professors of the University of Oulu to have As a leading partner in this initiative, we “The Nokia Technology Centre will “The growth of domestic production has given In addition, Nokia and Ooredoo will this programme ready for the students. are happy to work with Nokia to set up the serve as a catalyst to provide students with consumers the option of cheaper vehicles to purchase, be providing an intensive internship pro- “We are honoured to have Nokia’s tech- Nokia Technology Centre and help initiate the latest and most advanced 5G technol- as they are exempt from value-added tax (VAT) and gramme for students to work as technology nology as part of the syllabus and also wel- an internship programme for the benefi t of ogy, featuring innovations from Bell Labs. registration tax as part of the government’s policy to developers and service providers, enabling come the company’s support in building technology students. We at Ooredoo care This initiative is setting the pace and reduce imports. Limited stocks of vehicles resulted them with a 360-degree exposure to the and equipping the fi rst 5G-ready technolo- for communities and people of Myanmar, standards for the industry at large. As a 5G in double-digit declines in sales in 2016 and 2017 and industry. gy centre in the country. The collaboration therefore, to train, develop and nurture the technology leader, we were a natural choice this has created pent-up demand which is now being Dr Myint Thein, rector of YTU, said, of Nokia and Ooredoo to set up the Nokia county’s future engineering talent.” for YTU to enrich the exposure of its stu- fulfilled,” Fitch Solutions said. “The curriculum of the Telecommunica- Technology Centre and the internship pro- Dr Danabalan Amirthalingam, head of dents to state-of-the-art technology.” QFCA legal department named in Legal 500’s GC Powerlist Middle East 2018 Fed raises interest rates, sees The legal department of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA) was recently named in the Legal 500 GC Powerlist Mid- ‘some further’ hikes ahead dle East 2018. The GC Power List Middle East 2018 is the latest publication Reuters ments and assess their implications for the rate at 3.1% at the end of 2020 and 2021. from ‘The Legal 500’, which Washington economic outlook.” That would still leave borrowing costs just recognises an array of the most The decision to raise borrowing costs again above policymakers’ downgraded view of influential in-house counsel who is likely to anger US President Donald Trump, a 2.8% neutral rate that neither brakes nor drives the legal industry in the he US Federal Reserve raised interest who has repeatedly attacked the central boosts a healthy economy. region forward. The accolade recognises the contributions of the QFC rates yesterday, as expected, but fore- bank’s tightening this year as damaging to the The last set of economic forecasts, released The list further certifies the legal wing in delivering substantial and innovative Tcast fewer rate hikes next year and sig- economy. in September, had indicated three rate hikes QFCA legal department’s posi- legal mandates of strategic importance to Qatar nalled its tightening cycle is nearing an end The Fed has been raising rates to reduce next year and one in 2020. tion as a leading, multi-award in the face of fi nancial market volatility and the boost that monetary policy gives to the The change refl ects an erosion in confi - winning, influential in-house innovative technology solutions daily basis. We are also incredibly slowing global growth. economy, which is growing faster than what dence in an economic outlook that Fed Chair- team in the region. in contract automation resulting proud of this prestigious acco- The rate hike, the fourth of 2018, lifted the central bank policymakers view as a sustain- man Jerome Powell as recently as October had The accolade recognises the in increased eff iciencies for the lade as it showcases the technical target range for the Fed’s benchmark over- able rate. painted as quite rosy. contributions of the QFC legal business. excellence legal team and QFC’s night lending rate by a quarter of a percentage There are worries, however, that the econ- Even so, the Fed is still plotting a more ag- wing in successfully deliver- The contributions of all the ongoing commitment to leading point to a range of 2.25% to 2.50%. omy could enter choppy waters next year as gressive rate hike path than many in the mar- ing substantial and innovative members of the QFC legal de- the implementation of global The central bank said the US economy has the fi scal boost from the Trump administra- kets expect. legal mandates of strategic partment received recognition, best practices,” al-Taweel said. been growing at a strong rate and the job mar- tion’s spending and $1.5tn tax cut package Before the meeting, traders of US interest- importance to Qatar, includ- including citations for Nasser Earlier this year, al-Taweel was ket has continued to improve. fades and the global economy slows.