Business

DOHA — A Qatari businesswoman has turned heads at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition, pitting herself against giants of the industry while also bucking trends in the conservative country. 

Noora Al Ansari — a Qatari woman running her own company and dealing with customers herself — is a rarity in the wealthy Gulf state, where a growing number of women work but few have made their name in business. 

Since opening her first Papillon store in the capital Doha, she said customers have been curious about her nationality.

"When women saw me standing in Papillon, they were wondering whether I was Qatari or not," she told AFP, her exhibition stand flanked by household names of the jewellery world.

"They were not used to seeing a Qatari woman standing in her shop" and dealing with the business and customers, she said.

"When they found out they said, 'we are so proud of you. You have beautiful pieces'. And that encourages me."

The week-long exhibition ending on Saturday reflects the opulence of Qatar, whose massive gas reserves have made it one of the world's wealthiest countries but where women's rights have caused controversy.

Ansari said she calls the annual show, which has drawn more than 30,000 visitors, "the big Qatari wedding" because it is highly anticipated among Doha society.

A steady flow of luxury cars could be seen pulling up outside the exhibition, where Louis Vuitton, Bulgari and other global names were showcasing their designs.

One Cartier necklace was on sale for $21 million.

'All owned by men' 

A former education and oil industry executive, Ansari designed her first solitaire ring in 2008 and launched her business three years later.

In 2022, she moved her store into one of Doha's most expensive malls alongside the international names she is competing with at the show.

"I am very proud as a woman to be a jeweller because all the names that you hear about in Doha, all the jewellery stores here, are owned by men," she said.

She added that her customers appreciated her efforts to explain the "four Cs" of diamonds — cut, clarity, colour and carat.

"When I visited jewellery stores, no one was telling us what is a diamond, why it is valuable, why we should have it and enjoy it. We just keep hearing that a diamond is a girl's best friend," she told AFP.

When she started out, there were only one or two Qatari designers while now there are at least 10 at the Doha show, according to Ansari.

"As a local brand, to be among the big names in the world is an honour, of course. It means that our jewellery is presenting our local tastes and high standards," she said.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Thursday banned TikTok on official devices used by staff amid concerns over data protection as the EU seeks to bolster its cybersecurity.

TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has faced increasing Western scrutiny in recent months over fears about how much access Beijing has to user data.

The new ban also means European Commission staff cannot use the video-sharing app on personal devices including phones that have official EU communication apps installed.

Employees must remove the app as soon as possible and should do so by March 15.

EU spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova said the corporate management board of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, had made the decision for security reasons.

"The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission," she said.

There was no immediate comment on whether other EU institutions such as the European Council, which represents member states, or the European Parliament would take similar measures. 

After the news was made public, EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton pointed to the cybersecurity risks he said had informed the decision. 

"As an institution, the European Commission has, from the beginning of the mandate, a very strong focus on cybersecurity, protecting our colleagues and, of course, everyone who is working here in the Commission," Breton told reporters.

'Disappointed' 

A spokesperson for TikTok said it was "disappointed with this decision, which we believe to be misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions".

In November, TikTok admitted some staff in China can access the data of European users.

The company however denies that the Chinese government has any control or access.

TikTok on Thursday stressed it protects the data of 125 million users monthly in the European Union on its app and was taking steps to strengthen data security.

"We're continuing to enhance our approach to data security, including by establishing three data centres in Europe to store user data locally; further reducing employee access to data; and minimising data flows outside of Europe," the firm said.

The United States last year banned the app from federal government devices, and some US lawmakers are trying to prohibit TikTok from operating in the United States.

Last month, the Dutch government reportedly advised public officials to steer clear of the app over similar concerns.

Tough line on tech 

TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew was in Brussels last month for talks with EU officials during which they warned TikTok to ensure the safety of European users' data.

The company has said it is setting up centres in Europe to store user data locally and has promised to further reduce employee access to data.

TikTok also promised last year to hold US users' data in the United States to allay Washington's concerns.

The European Union has taken a tough line on technology companies, passing two major laws to make sure social media platforms adhere to the bloc's rules on digital issues. 

The Digital Services Act forces social media platforms, online marketplaces and search engines to react more quickly to remove content deemed in breach of EU regulations.

The other, the Digital Markets Act, prohibits anti-competitive behaviour by the so-called "gatekeepers" of the Internet.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong's finance chief unveiled a HK$761 billion (US$97 billion) budget on Wednesday, plunging into the coffers to pay for the recession-hit city's post-Covid recovery.

Hoping to kickstart the finance centre's economy, Finance Secretary Paul Chan announced tax cuts and more consumer spending vouchers. 

Hong Kong's leaders are keen to resuscitate its fortunes after posting recessions in three of the past four years — a tumultuous period that saw the economy battered by protests, virus controls and Beijing's authoritarian crackdown. 

While rival financial hubs reopened to the world long ago, Hong Kong only fully emerged from pandemic isolation earlier this month when it restored its border with mainland China, its main economic pipeline. 

"Our economy is at the early recovery stage, and members of the public as well as a large number of enterprises are still weighed down by tremendous pressure and require support," Chan told legislators while announcing his 2023/24 budget.

The latest blueprint for reversing the downturn allocates HK$5,000 ($637) handouts for more than six million people, half last year's amount as Chan is under pressure to rein in fiscal spending.

Other measures include salary tax breaks, welfare allowances and a "Happy Hong Kong" campaign aimed at making the city more enjoyable with food fairs. 

The budget will push the city's books into the red for a second consecutive year, but by less than some forecasters initially feared, with an estimated deficit of HK$54.4 billion.

Over the past three years, Hong Kong splashed out more than HK$600 billion on pandemic relief efforts.

The upcoming expenditures would bring one of the world's largest fiscal reserves down to around HK$763 billion ($97 billion), about half of what it was before the pandemic.

Betting on a rebound 

On its path to recovery, Hong Kong has made restoring its business-friendly reputation and reversing an exodus of both expatriate and local workers top priorities.

In three years, the city's workforce has lost more than 200,000 people.

Andy Kwan, of the ACE Centre for Business and Economic Research, warned that Hong Kong might spiral into a structural deficit if it fails to correct course.

"Medium- to long-term government revenue will be affected because both the economic growth and salaries tax will be undermined when quantity and quality of young labour worsens," Kwan told AFP.

To pull in more talent, Chan announced a capital investment scheme and reiterated measures first proposed by city leader John Lee in his maiden policy address last year, including relaxed visa rules for high-earners and elite university graduates.

Desperate for crowds to return and inject cash into the moribund economy, Chan unveiled a new loan pool of HK$2.7 billion for passenger transport operators and licensed travel agents.

The move builds on a charm offensive launched this month, with the government offering half a million free flights and ramping up publicity.

Hong Kong welcomed about 600,000 visitors last year as it rolled back quarantine restrictions, compared with 56 million arrivals in 2019. 

The economy shrank by 3.5 per cent last year as the city reeled under its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak, with GDP dropping in every quarter.

But Chan appeared confident of a rebound.

"I believe that Hong Kong's economy will visibly recover this year," he said. "I remain positive."

DUBAI — Dubai's airport welcomed 66 million passengers in 2022, more than double the previous year, it said on Tuesday, a spike its chief executive attributed to "huge growth" in Russian travellers.

The main business hub of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates is home to one of the world's busiest airports.

The airport "welcomed a total of 66,069,981 passengers during 2022", representing year-on-year growth of 127 per cent, according to a statement.

In 2021, around 29.1 million passengers passed through Dubai, and the authorities had expected 57 million visitors for the year 2022.

India, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom topped passenger arrivals but Russia has also "been an important contributor", CEO Paul Griffiths said.

"We've seen a huge growth in the Russian market since the... tensions between Ukraine and Russia" started on year ago, he told AFP.

Russians accounted for 1.9 million passengers — more than double the 912,000 recorded for 2021, Griffiths said.

The UAE has maintained a neutral stance towards Russia's war in Ukraine, which is nearing its one-year anniversary.

The Gulf nation has emerged as a top destination for rich Russian emigres fleeing the impact of Western sanctions.

Russians were the top buyers of Dubai properties last year, according to brokerage Betterhomes, bolstering the city's record real estate transactions last year.

Dubai's airport was briefly closed to commercial flights from March to July 2020 due to COVID-19. It was one of the first travel hubs to reopen after the pandemic.

In 2020, it received only 25.9 million passengers, down from the 86 million the previous year.

RABAT — Moroccan trade union activists protested on Sunday in the capital Rabat and other cities to denounce surging costs of food and fuel, defying a government ban against marches.

Protesters from the Democratic Labour Confederation (CDT) staged rallies outside their offices in Rabat and Casablanca as well as other cities "following the decision of the authorities to ban marches", senior CDT member Rajae Kassab said.

Morocco banned marches due to a "health state of emergency" put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and still in force, according to a letter from the interior ministry to CDT, which was seen by AFP.

In Rabat, several dozen demonstrators surrounded by police officers chanted slogans against "the deterioration of purchasing power".

"We came... to alert officials to the tense social situation," CDT official Rachid Lemhares told AFP.

Morocco has seen months of rising prices and growing calls for caps on energy firms' profits. Soaring costs of food in recent days have provoked stiff criticism from trade unions, the opposition and the media.

Inflation peaked at 8.3 per cent at the end of 2022, fuelled by the effects of the war in Ukraine and shifts in global supply chains, according to the World Bank.

Rabat has blamed recent price increases on speculation on basic goods, and government spokesman Mustapha Baitas on Thursday announced the seizure of 192 tonnes of such products.

Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch has promised to "strengthen market control" and lower prices in the coming days, and subsidies have been issued for basic necessities such as petrol, gas and flour.

NEW YORK — ChatGPT, Silicon Valley's latest app sensation, has investors rushing to find the next big thing in generative AI, the technology that some hail as the beginning of a new era in big tech.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly present in everyday life for decades, but the November launch of the conversational robot from start-up OpenAI marked a turning point in its perception by the general public and investors.

"Every so often we have platforms that come along and result in an explosion of new companies. We saw this with the internet and mobile, and AI could be the next platform." said Shernaz Daver of California-based Khosla Ventures.

Generative AI, of which ChatGPT is an example, wades through oceans of data to conjure up original content — an image, a poem, a thousand-word essay — in seconds and upon a simple request.

Since its discrete release in late November, ChatGPT has become one of the fastest growing apps ever and pushed Microsoft and Google to rush out projects that had until now stayed carefully guarded over fears that the technology wasn't yet ready for the public.

"Just five days after its release, a million people used ChatGPT — about 60 times faster than it took Facebook to reach one million users," said Wayne Hu, a partner at SignalFire, another venture capital firm..

"Suddenly investors are all talking about how ChatGPT might eliminate millions of knowledge worker jobs, disrupt trillion-dollar industries, and fundamentally change the way we learn, consume, and make decisions," he said.

The explosion of generative AI comes at an otherwise morose time for the tech sector, with tens of thousands of layoffs cascading through the world's biggest companies as well as smaller ones that are struggling for survival.

"While other categories are facing a contraction in valuations and raising capital, generative AI companies are not," said Daver.

Hu said that the market valuations for generative AI companies have been sky high, while they have contracted for everything else.

'Hard to keep up' 

OpenAI, the ChatGPT creator, is valued by Microsoft at nearly $30 billion despite still burning through money at a high speed, he said.

Entrepreneurs specialising in generative AI say they no longer need to scream out for attention when hunting for cash or walk through the details of what they are trying to offer.

"It's helped us a lot," said Sarah Nagy, founder of Seek AI, a start-up that allows nonspecialists to extract technical data from a database using queries in everyday language.

"Before ChatGPT... I had to explain what generative AI is, and why it matters," she added.

Now the appetite for ChatGPT-like capabilities is seemingly limitless, and not only from investors.

"The demand from customers has increased a lot," said Nagy. "It's even hard to keep up, because we're still a small company."

The entrepreneur wants to grow her team and, according to Daver, while the trend is to downsize, "we are currently hiring" in generative AI. 

In the last few weeks, it is mainly the giants that have been in the news, first and foremost Microsoft, OpenAI's partner and investor, followed by Google, which is trying to keep up. 

But in their shadow, a galaxy of start-ups have ideas on offer too. 

Other recent examples of funding rounds include California-based Kognitos, which aims to automate administrative tasks, and the platform for designers Poly that can whip out 3D graphics or maps in seconds. 

In addition to the usual venture capitalists, tech giants are on the lookout, like Google, which just invested $300 million to acquire 10 per cent of newcomer Anthropic and its chatbot Claude.

Hu said the ChatGPT "gold rush" could be unprecedented and expand well beyond Generative AI because the very technology itself minimises the need for a computer coder or designer to execute ideas. 

"Now you no longer need to get a Stanford PhD in computer science: any developer can build something amazing on top of ChatGPT and other foundation models in one weekend." 

"This wave of AI could be bigger than mobile or the cloud, and more on the scale of something like the Industrial Revolution that changed the course of human history," Hu said.