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FARNBOROUGH, England – Arch rivals Boeing Co. and Airbus announced new orders worth almost $13 billion at the start of the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday, raising hopes that the aviation industry is on the way back up after a dire two-year slump.

The aerospace market “has come back faster than we expected” and Boeing has twice raised its internal forecasts for the number of orders at the biennial show, said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Abaugh.

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JEDDAH – GCCs foreign direct investments (FDI) into the European Union jumped ?2.3 billion to ?63 billion in 2008, EUs statistical office Eurostat said.

Foreign direct investments in the GCC from the European Union countries surged to ?4.6 billion in 2007 to ?18.9 billion in 2008, the Eurostat said. Luxembourg was the largest recipient of GCC FDI at ?59.3 billion.

FDI from the GCC made up 31.8 percent of total FDI inflows into the EU in 2008, the second-biggest by a regional bloc. FDI worth ?65.8 billion from North America to the EU made up 33.1 percent.

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LUXEMBOURG – Despite continuing tensions over economic policy, European Union finance ministers agreed Tuesday on far-reaching steps to tighten oversight of national governments budgets and crack down on falsification of economic data, in a concerted effort to avert a further loss of confidence in the euro.

Two days of talks in Luxembourg also ended with a detailed agreement to set up a ?440 billion, or $526 billion, safety net for debt-laden members of the euro zone.

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BERLIN – Dubais Emirates, the Arab worlds largest airline, has placed an $11 billion order for 32 A380 superjumbo jets from EADSs Airbus unit in a surprise opening to the Berlin Air Show.

Airbus called the unexpected vote of confidence the largest commercial aircraft order by dollar value ever. It came as EADS showed off the capabilities of its embattled A400M military transporter plane and as it faces a dispute with German military bosses over problems with two of its new helicopters.

Emirates order would be worth just over $11 billion at a list price of $346.5 million per plane, though airlines typically receive discounts for large orders.

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JEDDAH – Commodity reported that Middle East region is now emerging as a strong contender for steel industry as not only government backed projects but also independents have been heavily investing in the steel capacities that is poised to change the recognition of the region from oil pocket to steel hub in coming years.

Steel companies in the Middle East region have been sailing through all odds only to emerge stronger than ever, Commodity Online.com reported on Friday.

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JEDDAH – KBC Group (KBC) has reached an agreement with the Hinduja Group for the sale of its private banking subsidiary KBL European Private Bankers (KBL epb) for $1.69 billion.

The Hinduja Group is a diversified international group founded in 1914 and employing over 50,000 people. It is headquartered in Europe and has offices in many of the largest cities in the world and all major cities in India. The Group has a 30-year history of long-term investments in 10 key sectors covering automotive, energy, hydrocarbon chemicals, information technology, media, and entertainment, infrastructure and project development, real estate, healthcare, trading and banking and finance..

Hinduja Bank is present in Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai as a Category 1 licensed bank. Besides, the Hinduja Group owns Hinduja Bank Switzerland, a private bank active across Europe, the Middle East and India in wealth management, private banking, trade finance and corporate advisory services. It was founded in Switzerland in 1978 and has held a Swiss banking license since 1994. It is headquartered in Geneva with operations in Switzerland, Dubai, the UK, France, the US, Mauritius and India.

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JEDDAH – More than 1200 international and regional business leaders and officials from over 30 countries will participate in the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference 2010 to be held in Riyadh on May 18-19 at the Al Faisaliah Hotel.

The Ministry of Finance will be the official partner for the fifth consecutive year and Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Saudi minister of finance will deliver the keynote speech. The event is also supported by major financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, NCB, HSBC, SAMBA and SHUAA Capital.

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BRUSSELS – European leaders clinched a deal to rescue Greece from its debt crisis, with a standby package of loans backed by the International Monetary Fund halting the euros slide on Friday.

The historic pact – which re-writes the euro zone rule-book for all – was designed to “reassure all holders of Greek bonds” that European partners “will never abandon Greece,” according to European Union president Herman Van Rompuy at a European Union summit in Brussels.

In Paris, the interest rate which Greece has to pay to borrow money fell sharply on Friday after an EU safety net was agreed for the country and a helping hand came from the European Central Bank, traders said.

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WASHINGTON – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday it will help 16 African nations trying to stop their gold and diamond sectors from being misused to fund terrorism.

Expressing concern on increased “links between the trade in precious minerals and illicit financial flows, corruption, drug trafficking, arms smuggling and the financing of terrorism,” the IMF said “a range of technical assistance programs and seminars” will be offered.

The programme will be funded with contributions from Britain, France, Kuwait, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Switzerland, a statement said. “Better regulation and oversight of the precious minerals sector will not only help these countries combat these phenomena, but also boost revenues and improve their fiscal situation,” said Emmanuel Mathias, a senior IMF official.

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PARIS – Greek Prime Minster George Papandreou headed to Paris on Sunday, the third stop of a four-city tour seeking firmer European Union and US support for harsh austerity measures that have sparked violent protests at home.

Athens is adamant that it has done all it can with the new measures to reduce its massive 12.7 percent budget deficit.

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