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RAK-P has announced a Dh29.5m ($8m) profit for 2009 and Dh30.5m for Q1 10. The company made a loss of Dh210.7m in 2008.

The Islamic Development Bank group’s International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation has signed a Dh73m ($19.8m) trade finance agreement

Volcanic ash affects itinerary; Iraqis descend on Riyadh; Washington nuclear summit, Clinton; Funeral; Death of mother; Equestrian exploits; New Adia head; Funeral; Comings and goings

Iraqis descend on Riyadh, Washington nuclear summit: Funeral; Death of mother; Equestrian exploits; New Adia head; Funeral; Comings and goings

Public tensions have died down following reports of a skirmish between Emirati and Saudi vessels that was blamed on a dispute over the route of the Dolphin pipeline which brings Qatari gas to the UAE

Both parties have yet to deny or confirm the incident, but a reported clash between Saudi and Emirati patrol boats has attracted much media attention and highlighted the potential for friction among GCC allies that has provoked renewed fears for Gulf security

Allawi meeting

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, a son of the UAE’s founding president, has died after a microlight aircraft he was learning to fly crashed in Morocco on 26 March. Sheikh Ahmed was managing director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) and had substantial business interests.

Abu Dhabi’s ambitious Mubadala Development Company has released results for 2009, which are better than those for 2008, although it appears MDC is substantially dependent on government-related operational activities, external investments and shares in foreign entities to offset losses elsewhere in its portfolio to make an overall profit. “Total comprehensive income was Dh8.6bn, largely driven by revenue from the sale of goods and services at Dh13.1bn and improvements in the fair valuation of investments at Dh6.4bn,” said MDC’s report.

In December 2009, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan established the Council of Border Affairs, replacing the Permanent Border Committee.

Atradius Dutch State Business has highlighted a significant series of claims and payment delays.

Six Abu Dhabi government-related entities and UAE state-owned Etisalat have been downgraded, while Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s first review lacks detail

Former head of Abu Dhabi’s Hydra Properties Sulaiman Al-Fahim has provided the western media with a bounty of stories over the past two years, but has been in even deeper trouble back home. In December, a Dubai court issued an irrevocable ruling against Al-Fahim and other defendants and ordered them to pay more than Dh8m ($2.1m) plus interest to an Azeri businessman over a property dispute – in another case that has highlighted the pitfalls of doing business in a region where transparency has its limits.

Despite the US company’s $170m deal with the UAE, European firms are proving increasingly strong competition for air-launched missile systems contracts

The International Monetary Fund has issued a relatively detailed Article IV report on the UAE for the first time in several years. It starts by outlining 2009’s “significant slowdown in growth and strains in the banking system as a result of the global financial crisis, the decline in oil prices, and the continuing fallout from the bursting of the Dubai property bubble”.