Arab Health 2025 is the leading healthcare trade show in the region.

The event boasts fabulous opportunities, innovation-focused sessions, and a one-stop juncture for collaborating and networking with professionals from the entire healthcare industry, globally.

It takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 27-30 January 2025 and, is aimed at highlighting the unconventional and seminal ideas that are to revolutionise the healthcare industry for the next 50 years.

What is the Transformation Zone?

The Transformation Zone is the spotlight feature of Arab Health’s 50th anniversary celebrations in Dubai.

The three key pillars of the zone are as follows;

• Transformation Talks
• The Innvo8 Start-up Competition
• Product Showcase

Transformation Talks

Industry pioneers and leaders would give predictions for the healthcare industry, for the next 50 years, at these sessions.

The sessions would give the attendees a chance to

• Familiarise themselves with the changes that are to come about in mental health, space medicine, healthcare innovation
• Know about how AI is to be incorporated in the healthcare industry
• Gain insights into the future of the healthcare industry

Innov8 Start-up Competition

The Innov8 is intended to unfold the future of healthcare entrepreneurship at the Arab Health 2025. The competition would have 24 startups from around the world, to pitch leading-edge and innovative concepts to change the face of the healthcare industry.

The startups would highlight

• Progressive healthcare technologies
• Use of AI in the healthcare industry
• Role of biotechnology
• Future professionals who intend to redefine the healthcare industry in the following decades

Product showcases

The Arab Health 2025, is all set to showcase new and visionary healthcare products and solutions from the global healthcare industry.

The product showcases intend to

• Exhibit the latest and innovative healthcare products
• New technology in the healthcare industry
• Cutting-edge inventions to shape a healthier world

The product showcase would be of interest to

• Companies manufacturing healthcare products
• Organisations involved in the manufacturing of medical equipment
• SMEs intending to showcase their own latest and innovative products

Why you should be at Arab Health 2025

• To network with industry leaders and pioneers
• To familiarise yourself with healthcare advancements, the use of AI in healthcare, robotics, space medicine and beyond
• To know of the next wave of healthcare advancements

Oman has announced a public holiday on Thursday, January 30, 2025, to mark Isra Wal Miraj. The holiday will apply to employees across both public and private sectors, according to a statement from the Ministry of Labour.

The ministry also clarified that employers may require employees to work on the holiday if necessary, provided compensation is offered in accordance with labour laws.

Isra Wal Miraj, also known as the Night Journey, is a significant event in Islamic tradition that commemorates Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) miraculous journey and ascension.

Kuwait declares extended holiday

In Kuwait, the Civil Service Commission has announced a three-day holiday for Isra Wal Miraj, running from Thursday, January 30, to Saturday, February 1. While the occasion officially falls on Monday, January 27, the Kuwaiti Cabinet rescheduled the observance to Thursday, creating an extended weekend.

Government offices and institutions in Kuwait will remain closed during this period and will resume operations on Sunday, February 2. Essential services, however, will adjust their schedules to ensure uninterrupted operations.

The decision aims to balance the observance of religious occasions with practical considerations, the government said.

No holiday in the UAE

Unlike their neighbours, UAE residents will not have a holiday for Isra Wal Miraj. The occasion was previously included in the UAE’s official list of holidays until 2018. However, in 2019, the government decided to exclude it from the list. That same year, the Cabinet unified public and private sector holidays.

Retiress from federal entities, other emirate governments, or the private sector who are registered in Sharjah will now receive a supplementary grant.

This is according a statement published on local news agency WAM. Individuals earning a pension below Dhs17,500 per month will be eligible for this financial support.

Important: UAE launches basic health insurance for private sector workers, domestic staff

The decree with regards to the same has been issued by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

Who is eligible for the grant

The grant will ensure their monthly income is raised to Dhs17,500, provided they do not receive any other salary, bonus, or pension that exceeds this amount.

Payments will begin from the date the application is submitted.

The decree also establishes a “Supplementary Grant Committee for Retirees” in Sharjah under the supervision of the Department of Human Resources.

Insights: How insurance will shape a driverless world

Disbursement of the grant

The Department of Human Resources will oversee the receipt and review of applications, annually updating beneficiary data and verifying eligibility.

The entity will also prepare and regularly audit lists of eligible retirees.

The Sharjah Social Security Fund will handle monthly disbursements of the supplementary grant, while the committee will define the required documentation and procedures for application.

‘Vibrance Senior’: Tailor-made insurance plan for senior citizens in UAE

It was in November 2024, that Aster DM Healthcare had teamed up with Dubai Insurance to launch ‘Vibrance Senior’, a first-of-its-kind health insurance plan that is tailored to meet the needs of senior residents in the UAE.

The health insurance plan ensures that seniors have access to comprehensive medical services, ranging from preventive care to advanced treatment, through Aster’s expansive network of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies.

Vibrance Senior offers premiums tailored to different age groups, subject to medical underwriting. These include seniors aged 65–69: Dhs16,693 annually, seniors aged 70–74: Dhs22,146, and seniors aged 75–79: Dhs27,591.

The dollar partially rebounded on Tuesday after sliding the day before as President Donald Trump suggested the US could impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico by February 1, challenging suggestions his trade policy may be more gradual.

Trump told reporters his team was thinking of tariffs around 25 per cent, but offered no other specifics. He also floated the idea of universal tariffs, but said the US was not ready for that yet.

The dollar had fallen sharply on Monday after Trump’s first day included no specific plans on tariffs and officials signalled any new taxes would be imposed in a “measured” way, a major relief for trade-exposed currencies.

A following trade memo merely directed agencies to investigate and remedy persistent trade deficits.

“Just because nothing specific was announced, there is clearly a threat that tariffs are coming and they could be quite chunky in size,” said Dominic Bunning, head of G10 FX strategy at Nomura.

“Some of the threat in terms of speed and scale of those tariffs coming in quickly has been diminished, but I think the market is still wary.”

The market reaction was a knee-jerk fall in the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso and a jump in the dollar. The US currency climbed 0.8 per cent to 1.4429 Canadian dollar and added 1.2 per cent on the Mexican peso.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against six peers, rose 0.6 per cent to 108.58, having shed 1.2 per cent on Monday in what had been the sharpest one-day drop since late 2023.

‘Taking back Panama Canal’

The euro eased back to $1.0362, from an early top of $1.0434. The EU runs a sizeable trade surplus with the United States and has been seen as a major target for Trump’s tariffs.

Talking to reporters on Monday, Trump said he would remedy the trade imbalance either through tariffs or by Europe buying more US oil and gas.

“The first few hours of the Trump administration has underscored that policy environment will be dynamic once again and markets should brace for volatility,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore.

“Clearly, the markets celebrated too soon with tariff threats missing at the outset in Trump’s inaugural speech.”

The inauguration speech focused on emergencies in immigration and energy and a more expansionist foreign policy, including a pledge to take back the Panama Canal.

In his first term in office, Trump had a history of announcing imminent plans for policy proposals, including on healthcare and infrastructure, only for nothing to eventuate.

Against the yen, the dollar was little changed at 155.68.

“The yen still has some room to tactically outperform,” Nomura’s Bunning added.

“(Japan) is probably less directly impacted by tariffs than many other countries.”

The yen has alsorecently been supported by growing expectations the Bank of Japan would raise rates at its policy meeting this Friday, following comments from policymakers last week.

Markets are pricing around an 86 per cent chance of a quarter-point hike

The dollar added 0.3 per cent on the offshore Chinese yuan to 7.2896. Trump has previously threatened China with tariffs of up to 60 per cent, but was vague on his plans on Monday.

Beijing later set a stronger fix for the yuan, suggesting it was still inclined to not let the currency fall too quickly.

The onshore yuan finished the domestic session at 7.2798 per dollar, the strongest such close since December 13.

dnata Catering & Retail, part of the Emirates Group, is investing $31.2m (AUD50m) to expand its Melbourne Airport facility, which will advance the logistics giant’s capacity to meet the evolving demands of its growing customer base by providing innovative catering and retail solutions.

The expansion project will add 5,700 square meters to the company’s existing facility, increasing its total footprint to over 16,000 square meters – the largest airline catering centre in Victoria with the capacity to produce 25 million meals annually.

The construction of the facility is underway, and it is scheduled to be operational in September 2026.

“This significant expansion of our Melbourne facility is an important step in our ongoing growth journey, enabling us to meet the rapidly increasing demand for our quality services. It will contribute to our efforts to support the local economy and communities by creating new jobs and stimulating growth in associated sectors,” said Hiranjan Aloysius, dnata Catering & Retail’s Regional CEO for Asia Pacific.

dnata’s planned AUD80m in infrastructure investment is expected to create more than 300 direct jobs over the next three years and generate indirect employment through partnerships with local suppliers.

Last year, the logistics firm invested more than AUD200m in products sourced from local Australian suppliers.

dnata currently provides catering and retail services in Australia to more than 40 airline customers at nine airports. The company’s catering and retail division produced over 50 million meals, serving full-service, low-cost and VIP carriers from more than 60 locations in the first six months of 2024/25.

Read: dnata Logistics expands footprint with $27m facility in Dubai South