Hello reader,

In today’s newsletter:

Here are the significant stories influencing the region's direction in the most recent updates from Arabian Business.

In case you missed them yesterday, our editorial team has carefully selected and summarised these stories to keep you well-informed about the latest developments from Tuesday:

The UAE will offer visa-free travel to citizens of another country in Asia from February 1.

However, new daily COVID-19 cases are climbing globally once more due to a new variant of the virus. The JN.1 variant is closely related to BA.2.86, also known as the Pirola variant, which was spreading rapidly across the globe in August last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But, what does this mean for the UAE?

Nevertheless, the nation’s real estate sector demonstrated resilience despite challenging global economic conditions, leading to robust growth across major asset classes in 2023, according to JLL’s A Year in Review UAE report.

Property leasing deals in Dubai, in particular, are estimated to have seen a four-fold jump in January 2024 till date amidst a huge jump in the delivery of completed homes by developers in the city, industry insiders said.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties has unveiled the launch of a new residential community – Sama Yas, located on Yas Island, this community is set to offer luxury park living.

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