DGCX’s volume hits all-time monthly high in June

Total volume on Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) rose to an all-time high in June at 192,138 contracts, surpassing the previous peak achieved in November 2009, according to DGCX.

The strong activity was led by significant increases in volume across all product suites – precious metals, currencies and crude oil. Month-on-month volume rose by 24% for gold, 95% for Euro/Dollar, 40% for INR and 187% for WTI futures, DGCX said in a press release.

Setting yet another record, the volume of Indian Rupee/Dollar futures also scaled a new monthly high in June, at 12,159 contracts, demonstrating robust demand for the product.

Trading and participation on the Exchange has continued to expand since the start of 2010, borne out by a year-to-date June 2010 volumes of 934,403 contracts compared to 631,850 contracts over the same period in 2009, a growth of 48%.

The underlying value of total commodity and currency futures transactions in June was $10.846bn.

Commenting on the activity in June, Eric Hasham, Chief Executive Officer, DGCX, said, "June marked several milestones for DGCX. In addition to achieving the highest traded overall and Indian Rupee volumes, June also saw the launch of three new currency contracts." "The DGCX INR/Dollar futures contract is the only exchange-traded Rupee futures outside of India, and is witnessing new interest from businesses, arbitrageurs and investors," said Hasham. "This is spurred by the contract’s higher liquidity, competitive trading costs, guaranteed settlement and reduced counterparty risk."

UAE residents, media, industry, sponsors give high ratings to Dubai International Film Festival in Nielsen survey

UAE residents and visitors, members of the press, industry participants and sponsors are extremely positive about the Dubai International Film Festival, the emirate’s flagship cultural event, according to the results of an independent survey released by The Nielsen Company and Festival management.More than 95 per cent of the 560 Festival-goers (general public) polled deemed the variety of films on offer during the week-long Festival as perfect in every way, excellent or good; with 94 per cent describing the films selected as relevant to current local, regional and global issues. A full 99 per cent said they would recommend the festival to a friend; and 98 per cent said they would attend again.On customer service, 96 per cent of those surveyed rated DIFF customer service staff as perfect, excellent or good. More than 99 per cent appreciated the Madinat Jumeirah facilities, with the Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Festival City facilities earning 98 per cent and 92 per cent favourability respectively.DIFF Chairman Abdulhamid Juma said the Festival commissioned the customer satisfaction survey to evaluate perceptions in the local, regional and international community, and to measure the quality of service experienced across audiences. Nielsen also surveyed 60 media, 60 film industry participants and Festival sponsors during December 2008, on location at DIFF venues and through off-site interviews.“All of us who work on the Festival want to provide the best possible experience for all our guests and partners, whether they are watching films in the cinemas, participating in our events and industry gatherings, investing in us or reading about us around the world,” Juma said. “This survey is one means of ensuring the Festival’s continued success, by keeping us in close contact with our audiences and assessing our efforts to provide a quality, accessible and continuously improved event.”The Festival will work to address the few areas of improvement mentioned in the survey, including the need for more information about Festival films, he added.Film industry attendees, including buyers, distributors and festival programmers from the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, praised the quality of the Dubai Film Connection, a DIFF-initiative launched to market Arab talent and film projects. They also gave high marks to the panel sessions convened by The Exchange, the Festival’s training and development wing, to discuss important industry issues. Industry participants also cited the presence of international industry influencers as a critical plus.The survey, one of the most comprehensive conducted for any event in the region, used mystery shopping exercises and in-person interviews to record the most accurate perceptions of the Festival. It polled 560 members of the public, 60 media representatives and 60 industry participants through face-to-face interviews as they exited the cinemas. An additional five sponsors were also interviewed in person.The sixth edition of the Dubai International Film Festival will be held from December 9 to 16, 2009.
 

E-Vision Brings The Future Of Television To The UAE With The Launch Of Its High Definition & PVR Services

E-Vision which is part of Etisalat and the leading cable TV provider in the region, announced today the commercial launch of High Definition (HD) programming for UAE viewers. With this, E-Vision has become the first Pay TV provider in the Middle East to launch a commercial HD service. For UAE TV viewers, this move represents a transformational experience as they will now be able to watch programmes in greater detail with more vibrant colour and superb quality sound to really bring their HD ready TV to life.

To start with, E-Vision’s HD service will offer content from Abu Dhabi TV HD, Luxe HD, Fashion TV HD , Showtime HD and Al Jazeera Sports HD. E-Vision customers can now enjoy an unparalleled HD experience with four times better picture quality than standard definition with increased colour vibrancy.

E-Vision’s HD service will be available to customers through the new HD set top box which also offers PVR (Personal Video Recorder) features. Customers will need to pay a monthly fee of 30 AED with the HD set top box costing AED 999 to access 3 complementary HD channels. Showtime Cable Premier customers may also upgrade to the Showtime Cable Premier + HD package for an additional AED 45 per month. The new Set top box being introduced has a built in PVR with 250 GB hard disk. E-Vision customers will now be able to pause and rewind live TV, schedule recordings of their favorite TV shows and as a matter of fact – create their own TV channel and view it at their own convenience. This PVR feature will also allow customers to watch one particular channel while recording upto two different ones at the same time.

Etisalat has always lead the way in transforming the lives of its customers with exciting new services over the years and its huge investment in a state of the art Fiber Network has made it possible for E-Vision to become the pioneers to launch HD TV services.

“The launch of E-Vision’s HD service represents a significant landmark in the UAE Pay TV market”, said Humaid Rashid Sahoo, CEO ,E-Vision,. “This milestone is a clear indication of our vision to be a pioneer in offering the most innovative services to our customers. With HD Television sales now surpassing Standard Definition TV sales according to global indicators, this move is clearly in line with what our customers are asking for with their savvy outlook and sophistication in settling for nothing but the very best in TV programming.”

Mr. Sahoo added, “The commercial launch of E-Vision’s HD service will create a compelling user experience for our valued customers and represents our unwavering commitment to respond to our customer’s increasing need for high-quality programming with the intensity and attractiveness of HD. With an already large installed base of HD ready TV sets in the UAE, the service will redefine the television experience for an increasing number of customers going forward.“

E-Vision is also in talks with various content providers to add to its HD programming package and will unveil additional channels during the year as and when they become available. In terms of being ready to offer HD programming, E-Vision had already completed the necessary overhaul of its infrastructure two and a half years ago, and now with the availability of content is ready to offer these services to its valued customers.

E-Vision is the leading regional source to offer over 280 TV channels, in 21 different languages, ranging from sports to movies, from documentaries to music and kid’s channels. E-Vision’s product line-up includes 15 premium packages from all the major TV providers like Showtime, Orbit, ART, Pehla, Firstnet, TFC, Pinoy Plus and many more, in addition to the E-Vision Basic package.

For further details on E-Vision’s HD service, customers can call 101 or 800-101 or visit the E-Vision website at www.evision.ae.