THE SHARJAH CHAMBER of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has launched a Development Strategy for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Sharjah, The move aims to enhance the role of private sector establishments in national economic growth and sustainable development. The announcement was made during a press conferenceat the Chamber?s building in the presence of SCCI Director General Hussein Mohammed Al Mahmoudi.

EMIRATES STEEL INDUSTRIES (ESI) has commenced the commissioning of its new steelmaking plant in Mussafah. "Construction of the countrys first integrated steelmaking operation continues to advance with the commissioning of a world-scale plant that will produce steel billets, the raw material for ESIs new state-of-the-art rolling mills," the company said in a statement. The latest plant includes an electric arc furnace and a caster to mould the billets.

GULF EXTRUSIONS, ONE of the largest aluminum extrusion plants in the Gulf, recently announced that it has been awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certification for Quality Management, a benchmark of excellence given to companies that conform to worldclass international standards. The certification affirms the company?s continuing thrust of providing only the best quality aluminum products in the region.

Khalifa Sat will be able to take high quality images from an orbit of 600km above Earth. (Image source: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is all set to begin work on its first satellite, Khalifa Sat, that will be built and manufactured entirely by Emiratis and be ready by 2017