Technology

, DMCC, has joined forces with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts to significantly widen their strategic collaboration.

Dubai's leading international business hub, DMCC, has joined forces with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts to significantly widen their strategic collaboration. This enhanced agreement is designed to provide DMCC's extensive network of more than 26,000 enterprises with comprehensive access to a broad array of personal and commercial legal services offered by the DIFC Courts

Building upon a ten-year relationship, the updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) allows DMCC members to seamlessly incorporate DIFC Courts jurisdiction clauses into their international agreements. Crucially, businesses can apply these clauses to contracts with global partners without requiring any further ties to the UAE, thereby securing access to English common law dispute resolution and globally enforceable rulings. This expansion aligns with the DIFC Courts' recently launched five-year Growth Strategy (2026–2030), building upon a legacy that began with their establishment in 2004, global expansion in 2011, and the recent modernisation of their legislative framework via Law No. (2) of 2025.

H.E. Justice Omar Al Mheiri, director at the DIFC Courts, said, “Legal certainty is not a luxury for businesses operating at the frontier of global trade. It is the foundation on which everything else is built. DIFC Courts exists precisely for the kind of commerce DMCC members conduct: cross-border, complex and high-stakes. Our partnership with DMCC, now in its second decade, reflects a shared belief that legal certainty and commercial dynamism advance hand in hand. Any DMCC member can write DIFC Courts into their next contract, with any partner, in any country, and access English common law dispute resolution at a world-class standard. This partnership ensures that capability is not just theoretically available, but practically understood, accessible and used.”

Aside from traditional litigation, DMCC firms can now utilise the Mediation Service Centre, which introduced a more cost-effective and rapid dispute resolution pathway in 2025 where mediated agreements carry the full authority of a court judgment. Furthermore, companies operating within the technology, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency sectors—particularly those within DMCC's FinX ecosystem—will benefit from the Digital Economy Court. This specialised judicial body is equipped to manage intricate disputes surrounding blockchain evidence, AI-generated contracts, and digital asset insolvencies. Operating at 99 percent digital, the DIFC Courts actively support the Dubai Digital Strategy by delivering transparent and rapid proceedings.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and chief executive officer of DMCC, said, “As global trade flows become increasingly interconnected, access to sophisticated legal infrastructure is critical to maintaining business confidence and supporting international growth. Now in its second decade, our expanded partnership with the DIFC Courts reinforces Dubai's position as one of the world's most competitive and business-friendly jurisdictions. This ensures DMCC member companies can access a range of DIFC Courts services, including the Digital Economy Court, Mediation Service Centre, Notary Service, and Wills Service, enabling them to operate with greater certainty, protection, and efficiency. With almost 27,000 companies operating from DMCC across global trade and next-generation industries, institutional collaboration of this nature plays a key role in enabling businesses to scale internationally from Dubai.”

The partnership also extends its focus to estate planning and personal asset protection. Expatriate business owners and non-Muslim residents can register wills through the DIFC Courts to safeguard their local assets, business interests, and dependents. This fulfils a critical need for DMCC's highly diverse international community of executives and founders, which represents more than 180 nationalities. In tandem with this, the Digital Assets Wills Service, introduced in 2025, offers a modern mechanism for individuals to secure their cryptocurrency, digital tokens, and other blockchain-based wealth.

To ensure maximum engagement and practical readiness, both entities will roll out a series of collaborative workshops and webinars. The partnership will also feature targeted campaigns directly promoting these digital and estate services to DMCC's Wealth Hub and family office communities, alongside integrating DIFC Courts referral pathways directly into the DMCC member portal.

The signing ceremony marking this expanded MoU was attended on behalf of the DIFC Courts by H.E. Justice Omar Al Mheiri, Amna Al Owais, Reem Al Shihhe, Ahmed Al Kamali, and Ruksana Ellahi. DMCC was represented by Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Feryal Ahmadi, Lucy Donnelly, and Suhaila Aldhaheri. Ultimately, this alliance actively bolsters the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 by seamlessly weaving top-tier legal infrastructure into the fabric of the emirate's vibrant business environment.

A familiar name in the print sector across Africa and the Middle East, Manroland Sheetfed is set to close its historic Offenbach factory in Germany

In recent years, the German press builder, founded in 1871, received financial support from its parent company, Langley Holdings plc, allowing it to continue exporting its huge print machines to the world.

Last October, South Africa’s Government Printing Works ordered the cutting-edge ROLAND 710 Evolution from Manroland Sheetfed, which boasts a production capability of 16,000 sheets per hour, making it one of the most efficient presses in its class.

In November, Manroland Sheetfed announced the successful installation of the ROLAND 706 LV Evolution at Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Co. in Saudi Arabia, underlining its broad footprint across the region.

While the print machinery group enjoyed great success across the region in decades past, its decline reflects a shrinking market for printing presses globally.

Business in China, its primary overseas market, has also suffered in recent years.

The closure of the Offenbach site could mean the loss of more than 600 jobs.

Manroland Sheetfed’s spares and service business has also been put up for sale.

AESG has announced the expansion of its Mission Critical division, strengthening its capabilities to deliver fully integrated, multidisciplinary design services for data centres across the region.

The move builds on the company’s track record of delivering 27 data centre projects globally and positions it to support clients throughout the entire project lifecycle, from early advisory stages to commissioning. The expansion comes amid rapid growth in the GCC data centre sector, which is projected to rise from around US$3.5bn in 2024 to US$9.4bn by 2030.

AESG’s strategy centres on addressing persistent challenges in mission critical infrastructure delivery, particularly cost overruns and schedule delays that affect a significant proportion of projects. By integrating disciplines such as MEP, structural engineering, cost management, sustainability and commissioning within a single team, the firm aims to improve coordination and ensure buildability from the outset.

This approach enables earlier identification of design conflicts, tighter budget control and continuous validation throughout development, reducing risks typically encountered in later project stages. The company believes this integrated model is essential as data centre projects become more complex, particularly with the rise of AI-driven workloads.

Power availability remains a key constraint across the region, with grid connection timelines in some markets extending up to three years. AESG is addressing this challenge by incorporating grid feasibility assessments at the concept stage, alongside the design of substations and exploration of hybrid energy solutions such as solar combined with battery storage. Established relationships with authorities in markets including United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are also helping to provide early insight into infrastructure capacity.

Sustainability continues to play a central role in the firm’s approach. With data centres accounting for increasing levels of energy and water consumption, AESG is applying its net zero expertise to improve efficiency. Advanced modelling techniques, including computational fluid dynamics, are being used to optimise cooling systems and reduce power usage effectiveness, an increasingly important metric for hyperscale operators.

The expanded division will be led by newly appointed Commercial Director Steve Liong and Head of Mission Critical Ferruh Ertekin, who together bring more than three decades of experience in delivering complex infrastructure projects across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Liong has extensive regional experience across the MENA market, having worked on projects ranging from concept design through to final delivery of facilities with capacities between 30MW and 50MW. Ertekin, a chartered engineer, has led the development of large-scale data centre campuses and power infrastructure projects, including hyperscale and colocation facilities.

Looking ahead, AESG plans to scale its mission critical capabilities across its offices in the Middle East, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company is also investing in advanced solutions such as on-site power generation to support projects in grid-constrained environments.

With demand for cloud services, AI infrastructure and digital transformation accelerating, AESG’s expanded offering is aimed at delivering resilient, future-ready data centre solutions tailored to evolving market needs.

Recent geopolitical developments in the Middle East have brought data centres under scrutiny, as a number of facilities were targeted in strikes over the past few days.

Analysts at DC Byte have assessed how the sector may be affected in the coming weeks and months, emphasising that immediate impacts are expected to remain limited.

The region remains a strategically important digital infrastructure market. Gulf states including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar continue to attract significant investment from cloud providers and hyperscalers, driven by demand for low latency, local data storage and digital transformation initiatives.

Most large-scale data centres in the Middle East are built with resilience in mind. Hyperscale facilities are designed with redundant power, cooling and network systems, controlled perimeters and environmental protections.

Workloads are often distributed across multiple availability zones and regions, allowing operations to continue even if one facility experiences disruption. Analysts note that such resilience has minimised service interruptions in recent weeks.

Nevertheless, the conflict has highlighted the need for ongoing risk assessment. Operators may increasingly consider proximity to potential strategic targets, military infrastructure and airspace coverage when planning new sites.

Emphasis on distributed infrastructure design, cross-country failover and hybrid cloud architectures is expected to grow, though major shifts in resilience strategy are unlikely.

Connectivity remains a key consideration. Network routing constraints can temporarily increase latency during high-traffic periods, prompting stakeholders to prioritise diversified cable routes and network redundancy alongside facility robustness.

Cybersecurity is another focus area, with modern conflicts often incorporating cyberattacks. Operators may now accelerate integration between cyber defence, physical security and operational monitoring to minimise potential disruption.

Supply chains are facing short-to-medium term challenges, with shipping delays and higher costs, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz. Scott Roots, Sales Director EMEA at DC Byte, warns that resource scarcity and alternative routing may affect project timelines and costs.

Despite these pressures, the GCC data centre market remains confident. The region currently has around 2.4GW of qualified capacity, with over 2GW in early stages, and investors have not paused development.

DC Byte CEO Bernard Johnson concludes that the sector’s exposure is largely to operational and planning risks, rather than a fundamental vulnerability, with affected sites representing only 1–2% of the regional market.