News

Sheikh Hamdan Says Amazon Is Vital To Dubai’s Digital Growth

The eCommerce powerhouse will feature 100,000 small and medium enterprises by 2026.

Published

3 years ago

March 15, 2023

Nour Nasir

Amazon

Amazon currently displays 50,000 local and international retailers on the Amazon.ae arm of its website but intends to double this figure by 2026, spotlighting 100,000 small and medium businesses while offering training and qualifications to help launch applications on digital platforms.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, applauded Amazon’s announcement, which fits well with the UAE’s plans for digital economy expansion.

sheikh hamdan amazon dubai digital economy expansion

“Dubai has positioned itself as a thriving center for the digital economy [and] I welcome Amazon’s plans to showcase 100,000 businesses, including local SMEs, on Amazon.ae by 2026,” said Sheikh Hamdan on Twitter.

Also Read: Crypto Trading Platform Rain Gets Faster, Direct Payments

The initiative would give Emirati companies a global platform, aligning with the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 aim to double the size of the economy over the next ten years, transforming Dubai into one of the world’s top three global cities.

Amazon’s announcement will offer UAE entrepreneurs a broader reach to worldwide markets, putting their products in front of 300 million customers. Business owners will also be able to outsource fulfillment to Amazon, alleviating any potential shipping headaches.

News

Samsung And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

6 days ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

Also Read: Shokz OpenFit Pro Review: Open-Ear Audio Finally Grows Up

For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.