World's tallest hotel opens in Dubai by the fourth quarter of 2012

JW Marriot recently announced that the world’s tallest hotel opens its gates by the fourth quarter of 2012. The complex named “JW Marriott Marquis Dubai” stands over 355m high and therefore is the tallest hotel in the world with a total of 5,100 m2 of space. The hotel will have 1,608 rooms surpassing other Dubai hotels by a large number. With this building, groups of about 1,000 people can meet and stay in one complex, making Dubai an even more attractive place on the global conference market. The “Marquis” will offer nine restaurants, five lounges, entertainment venues and a spa. It is located on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road.

German-Palestinian municipal partnerships initiate various projects

An international conference to promote joint projects of European and Palestinian communities was held in December 2011 in Cologne. The municipalities agreed to meet quarterly to discuss the implementation of new projects. Cologne plans to cooperate more intensively with Palestinian communities in the fields of health, water supply and sport. In general, the focus of the cooperation between German and Palestinian municipalities lies on environmental issues, such as waste management and water treatment as well as cultural cooperation. Thanks to these partnerships many promising projects can be realised and both municipalities can learn from each other. Especially in the field of environmental issues, Palestinian cities can share their knowledge with experienced German municipalities. There are also municipal partnerships between Israeli and Palestinian as well as German communities, which also aim to strengthen the cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian cities.

Yemen starts its first renewable energy project in 2012

The Ministry of Electricity and Energy plans to construct a 60MW wind farm near the city Al-Mokha. The construction will require investments of about USD 120m and will take two years. Funding is being provided by the World Bank, OPEC, the Yemeni government and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. Yemen has a coastline spanning more than 2,500 km and considerable potential for wind power generation, with an average wind strength of 8 m/s. Next to the project near Al-Mokha the Yemeni government has also launched four other priority energy projects: the development improvements of infrastructure, a gas-fired project and the construction of a substation in Sana’a capable of generating 32kV. At the moment renewable energy sources contribute less than 1% to the total power consumption, because many projects are still in their start-up or testing phases.