RIYADH: The UAE’s central bank expects real gross domestic product growth of 7.6 percent this year, an upward revision of more than a percentage point, while lowering expectations for growth next year, state news agency WAM said on Monday. Real GDP was expected to grow 3.9 percent in 2023, revised down from a previous estimate. The UAE’s economy minister said earlier this month that GDP is expected to grow 6.5 percent this year, and more than 7 percent next year. WTO meeting The next World Trade Organization ministerial conference will be held in Abu Dhabi in February 2024, the global trade watchdog confirmed in a statement on Twitter on Monday. The UAE and Cameroon were both vying to host the event and came to an informal agreement for Abu Dhabi to host the first one and Cameroon to do the next, trade sources said last week. Trade ministers from the body’s 164 members meet every few years at ministerial conferences and seek to agree on new global commerce rules. Recognition The Emirates Development Bank has received an award for the “best micro finance bank in the Middle East” by the 2022 Global Banking and Finance Awards, WAM reported on Monday. The Global Banking and Financing Awards is a global institution, honoring top performers amongst banks and other financial services providers that stand out across certain categories of specialty. Ahmed Mohamed Al-Naqbi, CEO of EDB, said: “This award marks a major milestone for EDB and is in line with its strategy and commitment towards the nation’s developmental agenda. Micro SMEs are slowly becoming the backbone of the UAE’s economy and contribute to the nation’s economic diversification and industrial advancement.” Auto sector Emirates Global Aluminium has agreed to supply CelestiAL solar aluminum to Kobe Steel to make automotive body sheets for Nissan. The agreement with Kobe Steel will see the supply of EGA’s CelestiAL solar aluminum to one of the largest rolling mills in Japan. Automotive body sheet is used by the giant Japanese automaker to form vehicle body panels such as doors and bonnets. EGA currently supplies thousands of tons of aluminum to Kobe Steel every year, in a business relationship that stretches back more than 25 years. In 2021, EGA became the first company in the world to produce aluminum commercially using solar power through a partnership with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which operates the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park in the desert outside Dubai. (With inputs from Reuters, WAM)