Financial Times to launch Middle East edition

REGIONAL LAUNCH: The FT plans to print a full Middle East edition of its newspaper out of the UAE.

The UK's Financial Times (FT) is to launch a full Middle Eastern edition of its famous newspaper in Abu Dhabi to be published every Tuesday and Thursday, ArabianBusiness.com can exclusively reveal.

"It's a full-edition newspaper," one source told ArabianBusiness.com about the newspaper's ambitions in the region. "The paper will have its main office in Abu Dhabi but also an office in Dubai."

Roula Khalaf, currently the Middle East editor of the newspaper, will head the newspaper's regional edition at its main office in Abu Dhabi and Simeon Kerr, the newspaper's Gulf correspondent, will head the office in Dubai.

Lionel Barber, who helms the newspaper in London as its main Editor, will direct the newspaper's launch this week.

The inaugural edition of the newspaper will be launched on Tuesday April 29 at the Emirates Palace with guests including Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, minster of foreign trade, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, CEO and managing director of Mubadala Development Company and Hussain Al Nowais, vice chairman of Abu Dhabi Basic Industries Corporation.

Representatives from the Financial Times were unavailable for comment on the launch.

The Financial Times' decision to have a Middle East edition comes only weeks after the government of Abu Dhabi launched a major English-language daily newspaper, The National, headed by former Daily Telegraph editor Martin Newland.

RELATED: The National makes UAE debut

Launched on April 16, The National's editorial team of 200 is the largest working on an English-language daily in the region.

In December last year, UAE-based Arab Media Group also announced the launch of Emirates Business 24/7, the Middle East's first English-language daily dedicated to business and economic news, which replaced Emirates Today.

RELATED: Emirates Today scrapped

British newspapers The Times and The Sunday Times in May 2007 began publishing their international editions in the region through a licensing agreement with Saudi-based SAB Media.

RELATED: The Times to hit Gulf newsstands

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