U.A.E. Emaar’s owner wants to create an Arabic Amazon

Eager to tap the small but growing online sales market in the Arabian Gulf (sales of US$5.3 billion in 2015), Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar Properties, has launched Noon as an e-commerce venture, together with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund. Based in Riyadh, Noon will offer 20 million products from fashion to electronics from January 2017 to Saudi Arabian and U.A.E.’s consumers. The initial investment of US$1 billion, with US$500 million from Mr. Alabbar and...