Saudi Arabia has ample war chest for spending

Saudi Arabia, which unveiled plans to launch a US$400 billion development program, has ample funds for more investment spending over the next few years despite global financial turmoil. Muhammad al-Jasser, the central bank's vice governor, said the kingdom's economy was well-protected from the "vagaries" of financial markets. "We are receiving the winds flowing with contagion but we do not have the crisis that is swirling in Wall Street," the central banker said. Saudi Arabian Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf said that the kingdom planned to implement a US$400 billion development and investment program in the oil and government sectors over the next five years.

Gulf monetary union to be inked at Muscat summit

A high-level official at the Gulf Co-Operation Council confirmed that the upcoming GCC summit in Muscat (December 29 and 30) would see the signing of the bloc's monetary union accord. The member-states will sign the accord regardless of bridging present discrepancies between member-states with respect to economic growth indices, the official added. Kuwait had broke ranks with the bloc by dropping the dinar's peg to the dollar, followed by Oman's declaration of a blatant walk-out on the monetary union endeavour.

Egypt: Outsourcing champion

Egypt's outsourcing sector is getting a boost of international recognition. The country was recently awarded the prize for best outsourcing destination by the British National Outsourcing Association (NOA). This comes as much needed encouragement, with the government trying to attract more investment to the sector at a time of international economic gloom. Hazem Abdel-Azim, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency, who received the prize in the name of the Egyptian government, stated that it was "a source of pride for the Egyptian communications and information technology sector”.

NoozzVIEW; Kuwait grapples with crunch

Although many of the Gulf States have been thrown into financial difficulties as a result of the credit crunch sparked by the dramatic collapse of the US sub prime mortgage market, it is Kuwait, the world's fourth largest oil producer, that has experienced the most trouble in terms of lack of local investor confidence. This was exemplified last month when news that one of Kuwait's largest banks was in trouble prompted a protester to transport a donkey to the Kuwait Stock Exchange. His ruse was disrupted by the police before there had been time for it to become clear whether his gesture had been directed at the exchange management, the government, parliament or investors in general.

Bahrain: Light in the dark

Having long prepared for the day when its own dwindling oil reserves would not meet domestic demand, let alone provide valuable export revenue, Bahrain has gone much further down the track of diversifying its economy than the rest of the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Partly due to Bahrain's comparative shortage of natural resources that have enriched the other member states of the GCC, the Kingdom is better placed than many of its neighbours in the Gulf region to ride out the worst of the global economic storm. According to a report issued by the Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes on November 9, Bahrain is unlikely to be affected by the recent decline in oil prices, as it does not rely on energy exports for revenue. Importantly, while the report warned that major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait could see a slowing in the rate of growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Bahrain could actually expect a modest rise, due to the diversity of its economy.

NoozzVIEW; Sarkozy's “Club Med” makes progress

Against the diplomatic odds, the new 43-member North-South Grouping proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and inevitably dubbed the new “Club Med” of international politics, has made sufficient progress after initial difficulties – many involving the Middle East conflict – to find an agreed headquarters and is prepared to start meeting in earnest. It will be based in the impressive Palace of Padralbes in Barcelona and be known in official language from now on as the Union for the Mediterranean. Competing claims for the headquarters from member states such as Tunisia and Malta, plus a compromise suggestion of Brussels were overcome at a meeting recently completed in Marseille.

NoozzVIEW; Campaign to spread microfinance in Egypt

At a moment when macroeconomics is coming under the world spotlight – and often in a none too flattering way – a campaign is under way in Egypt to push the concept of microfinance, particularly among the nation's women for whom it can prove an important tool of empowerment. Microfinance has already received a favourable press on the Indian sub-continent. But according to Dr Iman Bibars, Cairo-based head of the Association for the development of Women there are a number of problems facing the sector in Egypt. There are to date no specific microfinance laws in Egypt comparable to those in other Middle East countries like Morocco. There is also, according to Dr Bibars, a lack of information about the programme, with the result that to date “about 80 per cent of the Egyptian population is not aware of the lending processes currently in place, or the opportunities available to them.”

UAE to inject cash in new bank rescue vehicle

The United Arab Emirates government will inject capital into its newly created Emirates Development Bank, which is taking over troubled Islamic lenders Amlak and Tamweel, according to a media report. "The federal government will inject new capital in the merged entity and acquire a sizeable stake," it was reported. No sources were named. A cash injection would represent the first big step by the federal government, dominated by the oil-exporting emirate of Abu Dhabi, to bail out high flying banks in neighbouring Dubai, suffering under the global financial crisis.

India, Oman to set up US$100m investment fund

Accelerating efforts to prop up growth as the global slump is threatening their ascending economic trajectory, India and Oman put together a US$100 million fund for financing multi-sector projects in the two countries. The discussions between Singh and Bu-Sa'id focused on enhancing trade and economic ties. The two sides signed an agreement for the setting up of an India-Oman Investment Fund with initial seed money of US$100m, which would eventually go up to US$1.5 billion. The fund, which will see the two nations chipping in with equal amounts, will finance projects in various sectors including infrastructure, tourism, health, telecom and urban development.

NoozzVIEW; Pressure to tighten financial rules

As each of the oil-rich Gulf States cope in their way with the manifest implications of the world's financial crisis, there have been calls in Kuwait claiming that the country could attract more private investors seeking a refuge from credit crunch-damaged financial centres if plans were hurried to tighten financial regulations. A bill to create a financial regulator that would greatly help improve transparency on the Kuwait City stock market ha so far been stalled by the often fractious parliament, while another piece of important legislation to privatise state-owned firms has also been delayed.