Economy

Syria: Tying the trade knot with Baghdad

Having gone through a series of ups and downs over the past decade and a half, Syrian-Iraqi relations are experiencing a definite upturn of late.

In the past few years, the heaviest traffic along Syria's border with Iraq has been a human one, with more than 1.5m Iraqis seeking sanctuary over the border. However, that seems set to change, with ties between Damascus and Baghdad thawing and trade set to soar.

UAE-India trade to hit US$25bn by 2009

UAE-Indian trade relations witnessed upbeat activity over the last few years. Indian exports to the UAE totalled US$10 billion in 2007, mainly comprised of building materials.

The Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone (RAKFTZ) discussed the development of commercial relations with the Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the means by which to augment bilateral national trade volumes between both countries.

Executive Briefing: Egypt battles rising prices

Seeking to boost supply, the government announced it would suspend import duties on rice, dairy, edible oils, and types of cement and steel. This joins a raft of recent measures aimed at controlling prices which include a six-month freeze on rice and cement exports, an order for army bakeries to boost production, and the erection of government-run kiosks to distribute bread.

Interview: Iraq to attract US$2bn investment in a year

Iraq's minister of Industry and Minerals, Fawzi Hariri, speaks exclusively to Noozz Managing Editor Tony Glover about how he intends to privatise state-run industries while raising £2 billion in foreign investment over the next 12 months.

The Guardian: Qatar world's fastest growing economy

The Qatari economy is currently classified as one of the fastest growing and best performing economies in the world. Qatar also controls one of the most important sovereign Arab funds, characterised by high liquidity levels.

A report excerpted by the British daily named Qatar, China and 'Africa' as the best performing economies in the world today. Qatar recently established an investment fund which accrued 15 percent returns in the last six month, snubbing the global economic crisis.

NoozzVIEW; Pressures build on food supplies

Food markets in the Gulf region are in a spin. Prices are inexorably rising and imports, on which all GCC countries depend, are not only expensive but drying up. India has announced an export ban on non-basmati rice, one of the staple foods in the region, and Pakistan too has restricted the export of lentils.

These moves are in response to steep price hikes at home, brought on turn by shortages of rice, flour and other basic commodities.

GCC and EU 'a lot closer' to FTA

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the 27-nation European Union have this month come 'a lot closer' to signing the much delayed Free Trade Agreement that has eluded them for close to 20 years.

"They are finally on the way to securing a world first in international economic and trade agreements. The FTA will be the first ever between two major regional groupings of the world," said the European Union Ambassador to GCC, Bernard Savage, though he declined to set a date for the signing.

News Analysis: Employers must meet Qatar quotas

Companies operating in Qatar will soon have to meet quotas on the number of Qatari nationals they employ.

As March ended, Qatar's labour ministry announced a deadline for both private and public companies to comply with Qatarisation laws - they have until March 31, 2009 to ensure 20 per cent of their staff are from the national population.

NoozzVIEW; Sino-Gulf links closer

At a time when China's image is taking a battering from its treatment of Tibet, it must be proving of great satisfaction in Beijing how smooth is the path to its improved ties with the Gulf, where the lacklustre links that connected the two wealth producing regions up until the early 1990's have been replaced by a genuine warmth.

NoozzVIEW; De-pegging still being debated

Nearly a year after Kuwait shook the financial community by unilaterally de-pegging the dinar from the US dollar and linking it instead to a basket of currencies, other members of the six-strong Gulf Cooperation Council have yet to follow suit.

And in the corridors of the region's central banks, the debate about the wisdom of the move continues. Most of the speculation about a possible similar move has concentrated on Qatar and the UAE, but neither has yet taken the plunge, although the dollar's decline has continued.

Qatari banks are strong but exposed to a real estate shock and economic downturn, S&P says

In a recent report, "Bank Industry Risk Analysis: Qatar (State of)," Standard & Poor's ranks the Qatari banking system in Group 5 of its global Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA).

"This classification reflects the system's stellar financial performance, solid capitalization, and ample liquidity," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Mohamed Damak. These positive factors are partially counterbalanced by the narrowness of the country's economy, and the system's increasing vulnerability to a real estate sector shock--exacerbated by the rapid and untested credit expansion.