3rd Global Entrepreneurship Summit Opens In Dubai

Source: Gulf Business (Read full story)

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The summit, in partnership with Entrepreneurial Ventures of Arabia, aims to bring the MENA region’s most prominent names in business together with SMEs and entrepreneurs that, as Barack Obama said in his pre-recorded message, “could be behind the next big private companies for their cities and their countries.” The majority of keynote speakers over the two day conference, and the business names in attendance, are from the United States or MENA region. HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum addressed the hundreds of attendees at the opening ceremony, as did HH Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, minister of foreign affairs.

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Kuwait, Iraq bury hatchet over Mubarak Al-Kabeer port – Public Works Ministry renovates Subbiya road

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

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Meanwhile, Kuwait and Iraq have ended the dispute over Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port and ushered in a phase of “wonderful understanding over this issue”, Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khaled Al-Jarallah said here Monday. “The State of Kuwait and the brotherly Republic of Iraq have closed the chapter of the question over Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, and entered into a stage of wonderful understanding over this issue,” he told reporters following a ceremony by the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait to mark Japan’s National Day.

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Fault lines in GCC banking sector threaten recent growth, according to AlixPartners study

Source: AME Info (Read full story)

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The report suggests that significant risks in the economic environment remain, requiring immediate counter-measures by bank managers. First, the recovery in banks’ net interest margin (the difference between the interest income generated by banks and the amount of interest paid out to their lenders, relative to the amount of their interest-earning assets), which the report says has been driven mostly by government infrastructure projects, underscores that the link between banking performance and oil prices is too close. Heavy government involvement in such projects, which guarantees free capital to the system, coupled with protection at home, has resulted in safe and stable returns, notes the study.

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Yemen leader, Saleh son in standoff over missiles

Source: Gulf Times (Read full story)

The commander of Yemen’s Republican Guards has refused orders from the president to hand long-range missiles over to the defence ministry, political sources said, raising the risk of a showdown between the country’s two most powerful figures.
The standoff between Brigadier General Ahmed Saleh, son of ousted former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi could delay an overhaul of armed forces that split last year during a mass uprising, worsening disorder.
Restoring security in Yemen is a priority for the US and Gulf allies because Al Qaeda militants are entrenched in parts of the country, posing a potential threat to Saudi Arabia next door and nearby shipping lanes.

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