King Abdullah lends new dimension to unification
Source: Arab News (Read full story)
The Kingdom’s National Day, celebrated on Sept. 23, has come a long way in broadening the concept of unification over the years. Though it meant unifying the disparate sheikhdoms into territorial integrity under its founder, late King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud, its implications across the socioeconomic and cultural spectrum, however, were not lost on the successive rulers in the House of Saud. It was Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who fine-tuned the definition of unification as an operating philosophy. After all, a country’s unity and territorial integrity demands that the various elements involved in holding it together — from demographic to socio-economic — should also be reinforced in the national interest.
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UAE GDP forecast to expand 4.5% this year amid economic recovery
Source: The National (Read full story)
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GDP in the UAE is forecast to grow 3.9 per cent this year, according to the median estimate of 18 economists in the Bloomberg Middle East Economic Survey, up from 3.4 per cent in the previous quarter. The country’s non-oil economy is forecast to expand 4.5 per cent during 2013, the fastest pace since 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and IMF estimates. In July, the IMF said that overall GDP growth would ease from 4.3 per cent last year to 3.6 per cent this year. In the non-oil economy, expansion would accelerate to 4.3 per cent, from 3.8 per cent last year as airports, hotels and shopping malls benefit from a surge in visitors and trade flows remain robust. However, the IMF also urged caution about signs of recovery in the property market. Dubai is recovering from a 65 per cent slump in property prices during the financial crisis. Home values rose 22 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the broker Knight Frank said this month.
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Rights Move Hailed
Source: Gulf Daily News (Read full story)
The Prem-ier yesterday hailed endorsement of Bah-rain as headquarters for the Arab Court of Human Rights. He told the weekly Cabinet meeting that this affirms priority given by the kingdom to rights issues. Approval by the Arab League Council comes after the initiative by His Majesty King Hamad at the 140th meeting of the league council in Cairo. In a similar context, the Cabinet affirmed that Bahrain protects freedoms and preserves rights without restraint and in accordance with the constitution and law. Moreover, civil society organisations are free to function without restrictions and those who respect the law and the system do not have to face any hindrances, the Cabinet asserted. “There is no place for violence or those who support terrorists, and obstruct democracy and political development,” said His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
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GCC to grow 4.3% in 2014
Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)
GCC countries, having experienced two years of sustained economic growth, are expected to slow to just above four per cent in 2013 mainly due to the global demand slowdown, but will boost growth in 2014 on the back of solid economic and financial fundamentals, Euler Hermes, a worldwide leader in credit insurance, said on Sunday. While the Global economic growth will be lower than earlier forecast at just 2.2 per cent by year-end due to eurozone contractions (-0.5 per cent), there will be moderate growth in emerging countries at 4.4 per cent, the credit insurance major said at the inaugural “Trade Credit Insurance Summit” underway in Dubai. Moreover, civil society organisations are free to function without restrictions and those who respect the law and the system do not have to face any hindrances, the Cabinet asserted. “There is no place for violence or those who support terrorists, and obstruct democracy and political development,” said His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
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Will Yemen ever have a stock market?
Source: Yemen Times (Read full story)
The rooms on the fifth floor at the Cooperative and Agricultural Credit Bank of Sana’a are almost completely deserted. At one time the floor was home to 14 foreign-trained professionals, who were supposed to be a part of Sana’a’s pilot stock market. Now, there are only four employees sitting at computers, slowly pushing papers around. “We are currently preparing the website, which will include the details of the project,” said Ahmed Al-Sanabani, one of those employees, but he didn’t elaborate on when the website would be completed. About 15 years ago, with the consultation of the Arab Monetary Fund, and as part of desperately needed economic reforms, the Yemeni government put forth a plan to launch the Sana’a Stock Market. Since then, the government has several times reinvigorated the idea. But the dream, to attract investment in one of the world’s least developed countries, has never happened.
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