Railway along King Fahd Causeway under study
Source: Arab News (Read full story)
The governments of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are studying the possibility of building a railway line parallel to King Fahd Causeway to ease the flow of goods between the two countries. This is part of a larger 2,177 km Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) railway project that will connect Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Bahraini Transport Minister Kamal Ahmad said studies are under way to determine the project’s feasibility. “The Saudi and Bahraini governments have charged five organizations to study the possibility of building a bridge that will hold railway tracks parallel to King Fahd Causeway,” said Ahmad. The five organizations are the two countries’ ministries of finance and transportation and the King Fahd Causeway Authority.
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Qatar losing Mideast ground to Saudi diplomacy
Source: Gulf News (Read full story)
Qatar, a key supporter of Islamists who rose to power in Arab Spring countries, is losing ground in regional politics to Saudi Arabia, which appears to have seized the reins on key issues, notably Egypt and Syria. The decline in Qatar’s regional diplomacy comes as its powerful emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani unexpectedly abdicated in favour of his son Tamim last month. The country had transformed itself into a key regional player but began to retreat as heavyweight Saudi Arabia re-entered the political arena after lagging behind in the immediate period following the eruption of the Arab Spring uprisings in December 2010.
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Bahrain vows to bolster Egypt ties
Source: Gulf Daily News (Read full story)
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Shaikh Khalid was accompanied by a delegation comprising economic leaders and top businessmen. Joint Bahrain-Egypt committees in the economic, trade, cultural and information fields will be strengthened, he said. He stressed Egypt’s strong stance at Arab and international levels, and the importance of its stability in playing a leading role in the region. “Bahrain looks forward to seeing stability in Egypt to meet the aspirations of its people, who have shown the finest examples of tolerance and co-existence throughout history,” the Deputy Premier said. He later met at the headquarters of the Defence Ministry in Cairo Egyptian Armed Forces General Commander and Minister of Defence and Military Production General Abdulfattah Al Sisi.
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GCC IPOs Raise $48m In Q2 201
Source: Gulf Business (Read full story)
Initial public offering (IPO) activity in the GCC continued its depressing performance into the second quarter of this year with three new listings earning only $48 million in total. An IPO market watch report from PwC observed that total IPO values in Q2 2013 dropped 86 per cent compared to the $337 million raised by two listings in the first quarter of the year. The average offering value dropped 94 per cent this quarter compared to the same quarter last year where four IPOs raised $1.1 billion. Last year’s robust performance was due to the strong performance of the Saudi market, which had three out of four IPOs offered, the report said. IPO activity remains active in the Kingdom with two of the three offerings in Q2 2013 coming from Saudi-based insurance companies namely Aljazira Takaful Taawuni Company ($28 million) and AIG-ANB Cooperative Insurance Company ($14 million).
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RCA launches 15 projects in Yemen
Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)
The office of the UAE Red Crescent Authority in Yemen has begun implementing its Ramadan programme, which includes several projects. In preparation for the advent of the holy month and under the slogan “Ramadan Kareem with the UAE Red Crescent Authority”, the office opened 15 charitable and humanitarian projects in a number of remote areas in the governorates of Yemen. The projects included the construction of mosques and water projects, schools, health units and others. The beneficiaries expressed their thanks and appreciation to the UAE leadership and people for their continuous support and humanitarian aid, stressing that such sincere and fraternal attitudes would be always appreciated and respected by the Yemenis forever.
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