Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The economic, social and political pressures building throughout the Middle East present a multitude of exciting challenges and opportunities. If there can be any certainty, it is that in a generation, the region will look conspicuously different, viewed from any of these perspectives.
RIYADH: Emirates will operate the first A380 service into Riyadh to mark Saudi Arabia’s 81st National Day on Sept. 23.
DUBAI: Global Capital Management Ltd., the alternative asset management arm of Kuwait’s Global Investment House, is planning a $350 million private equity fund in Turkey, one of two funds the firm is eyeing for launch, its managing partner said.
WASHINGTON: Business leaders and former US government officials urged a congressional committee tasked with slashing America’s debt to “go big” and consider major reforms of government assistance programs as well as the tax code.
JEDDAH: Etihad Rail — the master developer and operator of the UAE’s national railway network — has appointed China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CSR) to supply 240 covered wagons for the carriage of granulated sulfur in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi.
LONDON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is prepared to provide external financing to Libya if necessary but does not expect the country to need such help beyond the short term, a senior official of the global lender said.
CAIRO: Egypt’s Finance Ministry will offer 4 billion pounds ($669.7 million) of two-year and three-year bonds in an auction on Sept. 19, the central bank said.
DUBAI: Majid Al-Futtaim Ventures, the investment arm of MAF Holding, plans to set up a new greenfield establishment that will complement its shopping malls business, its chief executive said.
DUBAI: Egypt’s bourse slipped on Sunday after a weekend of protests against Israel and clashes with police further dampened investor appetite, while Gulf markets were mixed as Europe’s ongoing debt woes continued to worry investors worldwide.
LONDON: For cash-strapped Europe, China is an appealing source of financing. But the response to an attempt by a Chinese businessman to open a leisure resort in Iceland suggests growing suspicion and a potential backlash that could stifle the relationship.
WASHINGTON: A global financial industry group blasted attempts by European and US regulatory authorities to rein in speculation in commodity markets, saying tighter rules would hurt market liquidity.
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa’s Sasol Ltd, the world’s top maker of motor fuel from coal, defied a stronger rand to post a 27 percent rise in full-year earnings, helped by cost cuts and higher commodity prices.
NEW DELHI: A leading Indian trading firm has sold 100,000 tons of non-basmati rice to Nigerian buyers at $470 per ton, undercutting Thai and Vietnamese competitors in the first deals since the food minister gave a nod to 2 million tons of exports.
NEW YORK: Citigroup cut its third-quarter earnings outlook and price targets for several US banks to reflect the continued volatility in US credit markets and the absence of a lasting solution to the European sovereign debt issues.
LONDON: Any plans to force banks to convert customers’ FX loans at fixed exchange rates are risky and could deflect from other attempts to stabilize currencies, the chief economist of emerging Europe’s development bank said.
COPENHAGEN/LONDON: Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping company, threw out a challenge to rivals by introducing a more streamlined and frequent service without a surcharge on its key Asia-Europe routes.
ZURICH/NEW YORK: Swatch Group as ended its alliance with Tiffany & Co, accusing the high-end US jeweller of undercutting efforts to promote the watches sold in their joint venture.
BENGHAZI: Pro-Qaddafi forces did not damage the main part of an oil refinery near Ras Lanuf when they attacked the complex on Monday, the chairman of the company which runs it said. Muammar Qaddafi forces attacked the refinery gate, killing 15 guards and wounding two, in what appears to be an attempt to stop Libya’s new rulers from reviving the economy.
ATHENS: Greek workers threatened to sabotage a new property tax decided by the government as a last-ditch effort to please international lenders, ignoring warnings that Athens will run out of cash next month.
MOSCOW: Prime Minister David Cameron called for better business ties with Russia before talks with Russian leaders intended to improve relations soured by the murder of a Kremlin critic in London five years ago.
NEW YORK: Carol Bartz, who was fired as chief executive of Yahoo Inc. last week, has resigned from the company’s board of directors.
SINGAPORE/LONDON: Iran has raised its official selling prices (OSPs) for October-loading crude to its customers, traders said, giving a bigger increase to the Mediterranean market than to Asia and Northwest Europe.
DETROIT/RUESSELSHEIM, Germany: Near the peak of General Motors Co’s financial crisis, Opel workers laid a coffin at the feet of the brand’s founder Adam Opel to mark what they considered the death of the brand.
RIYADH: The Capital Market Authority (CMA) board has issued its resolution approving Saudi Hotels & Resorts Company’s request to increase its capital from SR690 million to SR1 billion through issuing one bonus share for every 2.23 existing shares owned by the shareholders who are registered in the shareholders registry at the closing of trading on the day of the extraordinary general assembly.
FRANKFURT: Volkswagen accused Japan’s Suzuki of violating their near two-year old partnership and gave it an ultimatum of several weeks time to fix the situation, marking a new low in relations between the two carmakers.
FRANKFURT: German airline group Lufthansa has mandated banks to sound out a potential sale of its loss-making British unit bmi, a source familiar with the process said.
AMMAN/BAGHDAD: Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region halted oil exports on Sunday, a move that will result in “big losses” for the national economy, Iraq’s oil minister said.
JEDDAH: Saudi Oger announced that it has completed the formation of a senior arranging group of banks for the landmark $800 million senior secured term loan facility, SR3.97 billion advance payment guarantee facility and together with the term loan facility for Saudi Oger in relation to the King Abdullah Project 2.
The Islamic finance industry's newest market, Oman, may be seeing a flurry of activity with new authorizations in Islamic advisory and Takaful following the recent approvals for the establishment of two Islamic banks, Bank Nizwa and Al-Izz International Bank.
International credit rating agency, Standard and Poor’s (S&P;) assertion in a report published last week that Turkey’s participation (Islamic banks) “could continue their recent strong growth if they can cultivate stronger ties with their international owners and create a sustainable brand image,” underpins an Islamic finance market which is as old as the one in Malaysia and others in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
JEDDAH: Top American firms are seeking new partnerships with leading agriculture and food companies in the Kingdom.
AMMAN: Iraq’s Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi said a production capacity target of 8.0-8.5 million barrel per day for contracts signed with international oil companies was “more suitable” than the current plateau target of 12 million bpd.
CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank canceled auctions for 91-day and 273-day treasury bills worth 6 billion Egyptians pounds ($1 billion), the Finance Ministry said on its website.
LONDON: Former BP boss Tony Hayward is considering whether to step down from the board of Russian oil joint venture TNK-BP but has yet to inform the British oil company of any decision, a spokesman for the company said.
Oil markets have traveled a long distance. $100 is the new norm. A few years back, when oil markets broke this psychological barrier for the first time, pundits were taken aback.
TOKYO: Big Japanese manufacturers turned optimistic in the third quarter as output recovered swiftly after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but scaled back forecasts for the months ahead due to the yen’s strength and a looming global slowdown, a Ministry of Finance survey showed.
BREGA, Libya: Libya’s interim oil and finance minister Ali Tarhouni said oil production will resume in three to four days and that output will reach pre-war levels within a year.
BERLIN: The surprise exit of Germany’s top official at the ECB has ripped a hole in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s strategy of tackling Europe’s debt crisis with closer integration, raising new doubts about the euro project at home and widening divisions in her party and coalition.
THESSALONIKI, Greece: Greece slapped a new tax on real estate to plug a 2011 budget hole, please international lenders and secure a key new loan tranche as concerns mounted in Europe over its euro zone membership.
ABU DHABI: The Third Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association (GPCA) supply chain conference will feature an unparalleled line-up of industry leaders from the Gulf and global chemical and petrochemical communities, it was announced Sunday.
South African asset management company, the Oasis Group, a leading provider of Islamic and socially responsible investment products, is aggressively expanding its overseas operations and is set to open an office in London later this year as part of its expansion strategy.
THESSALONIKI, Greece: Debt-laden Greece’s government vowed on Saturday to stay the course of austerity, sending a message to its increasingly frustrated lenders it will do everything it takes to avoid a bankruptcy that would rock the euro.
MARSEILLE: Germany’s finance minister said Saturday he wants his deputy to take on a key position at the European Central Bank (ECB) and will make proposals for the governance of the euro zone next week.
RAS AL-KHAIMAH: The second annual Global Arab Business Meeting (GABM) will be held at Al-Hamra Convention Centre in Ras Al-Khaimah from Oct. 9-10.
MARSEILLE; After months of talk that Europe can only be saved by slashing its spending, a growing chorus of voices is calling for a new tack, encouraging governments to instead stimulate growth — even if that means spending money.
LONDON: The US and China are likely to find themselves competing for access to Middle East oil as China’s booming economy demands increasing amounts of energy and the US becomes increasingly reliant on the region for its petroleum, experts said.
DUESSELDORF: Apple Inc. scored a symbolic legal victory in efforts to keep its lead spot in the tablet computer market when a German court upheld a ban barring Samsung’s local unit from selling its Galaxy 10.1 tablets in Europe’s biggest economy.
NEW YORK: Oil prices fell on Friday as the euro and equities tumbled on increasing gloom over economic growth and reinforced worries about Europe’s debt problems.
RIYADH: Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) has been selected to get ‘Excellence’ award in geographic information systems (GIS) application by Esri, an American company specialized in digital GIS.
