Search Results for: Saudi Arabian

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait City

THE KUWAIT National Petroleum Company is pushing ahead with multi-billion dollar energy projects, recently green lighting a US$14 billion budget for the 615,000 bpd Al Zour refinery, the world’s largest purpose built facility of its kind.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait

THE MARKET for fake car parts in the Middle East is rising at an alarming pace, now accounting for an estimated 30% of the region’s US$11 billion parts sector. In a recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report, the Middle East was highlighted as a central market in the US$16 billion global trade in fake auto parts, which is growing at an estimated 9-11% a year.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait City

KUWAIT is set to follow Dubai by banning smoking in public places, a move that is expected to further hit local struggling non-premium tobacco distributors, who are still reeling from a hike in duty and advertising bans imposed five years ago.…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

FOLLOWING the late-November OPEC summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Tehran to discuss joint ventures over oil refining and then chuckle with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over the weakened US dollar.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CHINA has been baldly accused of hosting much of the world’s booming counterfeit auto parts production. A detailed report by the planet’s largest think tank – the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – said: "China has been repeatedly identified as the principal source of counterfeit activity in the automotive sector, involving both trademark and design infringements.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

SAUDI Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy and a major political player internationally, has been linked to terrorist financing, but despite AML and CTF measures put in place by the kingdom, very little is known about the country’s implementation and adherence to regulations.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

WITH demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) surging across the globe, the Persian Gulf is at the epicentre of LNG developments due to its vast gas resources. But the rapid expansion of the sector is not without complications.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
WITH demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) surging across the globe, the Persian Gulf is at the epicentre of LNG developments due to its vast gas resources. But the rapid expansion of the sector is not without complications.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
Bahrain has a population of less than 800,000 and is not a major market for the international players, but with a growing economy sales are consistent and should increase as the retail environment develops. No soaps or cosmetics are made in Bahrain, imported from plants in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as from Asia, Europe and North America.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
Lebanon’s cosmetics, toiletries and perfumery sector, excluding shaving creams and soaps, is estimated to be worth US$180 million a year, according to L’Oréal.

The sector was seriously affected by the month long war between Israel and Hizbullah last year.…