Search Results for: saudi arabia

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Damascus and Amman

JORDAN and Syria both have large tobacco markets, with a third of Jordan’s population, and around 60% of Syria’s male population, being smokers. Both markets are growing, spurred on by large young populations and the cultural prevalence of smoking cigarettes and nargileh (water pipes), but not all is rosy in the sector.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

CONTRARY to Islamic stereotyping, lingerie sales are extremely healthy in the Middle East, although the brand is not as important as the style.

Indeed, there is lingerie openly on display that in Europe would usually be confined to sex shops.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

CONTRARY to Islamic stereotyping, lingerie sales are extremely healthy in the Middle East, although the brand is not as important as the style.

Indeed, there is lingerie openly on display that in Europe would usually be confined to sex shops.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is offering a comprehensive European Union (EU) free-trade deal to Russia, to secure cheaper and more reliable gas and oil supplies. Commission president José Manuel Barroso said the EU will offer this to Russia once it has joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), maybe this year.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Damascus

CLASSES at all of Lebanon’s universities have been cancelled and international students and faculty are being evacuated following Israel’s air and sea bombardment of the country.

The American University of Beirut’s (AUB) provost Peter Heath announced Sunday that all classes for the summer semester were cancelled until further notice.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Damascus

THE SOFT drinks market in Syria is undergoing unprecedented growth, expected to surge 17%-18% this year over last year’s 12% growth, and Pepsi’s share of the market growing after just under a year of operations in the country.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

SAUDI Arabia’s paint sector is expanding vigorously – it is expected to grow by up to 10% this year on the back of high oil prices spurring on consumer spending, and a multi-billion dollar construction boom.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

THE COSMETICS and toiletries market in the Middle East is booming with 12% growth expected this year in a US$2.1 billion sector. Market trends differ from country to country, but the general trend is rising demand for European cosmetics over local products in the wealthier Arab countries, largely due to aggressive marketing campaigns by the major brands, and high demand for unregistered, fake brand name perfumes in countries with sizeable low-income populaces, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

OVER the last five years the Middle East and North Africa region has firmly joined the global effort to fight money laundering and terrorist financing by setting up national financial intelligence units and a regional watchdog, the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA-FATF).…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Cairo

WITH the fight against money laundering and counter terrorism financing relatively new to the Middle East (the first plenary session of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force

– MENA-FATF – was only held last year), financial institutions from the US and MENA met in Cairo for a Private Sector Dialogue (PSD) conference to discuss the implementation of international regulations in the region.…