Search Results for: UAE

LEBANON was an important shop window for Middle East and North Africa manufacturers of tobacco molasses used in hookahs until a public smoking ban was implemented in 2012. And while the ban has dented Lebanon’s strategic positioning, as a popular regional tourist destination and with the Lebanese travelling widely, the country is still an important market.…

SO diverse are the Middle East’s oil and gas reservoirs and the environmental conditions encountered that companies focused on optimising exploration and production view the region as a giant laboratory for proving new technologies.

Its oil also varies hugely in viscosity, from the Arab Light crude of Saudi Arabia’s Al Khurais onshore field to the heavy crudes in Oman’s Mukhaizna onshore field.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

THE UPRISINGS in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the past two years have had a negative impact on the construction and paint sectors, throwing a proverbial spanner in the works when the region was striving to come out of recession.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

It has been a been a turbulent time in the Middle East since the Arab uprisings swept much of the region over the past year-and-a-half, with not only sales of cosmetics, toiletries and perfumeries being depressed by losses in consumer confidence, but also distribution being harmed, especially by the protracted conflict in Syria.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

LEGISLATIVE change and the setting up of green building councils is pushing demand for environment-friendly coatings in the Gulf, but the lack of enforcement of eco-laws in the region and the ongoing recession has hampered potential growth.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND MARK GAO, IN ISTANBUL

MOST states in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) have mulled developing nuclear power over the past decade, from Morocco to Egypt, and Jordan to Saudi Arabia, but only the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is coming close to embarking on the nuclear option thus far.…

BY MARK GODFREY, IN BEIJING

WHILE delegates at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual general meeting in Beijing remained concerned about the impact of the European Union’s (EU) emissions trading scheme (ETS) on global aviation, there was general consensus that the industry is growing healthily.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

THE FINANCIAL crisis, international regulations and the ‘Arab Spring’ have prompted Gulf countries to set up or expand the mandates of public watchdogs to curb corruption and financial malpractice. There have been some notable progress, but enforcement is still lagging.…

BY ROBERT STOKES, IN EDINBURGH

TO listen to many researchers, the ‘wonder material’ graphene will metaphorically transform base metal into gold. But what is in it for plastics manufacturers and what does the road ahead hold in store?

On the face of it – the material is impressive: graphene is a sheet of carbon, just one atom thick, around one hundred-thousandth of the width of a human hair, 200 times stronger than steel, and with the atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern.…

BY ROBERT STOKES, IN EDINBURGH; LEAH GERMAIN, IN EDMONTON; AND PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

AS the price of oil continues to rise and the demand for the valuable commodity increases worldwide, oil and gas companies are making major profits – yet this industry remains one where safety issues and hard physical work can cause injury.…