Search Results for: UAE

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has been pushing for more synchronised RNAV 5 area navigation within the Middle East. A regional meeting in Cairo has agreed there is a "need to harmonise the implementation of RNAV 5 in the MID [Middle East] Region."…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

THE ISLAND Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain has embarked on a US$4.7 billion (Euro 3.45 billion) expansion of its one and only commercial airport, the Bahrain International Airport (BIA), to handle rising passenger traffic and regain its position as an aviation hub in the region.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

INTRODUCTION

There are signs around the world that the textile market is beginning to recover from the global economic crisis, and developing markets will be leading that recovery. Asia is, of course, at the forefront, but many countries in Latin America have also weathered the crisis and have come out in a surprisingly decent position, with their dynamic textile and apparel industries well positioned for future expansion.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, EMMA JACKSON, PAUL COCHRANE and JULIAN RYALL

INTRODUCTION

Professionalisation is a key trend in today’s drinks sector, particularly as export markets are growing fast in emerging markets. With brand loyalty up for grabs, it is critical for alcoholic drinks producers especially to maintain and raise quality.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

WITH maturing fields, a need for more expansive upstream capabilities, and domestic energy demand spiking year on year, the United Arab Emirates is investing more than US$50 billion (Euro 36.6 billion) on oil and gas projects over the next three years to nearly double output capacity by 2020.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

PIRACY has increased exponentially off the coast of Somalia in recent years, with ships hijacked deep into international waters despite the presence of a multi-national naval task force, and pirates demanding ever higher ransoms from shipping companies. But while the spoils of piracy are evident in coastal Somali towns, tracking down where the remaining millions of dollars disappear to is hard to pin down, with allegations circulating of ransom money entering the real estate markets of Kenya, to money laundering in Yemen and Dubai.…

BY ANCA GURZU, MARK ROWE, PAUL COCHRANE AND KARRYN MILLER

THE COPENHAGEN conference on global warming may failed to have delivered a comprehensive global warming deal, but it did at least highlight an international consensus on the need to fight climate change and conserve energy: as a result, the global sales of paints and coatings that reflect heat and hence reduce the need for air conditioning are likely to rise.…

By Paul Cochrane, in Beirut

For business journalists, writing about the Gulf from 2004 to 2008 was often a repetitive process. Regardless of the sector being covered, the opening paragraph would invariably have a growth figure in the double digits, and the projection for the next year would also be very healthy. The global financial crisis in the autumn of 2008 dimmed the region's business fortunes, flipping that opening paragraph to negative double-digit growth or, for some sectors, growth in the low single-digits.

This change was welcomed by many business journalists, if only to spice up their writing, but of course not by the business community. The reasons behind strong growth can be easily explained, but a downturn and a serious contraction in revenues requires a different explanation, and it was time for journalists to start asking hard questions – at least it should have been time to play hardball.…

By Paul Cochrane, in Beirut

In Syria, a quarter of the country's population, some 5.3 million people, are enrolled in schools, while 38% of Saudis, 46% of Yemenis, 31% of Jordanians and 31% of Egyptians are below 14 years of age. Altogether, including Iran, half of the MENA's 300 million-plus people are under 24 years old.

While all these kids are in school, there is no pressing socio-economic problem. But over the next decade as students graduate and want to enter the workplace, finding employment for them all will be difficult. Already the Middle East and North Africa have among the highest unemployment rates in the world at 9.4% and 10.3% respectively, according to an International Labour Organisation report.…

By Paul Cochrane

With the end of the summer holidays, children and young people across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) once again donned uniforms, packed satchels and headed to school, amounting to more than a quarter of the region returning to class.…