Search Results for: saudi arabia

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DETAILED plans are now being laid for the development of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) coordinating the management of long term concessions. A joint venture involving the Saudi Binladin Group and Aeroports de Paris Management has been chosen as the preferred bidder for a US$250 million to expand, rehabilitate and operate over 20 years a specialised passenger terminal for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims who flood into the region annually.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States’ diplomatic service is surely the largest and best resourced international network of experts in the world, and this is born out by the depth of the narcotics strategy report – or INCSR to use its acronym.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON
WITH every new piece of European Union (EU)-inspired road and vehicle-safety legislation brings a new opportunity to make and sell the kit to local authorities so that they can comply. Speed limiters may not be the newest story in safety equipment, but the requirements to fit them had a further boost on January 1 this year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) working group on bribery has strengthened its criticism of Britain’s dropping a bribery investigation concerning BAE Systems and the Al Yamamah defence contract with Saudi Arabia. At a March meeting, the committee “reaffirmed its serious concerns” about the matter and alleged “continued shortcomings in UK anti-bribery legislation”, for instance over the liability of legal persons to foreign bribery charges.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Dubai
THE UNITED Arab Emirates’ (UAE) highly competitive food sector is expecting double-digit growth this year, driven by 7% annual population growth, booming foodservice and tourism sectors, and rapid economic growth.

Food producers and retailers in this economic powerhouse of the oil-rich Gulf say there is strong growth across the board, from fresh fruit to ready-made meals in the modern retail environment of the UAE, particularly in Dubai, which is undergoing a construction boom and the top destination for most expatriate workers and tourists.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GULF Cooperation Council (GCC), representing Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, has published a common veterinary quarantine law which would cover the movements of fish farm livestock to the region. The law insists on adequate health checks being made on imported fish and also their feed, as well as proper documentation such as bona fide certificates of origin.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
HUNTING with falcons has been part of Arab culture for thousands of years, but with wild falcons declining because of trapping and Middle Eastern hunters also shooting falcons for sport, what do Arabs think about imposing tougher restrictions?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN’S Serious Fraud Office dropping a major foreign bribery investigation concerning BAE Systems and the Al Yamamah defence contract with Saudi Arabia could lead to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) censure. The OECD working group on bribery admits “serious concerns as to whether the decision was consistent with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention”, and will discuss the case in March.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SAUDI Arabia health minister has publicly warned American and European tobacco manufacturers that his oil-rich government will sue them for compensation over health problems caused through smoking.

Speaking at the 12th Gulf Symposium Against Smoking, in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Dr Hamad Al-Manie said: "I have met with representatives from tobacco companies in the kingdom at my office before.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

CONTRARY to all assumptions, Lebanese universities have not experienced the student exodus they thought might happen following the month long war between Israel and Hizbullah, but the conflict did cost lives, financial losses and a sizeable reduction in the number of Western students.…