Search Results for: Lebanon

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.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WINNERS

Fast Retailing

Japanese retail giant Fast Retailing underwent major expansion this year, opening the world’s largest Uniqlo store in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district, boasting 12 floors and a total retail space of 4,959 square metres. In May, Fast Retailing announced plans to set up a subsidiary company in China to oversee its ‘aggressive’ expansion plans in the country, just a month after it said it planned to open 62 stores in China during its current financial year – taking its store count there to 142, by the end of August.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

AFTER two years from the entry into force of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) between the European Union (EU) and the United States, the European Commission patted itself on the back, claiming the agreement is working.…

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, AND BILL CORCORAN, IN CAPE TOWN

Drinks distribution is highly fragmented in the Middle East, and ranges from best practice at leading companies in the Gulf countries to less automated and more labour-orientated methods in the Levant.…

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

The economic sanctions imposed on Syria last year by the United States and Europe to pressure Damascus to end its violent crackdown on protesters has made doing business in Syria difficult, especially financial transactions. But the sanctions are being evaded, with Lebanon a prime conduit for goods and capital outflows.…

BY ANDREW GREEN, WANG FANGQING, PAUL COCHRANE, JONATHAN DYSON AND CARMEN PAUN

THE POLITECNO di Milano, one of Italy’s most prestigious universities, will teach and assess most of its degree courses and all its postgraduate ones entirely in English from 2014, UWN reported recently.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

Syria’s long uprising and associated sanctions has removed some competition for national tobacco company GOT. But a collapse in the Syrian pound has made inputs more expensive. And now GOT is facing an asset freeze in Europe as sanctions tighten.…

BY MEGAN DETRIE, IN CAIRO

A YEAR after the break out of the civil war in Libya which ousted Colonel Muammar Gaddafi from power – but paralysed the economy – the north African country’s airports are just now beginning to reopen, with construction projects likely to resume in the coming months.…