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With the conflict in Syria into its fourth year, the pharmaceutical and health care sectors in the country have been decimated, while an estimated 9 million people have been displaced. More than 3 million refugees have fled Syria to neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office.…

THE FIRST detailed reforms dedicated to creating a global set of tax rules to prevent multi-national companies shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions to avoid paying tax have been released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). It has been working with the G20 group of nations under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project (BEPS) to achieve that goal.…

AS China moves gradually onwards with the long-promised liberalisation of its currency exchange regime, increased use of offshore companies and bank accounts by Chinese officials is refocusing Chinese attention on the illicit outflow of funds from the country. These have been facilitated and even prompted by China’s ongoing efforts to encourage investment overseas while also liberalising its currency regime.…

THE NEW European Commission of president Jean-Claude Juncker, which will take office for five years on November 1 is expected to be more political than its predecessors and certainly has a clear brief from its boss: more growth and jobs.

Juncker, a consummate European Union (EU) insider, a former president of the Eurogroup of Euro-zone finance ministers, and an ex-prime minister of his native Luxembourg, will use powerful vice-presidents to keep his team in line.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) finance ministers agreed at an EU economic and finance ministers (ECOFIN) meeting on the scope of the long-threatened ‘financial transaction tax’, and 11 governments pledged to reach an agreement on its details by the end of the year.…

Over the past few years, Spain’s government has regularly questioned whether Gibraltar’s excellent economic condition has more to do with money laundering, smuggling and tax evasion than good business practice. “The wealth that Gibraltar enjoys cannot continue to be based solely on an economy that is clearly damaging for our country and for the European Union,” said Spain’s minister for European affairs Íñigo Méndez de Vigo in an interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC in September 2013.…

THE LONDON-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) has satisfied the European Court of Auditors (ECA) that its accounts for 2012 are in order following a number of criticisms voiced by the court last year. Among other things, the EMA pledged to improve transparency in its tender procedures (though it did not accept the ECA’s criticism that the principle had been breached).…

AS its name suggests, the lifeblood of the fast fashion industry is largely, speed to market – meaning that in many cases, traditional, weeks-long methods of shipping garments via sea or truck are no longer making the grade.

Fast fashion brands such as Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), Gap Inc, Uniqlo Co Ltd, Zara, F21 Red, Topshop, and Peacocks Stores Ltd rely on the air cargo industry to ship products quickly to stores around worldwide, according to a spokesperson from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).…

“Life used to be a lot easier,” grumbles a stressed out executive from Sinopec slouched in his chair at an outlet of Costa Coffee in Chaoyangmen, central Beijing. Over cold latte, the middle-aged administrator explained how there has been a flurry of activity and uncertainty at China’s leading refiner since the launch earlier this year of Sinopec Marketing Co Ltd.…

THE ETHICAL traits of Sharia-compliant, or Islamic, financing, such as not allowing interest or investments in gambling and tobacco, have made sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) and green funds an obvious extension for the sector. But with Islamic finance already being a niche market, compared to conventional financing, initiatives to diversify into SRIs have struggled over the past several years.…