Search Results for: Saudi Arabian

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
SALES of cosmetics, perfumes and toiletries are surging in the Middle East, with sales reaching US$2.1 billion last year according to official statistics.

German cosmetics and toiletries manufacturing giant Beiersdorf estimated regional growth at 10% percent last year.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
The cosmetics and personal care market in the UAE was worth more than US$414 million in retail sales last year, according to market data group Euromonitor. Demand is being driven in the UAE by an estimated 6.2 million tourists a year, a 23.5% rise in GDP in nominal terms in 2006, and by radical changes in the UAE’s population- from 2.4 million in 1995 to 4.3 million this year.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut
Saudi Arabia is the Middle East’s largest economy and, as a result, the biggest market for cosmetics, toiletries and perfumes, estimated at US$1.2 billion last year, according to the Saudi-American Business Council. With the birth rate at 3% growth a year, one of the highest in the world, and the population doubling every 25 years, companies expect significant growth in the near future as this young population ages.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Dubai and Manama, Bahrain
THE CAR market in the Arab Gulf, particularly in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is experiencing stellar growth across the board, fuelled by a surge in population and strong economic growth.

In the last five years, the UAE market has grown by over 300% to reach 2.5 million cars on the road, said Guy Edmunds, General Manager of Honda.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Dubai
CURBING the counterfeiting and smuggling of established companies’ goods has become a pressing concern for international businesses wanting to protect their brands in the growing economies of the Middle East.

Although certain sectors are suffering more than others, the issue has been deemed serious enough for leading multinationals to team together last year to create a Brand Owners’ Protection Group (BPG) in the Middle East to tackle the region’s part in generating the US$500 billion global counterfeit trade.…

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 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 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 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
A BID by a South Korea fibre exporter to have low melt polyester staple fibres (LMP) excluded from existing European Union (EU) antidumping duties on synthetic polyester staple fibres (PSF) has been refused by the European Commission. These particular duties are levied on exports from China, Saudi Arabia, Belarus and South Korea, but South Korea exporter and producer Saehan Industries Inc claimed LMP should be excluded, claiming they “have different basic physical and chemical characteristics and end-uses” to other PSF types, having “inherent binding properties.”…