Search Results for: UAE

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

SAUDI Arabia’s paint sector is expanding vigorously – it is expected to grow by up to 10% this year on the back of high oil prices spurring on consumer spending, and a multi-billion dollar construction boom.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

STRONG demand for leather luggage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is lining the pockets of tanners in Italy, Pakistan and Thailand.

According to a recent global online survey by marketing data company AC Nielsen, the UAE ranks among the top five countries worldwide for luxury branded luggage bags.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

OVER the last five years the Middle East and North Africa region has firmly joined the global effort to fight money laundering and terrorist financing by setting up national financial intelligence units and a regional watchdog, the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA-FATF).…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

THE COSMETICS and toiletries market in the Middle East is booming with 12% growth expected this year in a US$2.1 billion sector. Market trends differ from country to country, but the general trend is rising demand for European cosmetics over local products in the wealthier Arab countries, largely due to aggressive marketing campaigns by the major brands, and high demand for unregistered, fake brand name perfumes in countries with sizeable low-income populaces, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Syria.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Cairo

WITH the fight against money laundering and counter terrorism financing relatively new to the Middle East (the first plenary session of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force

– MENA-FATF – was only held last year), financial institutions from the US and MENA met in Cairo for a Private Sector Dialogue (PSD) conference to discuss the implementation of international regulations in the region.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SUGAR, honey and biscuit supply companies paid together hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the toppled Saddam Hussein regime, the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Iraq Oil for Food programme scandal has claimed. There were 79 suppliers of these confectionary-related products (76 supplied sugar) named in a report, who paid Iraq to secure humanitarian supply contracts under the scheme, out of 2,200 companies overall.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PAINT and coating supplies companies paid together tens-of-thousands of dollars in kickbacks to the toppled Saddam Hussein regime, the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Iraq Oil for Food programme scandal has claimed. A report said they paid Iraq to secure humanitarian supply contracts under the scheme, out of 2,200 companies overall.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ARAB sheik and his camel, riding the desert with a trained falcon, hunting for bustard migrating south to Africa; with skill and tenacity, he could catch 10 plump prey, a feast in a land where little grows.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
UNITED Arab Emirates (UAE) knitted clothing exports to the United States are expected to be boosted in the future by a new Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed by the two countries. The US imported US$1.1 billion million in UAE goods in 2003, with knitted apparel a key component of this commerce, (along with woven clothes and oil).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
Fast food restaurants in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expecting a drop in business following a recent decision by the government there to ban beef products from U.S, according to trade sources. The country imports about 1,387 metric tons of beef each year.…