Search Results for: saudi arabia

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut, and HELENA FLUSFELDER, in Jerusalem

THE DRINKS market in the Middle East continues to increase on the back of population growth, economic development, improvements in distribution and retail, and more aggressive advertising campaigns.

But like much of the rest of the world, younger and better educated market segments within the region are shifting away from carbonated soft drinks (CSD) towards fruit juices and bottled water as people become increasingly health conscious according to independent industry analysts and the drinks sector.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE, in Auckland; LUCY JONES, in Dallas, Texas; MONICA

DOBIE, in Ottawa; and BILL CORCORAN, in Johannesburg

NEW Zealand has long retained a position of prominence in the global butter products

industry, despite the fact that competitors are always looking to seize export markets in

what is an increasingly competitive market.…

BY LUCY JONES, in Dallas; ALAN OSBORN, in London; KARRYN CARTELLE, in Tokyo; BILL CORCORAN, in Johannesburg; PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut; RACHEL JONES, in Caracas; MARK ROWE; and KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round being slow to proceed since its 2001 launch – and only this year approaching something resembling and end game – free traders wanting to encourage global commerce have looked to bilateral and regional trade deals.…

BY BILL CORCORAN, in South Africa

SOUTH Africa is in a race against time to ensure the country’s

burgeoning economy is not crippled by fuel shortages, forcing its oil and gas companies to innovate to ensure security of supply, notably from neighbouring countries.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait City and Beirut

THE AUTO sector and market of the Middle East’s Gulf region experienced yet another boom year in 2007 on the back of high oil prices, a rising population and strong economic growth. But although sales were uniformly high among the six Gulf Arab states that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Kuwait had a noticeably slower year, particularly for American and European brands.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait City

KUWAIT is set to follow Dubai by banning smoking in public places, a move that is expected to further hit local struggling non-premium tobacco distributors, who are still reeling from a hike in duty and advertising bans imposed five years ago.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait City

THE KUWAIT National Petroleum Company is pushing ahead with multi-billion dollar energy projects, recently green lighting a US$14 billion budget for the 615,000 bpd Al Zour refinery, the world’s largest purpose built facility of its kind.…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

FOLLOWING the late-November OPEC summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Tehran to discuss joint ventures over oil refining and then chuckle with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over the weakened US dollar.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CHINA has been baldly accused of hosting much of the world’s booming counterfeit auto parts production. A detailed report by the planet’s largest think tank – the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – said: "China has been repeatedly identified as the principal source of counterfeit activity in the automotive sector, involving both trademark and design infringements.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

SAUDI Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy and a major political player internationally, has been linked to terrorist financing, but despite AML and CTF measures put in place by the kingdom, very little is known about the country’s implementation and adherence to regulations.…