Economics and Policy
US Secretary of State John Kerry called on Monday for a peace conference on Syria "very soon" but said peace would not be possible without a transition government to replace President Bashar al-Assad.
The United Arab Emirates, OPEC’s fourth-largest crude producer, is investing in nuclear power, renewable energy and liquefied natural gas terminals to reduce its reliance on oil, according to its energy minister.
Lebanon’s efforts to tap its offshore gas and oil reserves received another setback over the weekend as the two main political groups that make up the caretaker Cabinet quarreled openly over the mechanism for gas tenders.
Companies and Business
South Korea’s central bank has signed a bilateral, three-year currency swap deal with the United Arab Emirates worth up to $5.4 billion in a bid to strengthen trade and financial ties between the two countries.
First National Bank SAL posted 2013 first-half net profits of $13.8 million, up from $8.9 million in the same period of 2012.
Figures released by the Lebanese Kafalat Corporation indicate that loans extended to small and medium-sized companies under its guarantee totaled LL131.1 billion or $87 million in the first nine months of 2013, down by 20.1 percent from the same period of last year
